sharks....so confused....

nahbrah

nahbrah

New Member
ive been considering the notion of a shark tank 4 quite some time now, and have only recently come into the funds to begin to plan. now ive read so many opinions and pages on shark care and choise of species that my heads about to bleed. now as a life long surfer and a young person who has spent there entire life on the water i have an imeasurable amout of respect for the ocean and all of its inhabitants. so with this being said, i need to know wot will it take to care for a bamboo shark, either the whitespotted or the brownbanded, any differences between the 2 that might make one a bettah choice over the other, actually brahs, im just looking for anything u guys can help me ou with , food filtration, water parameters, just wto ever u guys have the time 4, cmon remeber u guys wer all in this spot at one time or another....thank fellas
 
fishy411

fishy411

Member
ok. u needa taank of at least a 180 for the bamboo. U can feed it squid or silversides. The most successfull shark tank i can remember th eowner fed their shark fresh seafood soaked in a multivitamin.U need an excellent skimmer and sump/fuge. I have never kept a shark b4 but have read a lot about them. There are a lto fo people with lots of info on sharks. Gasguzzler, tony Detroit and cincy reefer are all very knowledgable about sharks so they can probly give u the best info. Good luck
 
gasguzzler

gasguzzler

Active Member
Aaaahhh, my friend- be prepared to SPEND!!! To get the level of equipment deemed "necessary" by most of us here and with the proper flow rate, water turnover, LR and LS it cost me about $4,000 to set up my 125 for the same purpose. It was about an additional $200-$250 a month to keep it going. My tank was extremely healthy at all times and the benefits were very extraordinary animals. However, you need to really consider the overall scheme of having a tank that size. First, its expensive. Second, water quality is paramount so there are alot of lonely nights spent changing water. Lastly, there is a very restricted list of animals that may be kept with sharks.
As for equipment, we will start with a wet/dry system. It needs to flow about 1000 gallons an hour minimum for proper dissolved O2 and overall turnover rate. I will also recommend using a non-u-tube overflow. These can easily be disturbed at night by the animal and stop filtration. I used a CPR dual outlet on mine with 2 MagDrive 750s (about 1400 gal/hr) for returns. Next, I recommend using a large canister filter for the purpose of running carbon. My choice was a Fluval 404. Use who you trust. Moving on, you will need a LARGE skimmer to keep up with uneaten foor, waste, etc. Go as big as you can afford and put it high in the priority list. I used about 200 lbs of LS in my 125 to make homes for my rays and about 60 lbs of LR to make a cave for the sharks. Buy big heavy pieces and be sure to use epoxy to hold them together not to crush the animal. Lastly, I would also recommend UV. I noticed a significant increase in health when I started using it on my tank. The LFS can set you up with the proper wattage and pump. Also, when you buy this stuff remember that LFSs lie!!! (except you Cincy!) Be sure to check with the experienced board members here before wasting time and money.
I always fed my animals fresh seafood from the store. It was also soaked in a multivitamin at least for 24 hrs before use. I used Kent Zoecon. Take your pick of them out there. Anything else?
 
midwest reefer

midwest reefer

Member

Originally posted by fishy411
ok. u needa taank of at least a 180 for the bamboo. U can feed it squid or silversides. The most successfull shark tank i can remember th eowner fed their shark fresh seafood soaked in a multivitamin.U need an excellent skimmer and sump/fuge. I have never kept a shark b4 but have read a lot about them. There are a lto fo people with lots of info on sharks. Gasguzzler, tony Detroit and cincy reefer are all very knowledgable about sharks so they can probly give u the best info. Good luck
I agree with everything he said, except one thing. Ive said it many times too. I know that you need a 180 gallon tank for a bamboo, but IMO thats too small. Think about it, that tank is 6 feet long and the shark will grow to 2.5-3 feet. Also, a 180 is what you need for just 1 shark and it should be the only inhabitant. If you spend the extra and go for a 240-300 and up tank, you will be able to house the shark and possibly another shark or another fish that will get along with the shark. The bigger the tank the more happy and most likely more healthy the shark will be.
 
tvan

tvan

Member
Turn over rate is not a big issue. A skimmer will take care of O2. A sump with filter felt is a plus (reuseable) one that degases a trickle type filter.
Don't over feed and you don't have a left over problem. I you want tank mates don't get the shark. I have a 265 ..25"X25"X96" with only a male coral cat. He can't roam and he does try. You will need some sort of cover sharks jump. I don't light my tank anymore. Natural light and room light work for me. I do have a 1hp chiller. By the way CPR overflows lose prime (And they only do it when your on vaction or away from home). I lost a lot of expensive corals that way.
U tube simple dependable. Good Luck
Tom
 
fishy411

fishy411

Member

Originally posted by midwest reefer
I agree with everything he said, except one thing. Ive said it many times too. I know that you need a 180 gallon tank for a bamboo, but IMO thats too small. Think about it, that tank is 6 feet long and the shark will grow to 2.5-3 feet. Also, a 180 is what you need for just 1 shark and it should be the only inhabitant. If you spend the extra and go for a 240-300 and up tank, you will be able to house the shark and possibly another shark or another fish that will get along with the shark. The bigger the tank the more happy and most likely more healthy the shark will be.
u r right. what i meant to say is that the absolute minimum that u cna get by with is 180 gallons. I think a 300 is the best for sharks.
 
flatzboy

flatzboy

Active Member

Originally posted by tvan
Turn over rate is not a big issue. A skimmer will take care of O2. A sump with filter felt is a plus (reuseable) one that degases a trickle type filter.
Don't over feed and you don't have a left over problem. I you want tank mates don't get the shark. I have a 265 ..25"X25"X96" with only a male coral cat. He can't roam and he does try. You will need some sort of cover sharks jump. I don't light my tank anymore. Natural light and room light work for me. I do have a 1hp chiller. By the way CPR overflows lose prime (And they only do it when your on vaction or away from home). I lost a lot of expensive corals that way.
U tube simple dependable. Good Luck
Tom
Turn over rate is definatly an issue in the main tank... You need the turnover for the reason gasguzzler stated and you need a good amount of flow to suspend detritus of the sand bed so it cand be sucked up into the overfow and down threw the wet/dry and skimmer.Without flow poop, food, and other crap will just sit on the bottom and turn into amonia then nitrite then nitrate causing algea blooms and making your water quality verypoor. You might wanna rethink your statement over before you give poor advice like that.:D Sorry about the spelling I'm getting a little sleepy and I got the flu
.
 
tony detroit

tony detroit

Active Member
I'm with gas on this. I had a 300, my bamboo made that tank look small. IMO you shouldn't consider any shark unless you have a 8' x 3' footprint. Even that is pushing it. After keeping sharks I realized they need much more room than the recommended tank sizes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top