Fish of the Week: SHARKS!

splash1914

splash1914

Member
Sharks!
There are many sharks available for the aquarium trade, here are just a few that I have had personal experience with: (Either at my home or at both of the schools where I taught)
1)Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata)
2)Horn Sharks/Port Jackson shark)
3)Wobbegong (Orectolobus ornatus)
4)Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)
1) Leopard Sharks/Smoothounds
•Live bearers and come from California/Mexico region
•These sharks get to be about 3-6’ in length at maturity
•From my experience, these sharks grow about 3-4” a year in captivity. I currently have 2 Leopards that I feed every few days. Their diet consists of shrimp, scallops, squid, shark formula, and blue legs. Of the 5 Leopards I have owned, in the last few years (4 at my home and 2 at my old school where I taught) only one has died on me … A green moray ate the shark within 5 seconds of putting him in the tank! The green moray now resides at the Orlando Science Center! IME, I have RARELY seen them on the bottom during the day. All of mine have been extremely active. IME, these sharks are pretty hardy. I had one that ate a coral cat and its skull fused itself to the jaw of the Leopard!! My wife held the shark out of the water, while I used tweezers to pull the coral cat’s head out of the Leopard’s jaw!! One of the Leopards I have now had a confrontation with a bristle worm and had a ton of bristles stuck in his face, so I had to pull him out of the water and use tweezers on him as well!
•By far this is my favorite fish for the aquarium!
• Unfortunately, these sharks will outgrow normal aquarium conditions in a few years and their owners will have to find them new homes. A new home should be arranged before buying the shark.
2) Horn Shark
•These sharks get to be about 3 & 1/2’ long
•Are also meat eaters.
•Prefer colder waters 55-70 degrees but can be acclimated to warmer conditions. I had mine in a 400 that had a chiller set to 75.
•IME, mine was relatively inactive, it barley did anything. It didn’t bother any other fish in the tank
•Minimum tank size for life is 300 gallons (Opinions vary)
•I ended up trading him for a 2’ wobby.
3) Wobbegong
•There are many types of wobbies. (Japanese, Tassled, Banded, Spotted)
•Wobbegongs vary from 2’ and up to 10’
•They are ambush predators and will eat anything they can fit in their mouth. Mine ate a 12” grouper then crashed my whole system after digesting it!
•IME, they are relatively inactive. Like my Horn shark, it basically laid around.
•Depending on the type of Wobby you get, depends on how big of a tank you must have to house for life.
4) Nurse Shark
•These guys get huge! They can reach 10-14’ in length.
•IMO, they are very hardy. Like the wobby, they will eat anything they can fit in their mouth! Over the years I owned a few of these bad boys and ended up releasing all of them back to the ocean. However, I currently have a 14” nurse in a 300 gallon tank at the school where I teach that a parent donated. He has already eaten a small parrot fish. We will end up releasing him back to the ocean probably next school year. The ones I have had in the past have been somewhat active. Well, at least when I walk up to the tank they begin swimming! With so many students walking by the tank the shark is always moving. (thinking he is going to be fed).
•As a juvenile, they have black dots all over their bodies, as they mature these dots fade away. >
•These sharks will outgrow normal aquarium conditions in a few years and their owners will have to find them new homes. A new home should be arranged before buying the shark
TIPS:
•Filtration: IMO, a wet/dry filter, a skimmer, and a RO unit are a must. If you are going to invest your time and money in shark, do it right. Spend a few extra dollars and get good quality equipment. Buy the biggest tank you can afford.
•Live Rock or rock structures: Be careful how you stack your rockwork! Sharks will topple your rocks in a second to get after food. This could cause serious harm to your shark!!
•Do not use any copper treatment that a shark is in!!! It is lethal.
•Use sand. Crushed coral or other coarse substrate will scratch their bellies.
•Feed sparingly, every other day to 3 days will be fine.
•IMO, the aquarium’s footprint (LxWxH) is more important than gallons. Mine is only 200 gallons, but is 8’ long.
•I am probably leaving much more out, but this all I can think of right now!!!
Please post your shark photos and experiences!!
 
stacyt

stacyt

Active Member
Very well done splash. Hopefully by the middle of next month I'll have my shark tank cycling. Planing on putting in a cat banded shark, eel, and maybe a ray.
 
