I am new at this and have made the classic newbie mistake -- buying by eye and listening to an apparently "knowledgeable" saltwater dealer...
I have an advanced hi-end (cooler, protein skimmer, the works) 150 gallon saltwater reef tank. It has already gone through it cycle and is well established and everything is doing well (temp ~77-78). So, I am looking for some cool coral and spot a baby California Ray (Urobatis halleri) at a decent sized local tropical fish store. The salesman claims this is perfectly compatiable in my reef tank. I asked him specifically about it, and he states that there is no problem...it won't bother the corals, tangs, large clown fish, etc.
I have put it in, and it hasn't bothered anything yet. It just zips up and down the side of the tank occasionally popping up for air. He has burried himself also in the sand (there is plenty of room) Yet, later in the day, upon some research on the net, I find that this is a cold water creature, should not be in a reef tank, and will kill all the inveterbrates that I have, although i saw my arrow crab walk right over it and it didn't do a thing.
Will the Darwinian instinct take over and I will be left with little? So, should I let things be? Will it just freeze or starve to death?
It is a baby one, but apparently they get quite large. I will eventually get a larger tank and so that is less of a concern, but how will it be compatiable in a reef tank with medium sized tanks, large clown, arrow crabs, cleaner shrimp (I guess they will be toast), mandarinfish, etc. -- your usual set of non-aggressive reef fish.
If I should keep it, how do I feed it? Should I give it little pieces of fish? Is it possible to keep this creature in such a tank successfully? I know that the key word is successfully... Can one try???
Appreciatively,
(Hey, we all have made mistakes in the beginning...)
I have an advanced hi-end (cooler, protein skimmer, the works) 150 gallon saltwater reef tank. It has already gone through it cycle and is well established and everything is doing well (temp ~77-78). So, I am looking for some cool coral and spot a baby California Ray (Urobatis halleri) at a decent sized local tropical fish store. The salesman claims this is perfectly compatiable in my reef tank. I asked him specifically about it, and he states that there is no problem...it won't bother the corals, tangs, large clown fish, etc.
I have put it in, and it hasn't bothered anything yet. It just zips up and down the side of the tank occasionally popping up for air. He has burried himself also in the sand (there is plenty of room) Yet, later in the day, upon some research on the net, I find that this is a cold water creature, should not be in a reef tank, and will kill all the inveterbrates that I have, although i saw my arrow crab walk right over it and it didn't do a thing.
Will the Darwinian instinct take over and I will be left with little? So, should I let things be? Will it just freeze or starve to death?
It is a baby one, but apparently they get quite large. I will eventually get a larger tank and so that is less of a concern, but how will it be compatiable in a reef tank with medium sized tanks, large clown, arrow crabs, cleaner shrimp (I guess they will be toast), mandarinfish, etc. -- your usual set of non-aggressive reef fish.
If I should keep it, how do I feed it? Should I give it little pieces of fish? Is it possible to keep this creature in such a tank successfully? I know that the key word is successfully... Can one try???
Appreciatively,
(Hey, we all have made mistakes in the beginning...)