New to Sharks

[Matt Pecor]

I'm a pretty experienced hobbyist, been doing salt for a few years now specifically. I have a 90g tank that's been established for over a year and everything seems great tank wise.

I recently made a switch from a more community tank by adding a baby Coral Banded Shark to the tank. When I first got it it was very active and swam around the bottom of the tank. After a few feedings it seems to hide in my live rock almost constantly, even at night as I know they are nocturnal, and only comes out for like an hour a day. I tends to hide next to the bubbler I have in the back near the live rock.

Is this normal behavior and I'm over-reacting? I'm assuming it is just getting used to it's new environment, it was born on 1/9. It eats no problem when I add live ghost shrimp near him.

 

[lmforbis]

You have this in a 90 gallon?

Do you have a lot of open sandy areas? A lot of live rock could be hard on its skin, they need the open sandy areas.

 

[Matt Pecor]

Yes, it's currently in a 90g tank. He's only about 6 inches right now. I removed the majority of the live rock aside from a "cave" I made in the middle with a few smaller pieces and a longer flat piece to put ontop of it. There is a ton of open space. I plan on moving him to a bigger tank when he gets a bit bigger.

 

[lmforbis]

I don’t think hiding is outside of normal behavior for a young nocturnal shark. They are instinctively aware of the need not to be eaten. Movement in the house around the tank may be contributing to this behavior. Lowering the amount of light in the tank and surrounding room and reducing the anoint ot activity around the tank may help it acclimate faster.

 

[lmforbis]

I’d start trying to acclimate it to a more varied frozen diet. Ghost shrimp are good to get it feeding but not going to meet its dietary needs. You need to feed it a varied diet marine shrimp, clams, scallops, chunks of marine fish, etc. you can buy these fresh at the grocery store and chop them into small chunks and freeze, to feed him. I’d also recommend soaking his food in something like selcon so he gets adequate nutrition.

 

[Matt Pecor]

I've been trying a few different things but nothing seems to take besides the ghost shrimp. I even tried adding that garlic guard stuff to his food too. I don't mind tossing too many different things in there though, I have a peppermint shrimp that wrecks whatever he doesn't go near.

On a side note, my tank got hit with the worst algae bloom I've ever seen yesterday. So the fun never stops. I swear this 90g is cursed. Since I got it it's been one problem after another.