The future of my epaullette?

J

jcrim

Guest
Hello folks,
Many of you have seen pics of my epaullette shark. I have had him for about 9 months in my 6 ft. 125 gallon tank. This guy has been one of my all time favorite pets... abundantly healthy. Of course, as you may have guessed, he is ready to graduate from my tank into a more permanent home.
I'm looking for a good home for this guy. I have considered releasing him into the wild, though I'm not sure that he could survive. I don't know if he is wild or tank-raised. I also don't know if he could live in the waters off Florida or California, being a foreign species.
I am looking for suggestions for a new home. For those out there with large, healthy systems, I would consider selling him at a significant discount because I really want to find him the best home.
Here's a couple pics...


 
requiem

requiem

Member
I am looking to start a breading epl I would be willing to talk to you abought taking him of you hand for a more suitable and permanent home give me an email at alligatorkid@aol.com and i will give you my phone # so that you can call me
 
J

jcrim

Guest
Req,
I don't know if my "guy" is actually male. If I can, I'll try to get a pic of his underside and maybe someone out there can tell. I will email you and we can talk about some details... where are you?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
MorayMike may not like me for saying it this way LOL, but never EVER release a foreign species into the wild. Personally I don't believe any animal that has been kept in our tanks should be released into the wild, but NEVER if it is not a local species. That is totally irresponsible, and what gives hobbyists a very bad name, and in particular people who try and keep sharks in small tanks :yes: IMO, if you have exhausted your options with selling it, etc, you are obligated to kill the animal before ever releasing it. Not to be harsh on you in particular, but it is a serious issue.
 
moraymike

moraymike

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
MorayMike may not like me for saying it this way LOL, but never EVER release a foreign species into the wild. Personally I don't believe any animal that has been kept in our tanks should be released into the wild, but NEVER if it is not a local species. That is totally irresponsible, and what gives hobbyists a very bad name, and in particular people who try and keep sharks in small tanks :yes: IMO, if you have exhausted your options with selling it, etc, you are obligated to kill the animal before ever releasing it. Not to be harsh on you in particular, but it is a serious issue.

Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Monterey Bay Aquarium release a great white shark? :notsure: Haven't you seen Free Willy? Croc Hunter shark episode (where he releases all the bamboos) Surely he wouldn't do something that was detrimental to the sharks and their ecosystem... LOL...
No, I agree... Generally speaking, probably not a good practice (I'm not really one for prescriptive rules in this hobby). Definitely a not acceptable in the case of non-native species. :yes:
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
LOL, Yah, and does everyone know what happened to the whale that was Willy? (I really feel I can't even write without my favorite emoticons....ugh...insert smiley face here : D ). And I suppose if you don't hand feed bamboos and keep them only in systems that do not have "foreign" species of fish in them then you might not cross introduce pathogens. Which I think is true of the "outer bay" exhibit at monterey where the shark was kept - natural seawater, natural Pacific environment and fish. The issues I have with releasing animals are 1) whether they have come to depend entirely on human care and 2) whether they are native or not (or have been around non native fish that might thus introduce non native pathogens) to an area. In general, I think it is a bad idea. :yes:
As an aside, that outer bay cam is pretty cool :yes:
 
J

jcrim

Guest
Originally Posted by ophiura
and what gives hobbyists a very bad name, and in particular people who try and keep sharks in small tanks :yes: IMO, if you have exhausted your options with selling it, etc, you are obligated to kill the animal before ever releasing it.
Ophiura, I don't understand where the animosity is coming from. I rescued this particular animal from a 75 gallon tank at the lfs that he shared with 3 stingrays and a large zebra moray. He had been there four months. In any event, I did not claim that I was going to actually release this one, I merely asked for information on the subject.
 
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