Massive Shark Pool Project

K

Kangadrew

New Member
Hi guys, this is my first post on the forum, so go easy on me for it being so long:D. So, I've been keeping marine life for nearly all of my life. I grew up with tanks, both freshwater, salt, and reptiles. I currently have a 40 gallon reef, and a 75 gallon octopus tank. I've been saving up for a few years for a massive pool (I still am, I'm starting to actually plan it though), designed for sharks and other aggressive marine life. Now, don't bash me, I've been keeping smaller sharks, stingrays, moray eels, and a blacktip reef shark for the past couple of years. I'm thinking to install a swimming pool with skimmers and the like, and using saltwater. It will be closed off with a steel building of some sort (not sure yet). I think it will probably be a normal rectangular pool, but with rounded edges. It will most likely be about 36 feet long, 18 feet wide, and there will be a shallow end and a deep end. The shallow end will be about 3.5 feet deep, and the deep end will get to 8 feet. I'm thinking 2/3rds deep and the rest shallow. The volume will be around 30,000 gallons.

I will be using sand on the bottom, and, obviously, saltwater without chlorine, etc. I'm thinking coral would just be a pain, and wouldn't fare too well with some of the inhabitants. So, I'll be getting a ton (not literally) of live rock, and some large false coral inserts, like you see on the show Tanked. Live coral might be cool though, but it's going to add a LOT of money to the cost of this project. It may come later on. Other decorations may include plants of some type (maybe some marine algae or something), and possibly some type of false shipwreck (or real?).

So, on to the inhabitants. First off, I want to say that it will primarily be a tropical tank, so correct me on any of the inhabitants if they're not suitable. I'm thinking obviously sharks, so my list for them would be this:
  • A whitetip reef shark
  • 1-3 Bonnethead Sharks
  • 1-5 Zebra and/or Leopard Sharks
  • Around a dozen to 2 dozen Coral Cat Sharks/other assorted bamboo/cat sharks
  • A horn shark or port Jackson shark might be cool
  • A couple of Epaulette sharks to top the list...for now
Other predatory fish would also be included in the tank, so I'm thinking about (not definite with this list):
  • Blue Dot Stingrays (my favorite :))
  • Maybe a cownose ray
  • Some BIG moray eels (probably a green, a tessellata, and Japanese Dragon eel)
  • Maybe puffers, triggers, etc
  • A great barracuda (is it required for them to be in schools?)
  • Maybe some parrotfish
  • Miniatus grouper (not sure how many)
  • I would like a bumble bee grouper, but I've seen what they can grow to be and what they can do (not okay with sharks, or anything really)
  • Some type of native east coast fish, like Jack Crevalle, would be cool, however when they get big, they would have to be released.
  • Dither fish (mostly cheap schooling fish to fill the reef, such as damsels)
Last but not least, I'm gonna neeed some inverts. I like octopuses, but they're a no-no in this setup. I want some spiny blue lobsters. Would they eventually get eaten? Would they eat anything in the tank? Also, what would be an appropriate cleaning crew for this tank? I would probably do something off of Live Aquaria for that, since it's pretty cheap. I would prefer specifics on how many of each invert for the cleaning crew.