jim27

jim27

Member
Nice job splash! Here's my little addition.
The sharks I have personal experience are:
1. Brownbanded Bamboo shark(Chiloscyllium puntatum)
2. Whitespoted Bamboo Shark(Chiloscyllium plagiosum)
3. Horn Shark(Heterodontus francisci)
Bamboo Sharks
  • The two species I have will grow a little over 3ft
  • Shoot for atleast a 180-240g for life
  • Recommended temp is anywhere from 72-82 degrees, my tank is at 75 usually.
  • Reletively inactive species, although IME they are more active than people might think, especially my whitespotted bamboo.
  • My whitespotted bamboo gets very aggressive at feeding time, he often bit he brownbanded bamboo and currently bites the much bigger horn at times. He has even bitten me once right on the knuckle while I was cleaning the tank. He chomped down and tried to rip off a peice of flesh. His teeth are so small that all i fel was tugging but it bled like crazy. Very cool to see. My brownbanded bamboo was much less aggressive, and even allowed me to pick him up and would lay in my hand(check my avatar for a pic).
  • Feed them every 2-3 days, any meaty seafood(shrimp,silversides, krill, etc).
  • They grow fast as juveniles, in a year my brownbanded bamboo went from 6" to almost 1'.
  • As juveniles brownbanded bamboos have dark bands on there body but as they age these bands start to fade and may dissapear. Adults look tan with very light bands.
  • Whitespotted bamboos are black with light colored spots and bands when they are young but change to the color mine is in the pic(scroll down the page)
  • Known to breed in captivity
  • Very hardy sharks and I highly recommend them for beginners.
    Horn Sharks
    • Born about 6" and can grow to nearly 4' although most get about 3'
    • I'd recommend at least a 240g for most adults, although if you've got one thats nearing 4' you'll want a bigger tank.
    • They are inactive sharks except when they're hungry.
      Feeding is the same as the bamboos
      In the wild they are found in pretty cold water although they can live in warm as well, mines in about 75 degrees.
      Not very aggressive, mine doesn't bite me or swim away like mad like my whitespotted bamboo does when i touch it.
      Very cool and unusual looking shark, one of my favorites
      Also a hardy shark
      For the "tips" section, basically what splash said as well as:Dont buy a shark on impulse, do lots of research first.
      Dont buy a species that will outgrow your tank unless you're 100% sure you will upgrade or you have a new home already lined up.
      Ask someone at the lfs if you can see the shark eat first.
    Fish to avoid

  • The following are fish that are known to harm sharks in aquariums:Large angels
    Butterfly fish
    Filefish
    Puffers
    Triggers
Thats it from me I guess. I hope I didn't leave anything out Lol.
 
stacyt

stacyt

Active Member
How muck LR do you guys have in your display tanks? What other tank mates do you have with them? Do the whitespotted loose their band's as they get older?
Also between the whitespotted, and the horn which would you recommend for a 240.
I've seen the Horn's while diving at night in Catalina. Very cool. They'll let you swim right up to them, and sometimes even pet them.
 
stacyt

stacyt

Active Member
One other quick question. When purchasing a shark does size matter as far as hardiness? I know with some fish juvinile adults acclimate easier than adults, or very young fish.
 
jim27

jim27

Member
The color my whitespotted is now is basically what it'll look lke for the rest of his life. They dont lose there bands.
For a 240 both should do fine although a whitespotted bamboo stays smaller than horns usually so it would have a little more room. Its all up to you.
My tank has about 40lbs of lr I think.
I dont think size makes much of a difference in how they acclimate to a tank. Just pick out a nice healthy looking shark and acclimate it to the tank slowly and you'll be fine.
My sharks tank mates are, well, eachother and two stars. Thats it. I had tangs(hippo and purple) and damsels in the tank a while back but the damsels died/were killed and I got rid of the tangs because the purple tang would pick at the shark and they would steal the sharks food. They were pretty but they got annoying REALLY fast so I traded them in.
 
splash1914

splash1914

Member
Thanks guys!
Jim27: Thanks for the follow up! Between the two of us we hit just about everything.
StacyT: I think I have around 250-300lbs of LR... I bought the rock at different times and so long ago..
 
stacyt

stacyt

Active Member
Thanks for all the good info. I've got a copy of that book on order. I think that I'm going to get a banded cat shark to start with.
Also why are large angels not a good choice to keep with sharks?
I was thinking that I would add a whitecheek tang, and my blue throat trigger into the tank with them. Currently my whitecheek has been banished from my 240 FOWLR, as he was very aggressive towards my majestic angel. You would think in a 240 that they'd all just get along.:( I know that triggers tend to nip at the sharks cartalidge, but my blue throat is pretty docile. If he does cause a problem, then I'll put him into another tank.
 
novice150

novice150

Member
Stacy: Large angels are not recommended for the same reasons as triggers. They tend to nip at the sharks, and also have been to known to pick at the eyes of benthic sharks, leading to total blindness.
 
stacyt

stacyt

Active Member
NOVICE150,
How about posting some of your pics & info on your setup. I'm sure everyone would love to see that black tip.:)
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
great job, splash1914 and jim27
just a little side note, this thread covers the more readily available species to the hobby.
There are many many more secies not listed mainly because they are not seen quite as often.
If there is anything anyone else would like to add or ask on any of them, even if not the ones already mentioned, please feel free to do so.
I too agree that a pic or two of novice150's blacktip would be a nice addition
 
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