Thinking of a small shark or ray?

mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Well there has been some recent questions from people about wanting to put a shark or ray in too small of a tank, so if you want a shark or ray, here are some of the smallest kinds and here is what they require.
Marbled Catshark:
Scientific Name: Atelomycterus macleayi
Max. Size: 24"
Average adult size: 22"
Min. Tank Size: For a juvenille a 180g tank, though a small pond or custom tank would be best for a group or even an individual.
Min. Pond/ Custom tank deminsions: 7'lengthx2.5-3'widthx2'heigth
Distribution: Western and Northern Australia
Water Temperature: 72-86 degrees F
Aquarium Suitability: 4 out of 5
Feeding Schedule: 2-3 times per week
Diet: Marine invertabrates
Coral Catshark:
Scientific Name: Atelomycterus marmoratus
Max. Size: 27.3"
Average adult size: 25"
Min. Tank Size: 240-300g
Min. Pond/ Custom tank deminsions: 7'x3-3.5'x2-2.5'
Distribution: Pakistan to New Guinea,the Phillippines, Thailand, China, and southern Japan. Commonly seen along the Indonesian reefs at night.
Water Temperature:72-82 degrees F
Aquarium Suitablity: 5 out of 5
Feeding Schedule: 2-3 times per week
Diet: Marine invertabrates and bony fishes. May try to eat other tankmates. "Coral Catsharks are more voracious that bamboo sharks and will attempt to eat fishes kept with them, even if they are too large to swallow whole." (Scott W. Michael, Aquarium Sharks and Rays)
Cortez Ray:
Scientific Name: Urobatis maculatus
Max Size: 16.4 inches long.
Min. Tank Size: 240-300g
Min. Pond/ Custom tank deminsions: 6-7'x2.5-3'x2'
Distribution: The west cost, Baja California, Mexico, and the Gulf or California
Water Temperature:72-82 degrees F
Aquarium Suitablity: 3 out of 5
Feeding Schedule: Once a day
Diet: Small crustaceans and small bony fish
Round Ray:
Scientific Name: Urobatis halleri
Max. Size: Max. length21.8 inches
Min. Tank Size: 240-300g
Min. Pond/ Custom tank deminsions: 7'x3'x2'
Distribution: Northern California to Panama
WaterTempature: 54-72 degrees F
Aquarium Suitabilty:3
Feeding Schedule: Once a day
Diet: Small crustaceans and small bony fish
If anyone could post pics of these wonderful animals that would be most appreciated because I'm on vacation and cannot get pictures to post on here. Be sure to label them.
Later when I get the chance I will get into small bamboos and medium sharks for larger ponds (1000g ponds plus).
Source: Aquarium Sharks and Rays by Scott W. Michael
Any additional information or comments are welcome.
Mike
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Here is a list of bamboos and other sharks and rays that would be perfect canidates for a 400-1000g pond or huge tank.
Arabian Bamboo Shark:
Scientific name: Chiloscyllium arabicum
Max. Size: 30.4"
Distribution: Arabian Gulf to India
Min. Pond Deminsions: 8'x3.5-4'x3'
Tempature: 72-82 degrees F
Diet: Mainly crustaceans and mollusks, some bony fish, and squid.
Feeding Schedule: 2-3 times per week
Aquarium Suitability: 5 out of 5
Gray Bamboo Shark:
Scientific Name: Chiloscyllium griseum
Max. Size: 28.9"
Distribution: Arabian Gulf to Papua New Guinea, and Souther Japan
Min. Pond Deminsions: 8'x3-3.5'x2.5'
Tempature: 72-82 degrees F
Diet: Mainly bony fish and shrimp, worms, mantis shrimp, mollusks, and crabs.
Feeding Schedule: 2-3 times per week
Aquarium Suitability: 4 out of 5
Brownbanded Bamboo Shark:
Scientific Name: Chiloscyllium punctatum
Max. Size: 40"
Distribution: Japan to Australia, and Indonesia to India
Min. Pond Demisions: 8-9'x3.5-4'x3'
Tempature: 72-82 degrees F
Diet: Bony fish, shrimp, crustaceans and mollusks.
Feeding Schedule: 2-3 times per week
Aquarium Suitability: 5 out of 5
Epaulette Shark:
Scientific Name: Hemiscyllium ocellatum
Max. Size: 41.7"
Distribution: Australlia and New Guinea
Min. Pond Deminsions: 8'x3.5-4'x3'
Diet: Mainly worms and crabs, also shrimp and small bony fish
Feeding Schedule:2-3 times per week
Aquarium Suitability:5 out of 5
Tempature:72-82 degrees F
Horn Shark:
Scientific Name: Heterodontus francisci
Max. Size: 46.9" but most do not exceed 37.8"
Distribution: Central California to the Gulf of California. May also occur around Ecador and Peru.
Min. Pond Deminsions: 7-8'x3.5-4'x3'
Diet: Squid and small fish
Tempature:55-70 degrees F
Feeding Schedule:2-3 times per week
Yellow Stingray:
Scientific Name: Urobatis jamaicensis
Max. Size: Disc width:14" Length: 26.1"
Distribution: North Carolina and the Gulf of Mexico, throughout the Carribean to Trinidad
Min. Pond Deminsions: 8'x3'x2'
Diet:Shrimps, small fishes, clams, and worms.
Source for majority of this information: Aquarium Sharks and Rays by
Scott W. Michael
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Here is a list of desirable sharks that are not seen to often in the aquarium trade. I will not be listing as much information because little is known about them.
-Australian Spotted Catshark (Max. length: 24")(Native to Australia and Tasmania)
-Gulf Catshark (22")
-Blackspotted Catshark (26")
-Lined Catshark (22")
-Tiger Catshark (18")
-Puffadder Shyshark (23")(Native to Africa's coast)
-Brown Puffadder (28")(Native to South Africa)
-Dark Shyshark (22")
-Pyjama Catshark (39")(South African and Madagascar native)
-Leopard Catshark (33")(Native to African waters)
-Cloudy Catshark (19")
-Burma Bamboo Shark(22")(Burma)
-Hasselt's Bamboo Shark(23")(Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia)
-Indian Bamboo SharkI(25")(Arabian Sea to the Solomon Islands, Philippines)
-Freycinet's Epaulette Shark(18")(Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea)
There are certain fish to avoid putting in with sharks and rays because they pick at the sharks which can lead to stress and even death.
-Scorpionfish
-Butterflyfish
-Large Angels
-Filefish
-Triggerfish
-Puffers
-Porcupinefish
Source: Aquarium Sharks and Rays by Scott W. Michael
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Thanks for putting that on there, it will be very helpful to anyone wanting to setup a tank, maybe for sharks. The basics are important. Tonight I just got through with dinner and my grandma had some friends from church over, and the guy started talking to me about his college room mate having a close to a 100g tank with two sharks and feeding them goldfish!
I resisted telling how wrong that is becuase I know it probably was a brown banded bamboo because they are so popular. I just politely said, "Ya, they're hard to keep."(You have no idea)

