Beginner Sharks

cartman101

Active Member
Guys I have a question. When you all say that your shark grew 12''+ in a year what have you been feeding it???? I was emailing a shark biologist who works at a aquarium and he told me that the average a shark grows in a year is about anywhere from 3-5''. NOTE: this is not every shark, we were talking about coral cats and banded cats.
 

cartman101

Active Member
Originally Posted by connor
OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SHARKS STOP TELLIN PEOPLE BAD INFORMATION. in the last thread you did this you got flamed by half the site, aw2 and crimzy told you that they can grow 12+ inches in a year from when they first hatch!

Actully he does know some stuff about shark and those sharks are one of the easier sharks. But like what AW2 said there is no beginer shark or ray.
 

jr2857

Active Member
Originally Posted by Cartman101
Guys I have a question. When you all say that your shark grew 12''+ in a year what have you been feeding it???? I was emailing a shark biologist who works at a aquarium and he told me that the average a shark grows in a year is about anywhere from 3-5''. NOTE: this is not every shark, we were talking about coral cats and banded cats.
ok i am 100% sure this is right. the lower the temp the slower it grows. the less you feed it the slower it grows. common sense isn't it. if you flame me you're mad
 

i<3fish

Member
Originally Posted by psusocr1
as crim said some people say for life a 96x24 is o.k some wont.. Imo my tank will be 479 gallons with a 8x4 footrpint, but i also ordered a grey bamboo whos maximum length reaches 28 inches, so he will have plenty of room. Also people seem to say wow if you have a tank that big you can get 2-3 bamboo's or rays...IMHO i would, and will, only ever keep one ray and one shark in my 500 gallon, and they will need every bit of it to be comfortable.
to your next questions i will be keeping all tangs with my shark and ray(oh ya and i have a lionfish). i want to and still might try a copperband butterfly but i have some time to think!! triggers are bad with them,as are any fish that will fit into the shark or rays mouth!! but you could keep an eel in there as well..
Where can you get a bamboo that gets only 28inches? Also, that one guy said no large angels. Any not? So I wouldnt be able to get a Queen angel? I saw somewhere, and he said that sharks normaly just sit there and do nothing. As with rays. Is that true? If it is, then maybe I wont get one.
 

rara12

Member
some sharks just sit and some move more, its really a personnality thing. Rays from what i have herd are usually moving but not always. And yes sharks do just lie around but if you have some caves and lr it looks cool so if you think it will get boring then i think your wrong. The epaulette shark is the most active shark IMO but might need a larger tank. And i said no large angels because i was told they eat the eyes of sharks and rays so i wouldnt risk the queen. Maybe a dwarf angel of some kind.
 

aw2

Active Member
Originally Posted by rara12
some sharks just sit and some move more, its really a personnality thing.
Incorrect. There are two types of sharks...bottom dwellers and then there are requiem sharks.
Bottom dwellers - Nurse Sharks, Cat Sharks, Epaulette Sharks, etc. These sharks mainly lay on the bottom, unless actively hunting...hence why they're called bottom dwellers.
Requiem sharks - Reef Sharks, Blue Sharks, Tiger Sharks, White Sharks, etc. These are constantly moving, mainly open water species. They do not lay around and swim 99% of the time.
It does not matter the "personality". If they're bottom dwellers, they're going to lay around and become active mainly at dusk and dawn (natual feeding times). Then, you will see alot more activity. My two Banded Cats would patrol the tank, cruising in the same pattern, over and over, at dusk and dawn.
If they're a requiem species, they will swim and be active most of the time.
Originally Posted by rara12

Rays from what i have herd are usually moving but not always.
Also incorrect. When not disturbed or aggitated, Rays will bury themselves and stay buried for the majority of the time, unless hunting or disturbed.
 

i<3fish

Member
Oh... well if they just sit there. And they are only active at night. The whats so cool? The fact of having a shark and ray is cool, but its not too fun to watch something lay on the ground all day.
 

psusocr1

Active Member
well heres my opinion
my ray is always buried, except when im around the tank he is ALWAYS swimmign around looking to see when ill feed him, spitting, cruisin the tank with the lion..he has alot of personalitty. I see my ray ALL the time, of course he will take a rest and bury himself again ... as for sharks,, well i get mine tomm mornign at 9 a.m...pics to come shortly!! :joy: :joy:
 

mile_high

Member
My opinion is that epps are as close to a beginer shark as can be . Only because in the wild they can become trapped in small tide pools for long periods of time . they will shut down their biological functions one by one as water peramiter dip in to the red Zone . Untill they are in a completely catatonic state . then when the tide comes in and replaces the water . they will come out of the hibernation and go back to normal. I'm not saying that this makes it ok to keep them in less then pristien conditions but it's a bit of a safe gaurd as far as any mistakes a newer keeper might make as far as water changes.
Scientist are doing studies on them to see how they can relate this to stroke victims
 

psusocr1

Active Member
if you ever read the speical section on epps in scott micheals "aquarium sharks and rays" book then you would not say that epps are good begginner sharks at all! also a 2-$300 dollar sharkf or your first shark is a big risk
i respect your opinion but i agree to disagree with you
 

psusocr1

Active Member
i got my grounding probe from an online place i get all my stuff from.. its titanium and was only 16 bucks
 

mile_high

Member
Just my opinion. epps can be a bit more forgiving when water changes are concerened.
While The book has a ton of good information it's been said by a few that its not the final word in shark keeping. just a very good referance point to start from.
 

maeistero

Active Member
i've been researching sharks for months with plans on a basement lagoon. what are your thoughts on that? are sharks as interesting in a wood sided lagoon where they're only viewable from the top? i don't have plans to have a humongous aquarium, but a lagoon is easy and cheap.

nevermind, i just discovered the lagoon thread. how i can be on this site for the last 12hrs and miss that i will never know.
 
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