Hoping for jaws but settling for Ghandi

[limak]

For you shark people, just curious as to how you feed your bottom dwelling sharks in a non-species specific tank. Do your sharks compete for food or is it a matter of handing it to them on stick? How much and how often do your sharks eat? Which foods do they prefer most?
I ask because I recently got coral catshark whose timid eating habits leave something to be desired. It's hard to impress the ladies with my ferocious man-eating shark when more often than not it swims away from a goldfish impaled on a stick. Joking aside, it'd be nice to hear of your experiences.

 

[turbo21]

we bought shark formula at one of the fish stores around here and we are feeding 2 cubes a day on a stick turn lights out 1 hr before you feed try that

 

[reeferdude]

Right now my shark is about a month and a half old and all I have been feeding him is frozen squid. I put it down by him with my hands and right before he snaps I move my hand. This has worked fine for the past month and the only problem I have had is my stupid triggers stealing food from him and my tang attacking me with his little spike when I leave my hand in the tank so the triggers dont eat it. I feed a little every day but I didnt feed him for the past 2 days getting him ready for what I did last night. Last night I got a small feeder goldfish and held it infront of my shark, as soon as I saw that he was tracking the goldfish I let it go and the shark moved faster than he ever had him, he snapped and the goldfish was gone. What I am saying is that mine is more willing to eat when hes hungry.

 

[benthic]

Your coral cat may just be adjusting to his new tank, but assuming he is ok and when he adjusts, he will display normal feeding frenzy type behavior when food is put in the water. This is the normal reaction for any of these sharks under normal/established conditions, they should get quite excited, dart around the tank, latch onto and thrash fish that it runs across etc... They should get very aggressive when feeding.
The 20" coral cat I had was super aggressive when feeding, honestly suprised me. If your coral cat is very big at all be aware of what else in your tank might be "bite size" for him when feeding.
The best way to feed them is with a feeding stick, with a bite size amount of some kind of meaty sea food (squid, shrimp, scallop etc). I think I remember one of the online pet retailers selling acrylic feeding sticks..., I use a thin wood stick (kinda like a chop stick) sharpened a little on one end. If you have more than one shark in the tank, just wait till they are not right next to each other, and stick the food down buy it's mouth real quick. My bamboos will try to steal food from each other if they can't get it down fast enough. Feeding every couple days should be fine for older sharks (more than 6 months or so).
Hope this helps a little.

 

[limak]

Thanks for the info. My coral cat is about 20". I put meaty food skewered on rigid plastic tubing. He takes a little bit then swims around the tank but doesn't eat more.
Maybe he is still adjusting. I've had him little over a week.

 

[jim27]

My sharks are really aggressive when it comes to food. Especially the white spotted bamboo. He has bitten me before looking for food and occasionally bites the smaller brownbanded bamboo. Once they smell food in the water they swim around like crazy trying to find it. They try to steal it from each other too.
Mine eat every 2-3 days. And they'll eat anything. I haven't noticed any food preferences in them. I use a wooden feeding stick just like the one benthic described.