I'm not at my computer but once I get home I'll get pics for all these sharks and rays.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Thank Lion Crazz, I appreciate it. The sad thing is I haven't covered half of the information needed, so if you can't buy Aquairum Sharks and Rays I hope you find some information here.
Filtration and Equipment:
Most sharks produce a lot of waste and are messy eaters.
Here are the basics:
-Your pumps GPH should be three times the amount of gallons that is in your tank.
-Sump
-UV filter(unless you have corals which shouldn't really be in the tank at all unless placed on a stable ledge that would fall if bumped by a shark)
-Protein Skimmer is a must
-Fine live sand
-Not to much live rock and leave room around the tank walls for them to swim by
-RO/DI is very helpful when dealing with larger systems
-Lights need to be on a timer so there is a normal routine to represt day and night. Powerful lighting is not needed.
-Heaters and chillers to keep the tank or pond stable especially when it's a garage tank or pond.
-Sump or Refegium
That's all I can think of equipement wise. Feel free to add anything.
 
brenden

brenden

Member
Mike, just remember to cite where you get your information from. You do not want to get in any sort of trouble.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Have I not been saying that I got all my information from Aquarium Sharks and Rays? I forgot at first on my first post but I came back and edited it. I also learned a lot from some where else online that we can not list here at swf.com.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Agreed. I will get pics of the sharks and rays as well as good canidate tankmates later. I went to MBA and got some good pics of a leapord and some smoothounds(I think) that I might share.
Here are a list of sharks to avoid unless you got a pond that is at least 2700 or more depending on the species:
Leapord sharks,
Bonnetheads,
Lemon sharks,
Angel sharks,
Smoothound sharks,
Blacktips,
Whitetips,
Bat rays,
and large stingrays(atlantic and southern stingray are an examble)
 
brenden

brenden

Member
Though Aquarium Sharks & Rays is a great book. Keep in mind the minimum tank sizes he lists for most species is still too small. You will only realize this from actual experience. But species like the Coral Cat and Marbeled Cat Shark need systems of 250 gallons atleast, Brown Banded Bamboos need atleast 400 gallons, same goes with Eppaulettes, Horns, and Port Jacksons need atleast 2,000 gallons.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Yes you are correct, that is why I mentioned more realistic tank sizes for all these sharks and rays, though can't a horn shark go into a 1000g pond? It needs to be at least 3.5ft wide for a horn, I don't know about length.
 
brenden

brenden

Member
Depending on the species of Horn yes, however its relative the PortJackson needs atleast 2,000 gallons. Even then, when you see a full sized Eppaulette Shark in a large 2,000 gallon system. You will never be able to find justice in placing one in a 400 gallon. Sharks really do need large tanks, hopefully all the time you have spent transfering the information from the book to here will help people make the right choice.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Agreed a pj and epuallete need a 2000, but a horn shark is a species of the bullhead family correct? I don't know the order of scientific classification very well but the horn shark comes from the bullhead family.
 
krj-1168

krj-1168

Member
Yeah Scott Michael's is very conservative on both tank sizes and water temps for some of the species in his book.
Case in point - in his book he stats that Horn Sharks (Heterodontus francisci) should be kept at 70F or less. But wild studies should Horns prefer waters of 70F or higher. Also he stated in his 1990 article for Aquarium Fish magazine that Horns should be kept at between 65-75F.
And yes both Port Jackson's & Horn Sharks are members of the genus Heterodontus (bullhead sharks).
While Port jackson pups can be kept in smaller tanks/pond - the adults will get huge - at least 3.5-4' long. Possible even up to 4.5-5'. So yes - a large pond is needed.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Here are pics: Order top to bottom
1st:Round Ray
2nd:Cortez Ray
3rd:Yellow Ray
4th:Coral Catshark
5th:Marbled Catshark




 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Next list:
1st:Arabian Bamboo
2nd:Grey Bamboo
3rd:Brownbanded Bamboo
4th:Epualette Shark
5th:Horn Shark




 
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