Thanks for any feedback I can get,

Drew
 
K

Kangadrew

New Member
Here, I guess I'll make this a little bit easier for anyone who comes on this thread:
  1. Would approximately 30,000 gallons be enough space for up to 36 sharks (mostly cat/coral sharks, along with some more active species), along with assorted rays, a few large eels, a bunch of dither fish, some other cool reef fish, like parrotfish, triggerfish, and pufferfish, some miniatus grouper, and possibly a school of jacks or trevally? Along with lobsters and a cleaning crew?
  2. Would sand, live rock, some false coral inserts, and various algae species be enough for decoration in the pool?
  3. If I were to use sand (I most likely will), what would be the cheapest? I live near the water, so collecting is an option, which would likely be cheap, and would allow me to collect some beneficial critters, like bacteria, as well as larger organisms such as juvenile crabs and shrimp. If that's not legal, or a viable option, would play sand work?
  4. Would this shark list be okay for the tank: whitetip reef shark, bonnethead shark, leopard shark, zebra shark, coral cat shark, assorted bamboo/cat sharks, Port Jackson shark, horn shark, and epaulette shark.?
  5. Could I use native species as dithers? I'm afraid if I even use cheap fish like damsels, they're going to cost me thousands of dollars in replacing them. I'm thinking native bait species, such as mullet, menhaden, pinfish, etc. They could also provide an extra food source for the larger fish, so that feeding time wouldn't be as expensive.
  6. If I were to keep some blue spiny lobsters in the tank, would they last very long? Even if I got them big?
  7. Would a cownose ray be able to live in these conditions and in this space? I really want one
  8. If I were to get a great barracuda, could it be kept on its own, or should I consider a school? Would there be trouble between the 'cudas and sharks? Would they constantly be picking my pretty fish off, like puffers and parrotfish, or would they be more inclined to go for the dithers (which are practically free)? If I were to get a school, would they have an easier time massacring everything in the pool? If a school is a good option, how many should I get?
  9. What would be an appropriate cleaning crew for a tank this size? I know it won't be cheap, but I could probably go searching along the jetties and marshes and get, like, unlimited hermit crabs. But is there anything else I should get?
  10. Do you guys have any suggestions for me or what to put in the pool? I appreciate any feedback I can get!
 
Tanner Smith

Tanner Smith

New Member
Kangadrew said:
Here, I guess I'll make this a little bit easier for anyone who comes on this thread:
  1. Would approximately 30,000 gallons be enough space for up to 36 sharks (mostly cat/coral sharks, along with some more active species), along with assorted rays, a few large eels, a bunch of dither fish, some other cool reef fish, like parrotfish, triggerfish, and pufferfish, some miniatus grouper, and possibly a school of jacks or trevally? Along with lobsters and a cleaning crew?
  2. Would sand, live rock, some false coral inserts, and various algae species be enough for decoration in the pool?
  3. If I were to use sand (I most likely will), what would be the cheapest? I live near the water, so collecting is an option, which would likely be cheap, and would allow me to collect some beneficial critters, like bacteria, as well as larger organisms such as juvenile crabs and shrimp. If that's not legal, or a viable option, would play sand work?
  4. Would this shark list be okay for the tank: whitetip reef shark, bonnethead shark, leopard shark, zebra shark, coral cat shark, assorted bamboo/cat sharks, Port Jackson shark, horn shark, and epaulette shark.?
  5. Could I use native species as dithers? I'm afraid if I even use cheap fish like damsels, they're going to cost me thousands of dollars in replacing them. I'm thinking native bait species, such as mullet, menhaden, pinfish, etc. They could also provide an extra food source for the larger fish, so that feeding time wouldn't be as expensive.
  6. If I were to keep some blue spiny lobsters in the tank, would they last very long? Even if I got them big?
  7. Would a cownose ray be able to live in these conditions and in this space? I really want one
  8. If I were to get a great barracuda, could it be kept on its own, or should I consider a school? Would there be trouble between the 'cudas and sharks? Would they constantly be picking my pretty fish off, like puffers and parrotfish, or would they be more inclined to go for the dithers (which are practically free)? If I were to get a school, would they have an easier time massacring everything in the pool? If a school is a good option, how many should I get?
  9. What would be an appropriate cleaning crew for a tank this size? I know it won't be cheap, but I could probably go searching along the jetties and marshes and get, like, unlimited hermit crabs. But is there anything else I should get?
  10. Do you guys have any suggestions for me or what to put in the pool? I appreciate any feedback I can get!
Click to expand...
Just found this post, curious to see how its going
 
C

Chris417

New Member
I'm fairly new to saltwater tanks but have had freshwater all my life. I think the size would be good for some sharks but maybe not as many as you mentioned but the variety of others should be ok in that size but make sure there is plenty of food all the time for the sharks to eat because I do know if they get hungry their normal diet will go out the window and they will begin to feed on other things as far as the lobsters if they have enough space to hide they would be ok and I would def go with live sand. Depending on what state you live in depends on if you can take beach sand or not or just get some at night lol. But I would buy sand and mix it with the ocean/beach sand instead of only ocean sand and I would make sure to get a lot of shrimp for them to eat on at different times as well as other food that each of the fish normally eat and keep in mind when choosing sharks the size that they will get as juveniles and adults because they may fight each other for dominance please post pictures as you go
 
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