Javanese cownose rays are social rays that glide around in groups. They can share a tank with more than 24 other aquatic species, which makes them one of the most flexible aquatic animals in the game. Their one weakness: they hate cluttered tanks.
Group size
- 5 to 40 rays.
- You need at least five for them to be happy.
- Each ray raises the minimum space. Eight rays needed at least 185 m² of water.
Water
- Salt water
- About 1 m water height. That's shallow, which makes them perfect for a touch pool.
- Temperature matched to their range. They share water settings with ocellated eagle rays.
Too much coral
This is the big lesson. A gorgeous coral reef tank failed for my cownose rays because of too much plant and coral coverage. The fix was simple but painful: delete coral pieces until welfare reaches 100%.
So plan a cownose ray tank as mostly open sand with a few decorative rocks, not a dense reef.
Floor
Fine sand so they can bury themselves. Add a few pebbles and minimal grass.
Enrichment
A forage tray is their main enrichment item.
Breeding
Cownose rays breed in summer. They don't have colour morphs, but some species in the game do, so it's worth checking the Zoopedia if you like collecting colour variants.
Building a touch pool
Cownose rays make a great touch pool:
- Draw the habitat with the aquarium fence directly over a placed path. The game automatically cuts the habitat out of the path, which saves a lot of time.
- The water has to be above the aquarium gate (around 2 m) before you can place animals.
- To keep the touch area shallow, drop the terrain at the back of the pool with a ramp. Deep water at the back for the gate, shallow at the front for guests.
- Add an education speaker and a bubble frame nearby.
Tankmates
They live happily with ocellated eagle rays because both need the same water height, salinity and temperature. They also fit in big open-ocean tanks with sharks and sardines, as long as you keep coral coverage low.