Why are sharks not reef safe?

[blondenaso1]

I posted this in the reef forum and someone told me to try here....
Other then the obvious reason that they are canivorous, why are they not reef safe? If kept in a large reef tank with corals and other larger fish like Naso Tangs then would they be able to coexist. Do they harm invertibrates? What if you kept them well fed? Would they hurt the corals? I just think it would be cool to have a shark such as a coral banded in a large reef tank and wondering why not? Has anyone ever attemped this?

 

[blondenaso1]

Thanks Ed, good info. That was about on the lines of what I was thinking. I wonder if anyone has ever tryed to keep a shark in a reef tank with any success?

 

[risc]

Sharks aren't 'reef safe'. Reasons being:
1. They are too large
2. The eat corals, inverts, and other fish
3. The will tip over, knock around and tear apart rock work
4. Their messy feeding and large amount of ammonia they release into the water is toxic for reef tanks.
5. Sharks can injure their delicate bodies on rock work and become in ill or contract a bacterial infection
If you have a large enough tank a coral cat shark can live in a reef tank as long as you make sure the rock work is secured so if they dig things up the rocks wont fall and crush them. And you can't keep them with fish that will pick on them or eat their flesh. You just have to manage accordingly. So the fact of the matter is, it's just not a good idea.
In the wild, yes, sharks live in reefs, however they are much larger reefs in a vast ocean where nature takes its course. A 50 to 4000 gallon tank is never a substitue for an ocean no matter how well you maintain it.
Jim