Nurse size

acuraman2

acuraman2

Member
As of yet I do not have an aggressive tank but I thought this might give you an idea of how big a nurse can get risc I dont see how these gal could fit in a pool.

By the way the shark was released within a minute and was the most docile fish I have ever handled. Although it did scare alot of beachgoers on this trip I also saw a loggerhead make a nest which was cool because everytime she threw sand on her back the phosphorescent (sp?) algae would like up....way cool anyway I just thought Id post this.
 
acuraman2

acuraman2

Member
Im sure he does I was half kidding its just most people have no idea and Im wondering what he is gonna do with his when it gets to be that large?
 
risc

risc

Member
acuraman2:
Thats not a big nurse... that's hardly an adult even. I have two twice that size. That is also just a common nurse shark. Mine are twany nurse sharks. They are a larger shark. Both of my nurses were 7 feet when I got them. They came by semi that was built to support marine fish for large aquariums. Those two will be the first to join my new aquarium when it is finished. At that point they will have 15 times the space that they have now. So I am not too worried about their future lifestyle.
When it's finished it will be 1/2 the size of the worlds largest shark aquarium and it won't even be commercial.
Jim
 
eric18

eric18

Member
risc just out of curiosty how many gallons is this new setup ogonna be and is this one gonna be indoor or outdoor
 
acuraman2

acuraman2

Member
Risc you are aware Im not trying to flame you at all I actually think its very cool what you have anyway yes I know it isnt even really an adult as adults can reach lengths of 14 feet, but this is no small fish either. I had no idea there were different kinds of Nurse's. Are they basically subspecies or are the completely different species that can not interbreed. I would like to see some pictures of your big nurses. Its hard to imagine something that big being in someones backyard. The power of these guys is amazing. She was able to drag me and my friend about 50 feet down the beach. He was holding the rod and I was holding him around the waist. We used 130lb test so we can bring the shark in quickly and keep it from tiring too much. Do you know if there are any recorded attacks from a Nurse, because once this one got about 100 feet from the beach I was able to go out and push her the rest of the way in by her dorsal. Ive caught many sharks in my day and this one has the be the prettiest and nicest. Lets not go into the 8 foot Tiger now thats a fish that could never live in any aquarium. Also what are the differences between the common and twany nurse's.
 
mark-24

mark-24

Member
Well the tawny nurse shark lives in the Pacific which gets to be about 15 feet or so, and the common nurse shark lives in the Atlantic and get to be about 14 feet. The only other type of nurse shark in the family Ginglymostomatidae is the Short-tail nurse they live in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of Africa. They only get to be 2 ft or so.
And suprisingly enough Nurse sharks cause more attacks on humans than any other species of shark. They are 2 faced, one second you can go up and pet it (not recommended) then in another they'll turn around and bite you. They will clamp on, and won't let go. I heard of this guy in the Keys that petted one thinking it was a friendly little nurse shark until it swam around and latched onto his chest. He couldn't get it off him, even when he stood up out of the water it wouldn't get off him. He had to be taken to the hospital and it was for almost 4 hours after it bite him to when they finally preyed it off. Needless to say the shark died, but it shows the power of these animals. I highly doubt that there have been any fatalities caused by nurses, but I bet alot of people have lost fingers.
Most of the time, they are very timid shy animals, but if they're upset, you're in trouble. Also, I remember a while back risc said something about his new tank, I think it was like 100k gallons in his backyard, not 100% sure.
Here's a pic from this place Shark-Ray Alley in Belize when I went last summer.

-Mark
 
acuraman2

acuraman2

Member
St George Island in Florida and my friends uncle does offshore fishing in Charleston thats where we hook onto the Tiger 1 and a half hour fight
 
risc

risc

Member
acuraman2: Didn't mean to imply that you were flaming me. That is a very pretty shark. Most of the time nurses have damage to their fins or their barbels. Yeah nurse sharks are very powerful. Even my juveniles are able to knock filters and glass tops from atop my aquariums. I have had a 28" female leap out of a tank flip about 4 meters and land in another tank with completely different chemistry and sharks in it. I found out about two days later and the tank was missing a baracuda and two golden trevallys. So she obviously got lucky and had a great meal while she was at it.
Eric: its a 190,000 gallon capacity pool. There won't be that much water in it however. It's going into my backyard and is going to be solar heated.
TheReefman52: how can you miss them there are 6 sharks in that picture?...
Mark-24: thanks for answering all the ?'s :p
Jim
 
grouperhead

grouperhead

Active Member
acuraman, nurse sharks are one of the worst fighting sharks there is, but they are probably the best eating. nurses are really sluggish during the fight, not doing to much. i have caught several nurses surf fishing sharks and/or big bluefish. im leaving to go to st. george island/apalachicola on friday to do some redfish and trout fishing. have you ever caught a big ray? now thats a fight! btw do you ever eat shark? some of them are very, very goo eating. bo
 
acuraman2

acuraman2

Member
Yes I will agree they arent that great of a fighter but this one definately pulled hard for about 20 seconds after that she came in fairly easy. Yes I have caught a large ray one of about 150 pounds thats like pulling a car hood off the bottom of the ocean. Yes this summer we caught quite a few black tips that were about Id say 3 feet long and we blackened them lemme tell you that was some good eating. Also the skin of nurse sharks is completely different from other sharks it looks rough but doesnt not feel like sandpaper like most sharks. Also from what I saw it looked like the nurse did not have very pointed teeth more of like crushing teeth is this accurate or was I just seeing things.
Risc- I would love to see your aquarium once you get it all up and running I dont know anyone who wouldnt envy someone with a 190000 gal shark tank in their backyard. What kind of sharks do you plan to put in it, I like sand tigers but I think they are a protected species.
 
acuraman2

acuraman2

Member
here is another picture of the nurse and some of the blacktips......risc do you know anyone who keeps blacktips? They seem like a hard shark to keep since they arent as much of a bottom dweller.


 
risc

risc

Member
I know a lot of people that keep blacktips. LFS around here have lots of them too. I've seen them in sports bars, hotels, all kinds of places. I have 8 blacktips and 3 whitetips myself. However I rarely keep more than 1 or 2 of them around. They usually get bought. I have one that is 42" that I have had for about a year and a half.
Jim
 
crx

crx

New Member
Geeze. My lfs has a Nurse shark and a Marbled cat in a tank that looks no more than 40 gallons. I wanna say smaller but I wanna believe that they aren't that dumb. They are both about a foot long. The Nurse shark is wider of course. Nurse sharks spend most of the time sitting at the bottom don't they? Well if they don't this shark has no choice, he couldn't move around if he wanted to. The marbled cat gets around a little. I heard one of the workers talking to some guy who planned on buying the shark. The worker wouldn't tell him how big of a tank it would need but he would say it will outgrow, whatever the costomer said. For example, The guy said "I am going to get a 200 gallon next month, will he outgrow that"? The worker said yeah, then the guy said another size, and another. The worker said yeah, yeah. But the

[hr]
wouldn't say I wouldn't get the tank unless I had a tank that held thousand of dollars.
 
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