is this a stingray?

[oceanflux]

I visited my LFS recently and stumbled upon something that caught my attention. As I was walking by the freshwater fish tanks, I noticed a stingray in one of them. The body was roughly 4 inches in diameter, with a tail of about 6 inches. I checked the card below the tank and it said "Tea Cup Stingray". I'm familiar with freshwater stingrays, but I've always thought they grew to sizes that required large swimming pools to thrive, not fish tanks. That's why I initially assumed it was a saltwater fish being kept in a freshwater tank for sale. Has anyone else heard of this species? Is it indeed a freshwater ray, and if so, can anyone provide advice on its needs? I'm completely new to stingrays and I'd like to know the minimum tank size required, among other things.

[willie32]

I visited my LFS recently and stumbled upon something that caught my attention. As I was walking by the freshwater fish tanks, I noticed a stingray in one of them. The body was roughly 4 inches in diameter, with a tail of about 6 inches. I checked the card below the tank and it said "Tea Cup Stingray". I'm familiar with freshwater stingrays, but I've always thought they grew to sizes that required large swimming pools to thrive, not fish tanks. That's why I initially assumed it was a saltwater fish being kept in a freshwater tank for sale. Has anyone else heard of this species? Is it indeed a freshwater ray, and if so, can anyone provide advice on its needs? I'm completely new to stingrays and I'd like to know the minimum tank size required, among other things.

I've been researching freshwater rays myself for future plans, and from what I've found, there are some smaller species out there, but the one you saw was still a juvenile. Depending on the species, I believe some can max out at around 8 inches in diameter. As for tank size, a minimum of 6 feet long by 30 inches wide is recommended, but ideally 3 feet wide would be better.

[tiderock]

I've found that the smallest freshwater stingrays can grow around 10-12 inches in diameter, but most species can get to 16 inches or more, and some can even reach a few feet in size. For the smallest types, a minimum tank size of 6x2x2 would be required, but ideally, you'd want something at least 30 inches wide, if not wider.

[oceanflux]

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. So it seems I was close with my initial thoughts on tank size, but I guess I was a bit off. Based on your suggestions, I'm thinking a minimum of around 150 US gallons would be needed to keep the ray comfortable. That's a pretty big tank, and sadly I just don't have the space for it right now, but I've definitely added the Tea Cup Stingray to my wishlist for future projects.