Stocking 180G

[ackermsb]

Hey all,
I am stocking a 180G and right now only have 2 things that Im looking to put in there. A bamboo shark and some type of eel. Any suggestions for any other species that would go well in there besides maybe another eel. I know you can't put too much with a bamboo shark but Im curious as to what other people have to say about it

 

[sharkboy13]

wat kind of bamboo? if its the brown banded it will fit but it wont be comfortable. id go with a marble cat (same thing as bamboo) or a coral cat. those are the smallest species available.as for an eel id go with maybe a snowflake or a tessy, all u ppl w/ tessys comment. or u can go with lots of other eels. there r about 3 i would not reccomend, the fimbriated moray (more commonly known as yellow headed moray or viper moray) the ribbon eels, garden eels, oh and DO NOT do triggers or puffers or large angels, also no harlequin tusks. i would reccomend maybe a lionfish of some type. wat kind of filtration system do u plan on having/ have?

 

[krj-1168]

id go with a marble cat (same thing as bamboo) or a coral cat. those are the smallest species
A marbled catshark(A. macleayi) isn't the same thing as a bamboo. It's a catshark - same genus as the coral cat.
And either is good to keep with certain eels - like snowflake. Provided that both the shark & eel are about the same size when introduced.
The White-spotted Bamboo(C. plagiosum) is sometimes called a Marbled Bamboo cat shark - but it's a Bamboo not a catshark.
Actually a standard 180 gallon is ill-suited for all available bamboo & epaulette sharks. The tank isn't wide enough.

 

[sharkboy13]

hmm, ok but as i said he can keep a coral cat a(singular of course)

 

[krj-1168]

Yes, a coral cat is fine - since they only grow to 27" and have a very eel like body as adults.

 

[ackermsb]

Okay cool cool. R u saying I shouldnt do triggers puffers, etc. cause they will not be compatible with the shark? Not like I was planning on them anyway but just curious. I have a wet/dry filter but am planning on turning it into a fuge. SHould I keep both? Also, Could I have more than one eel in there and how a bout a stingray? Any other fish or species that could live with an eel or shark. Im pretty sure I know the asnwer Im gonna get but Im curious what people think

 

[psusocr1]

all stingrays will get way too large for the 180, plus they need very little rockwork, whereas your eel need ALOT of rockwork, so they arent going to work out together..
no triggers, puffers, some wrasses etc. etc. do ALOT of research on tankmates before you just throw them in there.

 

[slcfish]

R u saying I shouldnt do triggers puffers, etc. cause they will not be compatible with the shark? Not like I was planning on them anyway but just curious.
Triggers, Puffers, Large Angels, and some wrasses will constantly pick on, and eventually kill, your shark.
As for other species, I agree with Sharkboy's advice to think about one of the species of lionfish. Tangs would be fine, too.

 

[ackermsb]

Sounds good. Thanks for the advice. Im looking forward to getting my tank back up and running and Ill post pics when that happens

 

[krj-1168]

Absolutely no Puffers, triggers, damsels, Angels or wrasses.
Even eels & lions are iffy.

 

[sharkboy13]

i didnt no eels wer iffy, i thot lions wer only iffy if they wer the dwarf species (including fu m, ant, and radiata) cuz they hang out on the bottom, but volitans and russels i thot wer ok

 

[psusocr1]

i have a HUGE volitan and russels with my sharks and rays.. no problems at all

 

[krj-1168]

By iffy - I mean the it depends on the species(eels, lions, & sharks) involved.
Some eels, & lions can be kept safely with certain species of sharks & rays. Others can't.

 

[ackermsb]

So im still debating about the coral cat shark. I have time since I have ripped out the filtration under my tank literally and am putting in a refugium and setting up many of the manual tasks I used to perform to be done automagically. It seems like a lot of agreessive fish tend to pick on the smaller sharks by what Im reading so Im still toying with the idea. I defintely want an eel and really want a stingray. I have about 130 lbs of live rock but if I get a stringray Ill only put about half back in the tank for the eel to give the ray adequate room to swim. Or I could get 2 eels and no stringray and put all the rock back in. If I dont get the shark I imagine that would open up species of fish that I couldnt have before. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I change my mind every day so Im curious what people think about the the species, shark, eel and stingray as well as other fish that could get along with part or all of that combination

 

[psusocr1]

a shark ,eel and stingray can do fine in a tank as mine is.. but you need at least 300 gallons to keep enough caves for the shark to hide in, enough live rock for the eel to call home and enough swimming room(not alot of liverock) for the ray to be happy

 

[mike22cha]

If you want a shark I'd go bigger so you can get a bamboo shark. I have never seen a marbled catshark for sale and in the book aquarium sharks and rays it talks about a coral bitting at an eel and says also that it will attempt to eat other fishes even if they are bigger than its own size. Of course there are cases were they may get along, but there is some where they don't. If you really want a ray, go bigger.

 

[krj-1168]

Agreed - if you really want a shark, eel, and ray - then you will need a bigger tank.
Or a small SW pond might actually better.

 

[mike22cha]

It sounds like you already have the 180g tank so if you don't plan on getting a bigger tank, you can get an eel, lionfish, (wouldn't a trigger go okay with that?) and keep on looking for a marbled catshark (or coralcat but I wouldn't recomend that). If you do find a marbled catshark, you are lucky and tell me where.

 

[psusocr1]

no triggers with sharks

 

[mike22cha]

Okay then you're looking at eels, lions,and other fish such as tangs. I don't know about putting in small fish with eels so medium sized fish would be okay.