what kind of fish can you put in a 55 gallon tank with a freshwater stingray?

Answer 1

Choose tankmates wisely. Rays are very peaceful minding their own business at all times so avoid any aggressive and territorial fish if you can. Just do make sure its tankmate is not small enough to fit in a ray's mouth. If you do keep small rays, clown loaches are a very interesting addition if its not small enough to be swallowed. The loaches will gather on top of the ray and swim on top of it while the ray swims around the bottom of the tank. They probably feel secure with its peaceful counterpart. I currently do not have a picture of it now but will post it as soon as I can. I got rid of my prized clown loaches of 2 years since my arowanas started to pick them off one by one. I know some of you keep some species of plecostomus to keep algae down, be wary since some plecos do have a knack for sucking on the sides of wide slow moving fish. Just to name a few are discus, angelfish and a few species of rays that have a soft disc (ex. P. leopoldi, P. hystrix). I do keep rays with my arowanas; Arowanas and rays do make a very impressive scenenery since the arowana always rules the top part of the tank while the rays hop along the bottom. Just make sure that you have the tankspace to house both fish. It's not a smart choice to start with since both fish can end up dead. My lil Red Tail Golden arowana shredded the living daylights out of one of my rays. So for those of you who keep Arowanas and fw stingrays in a tank; THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU! See gruesome pix below. I was fortunate enough that the ray's stinger was trimmed probably by the wholesaler but the arowana did sustain some minor injuries on its gill plate. Despite of what happened, I still keep rays with my arowanas.

Answer 2

While the fish Gary suggests are ones that are compatible according to websites, you should also keep in mind your tank size. Clown loaches can get to be a foot in size, and do best when kept in a group. Arowanas get sizeable as well and will outgrow your 55 gallon at 24". Even your stingray may not be suitable for that size in the future, as some of the freshwater species grow to an adult disc size of 12" to a meter in diameter.

Rays are also not very tolerant of poor water quality. The fewer fish you've got in the tank, the less ammonia that will be produced. See the link below for more info (including identification and size info and care) on freshwater stingrays.

You might do best to keep the ray by itself.