Not Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Red Sea and South Africa to Samoa and Tonga north to Southern Japan, and south to Australia.
Size: 20 inches - (50 cm) width and 26 inches - (67 cm) length
Natural Environment: Inhabits sandy bottoms near rocky or coral and usually found at depths between 3 to 300 feet (1 - 90 m) where it feeds on small fishes and exposed invertebrates.
General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade, and having a somewhat reddish brown flattened triangular shaped body.
Best maintained in large shark and stingrays type aquariums having deep fine-grained sand and few environmental obstructions. Will normally bury itself as protection from predators.
Requires wide-open swimming areas, peaceful, none fin-nipping tankmates and tankmates too large to be eaten.
Requires a meaty diet, i.e., preferably live grass shrimp, earthworms and/or crabs and/or chopped meaty foods such as fish flesh, shrimp, clams, scallops and earthworms and be fed once daily.
Taxonomy:
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Neoselachii
Order: Myliobatiformes
Family: Dasyatidae
Genus: Dasyatis
FYI: Will eat small tankmates.
May fast for weeks before eating. Some specimen never feed in captivity!
Venomous spine can inflict a painful wound.
Very sensitive to copper, therefore aquarium water should be made with RO/DI processed water.
Experience Level: Expert
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Fish Safe: With caution
Invertebrate Safe: No
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful and too large to be eaten
Minimum Tank Size: 250 gallons
Temperature Range: 70 - 82°F (21 - 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5