Bamboo shark

[Pjot]

I just recently bought an 18inch bamboo shark. She will only eat shrimp, but is never really hungry for it. I have to hold the shrimp at front of her for a couple of minutes before she eats.
How much and how often do I have to feed her, and when should I worry if she gets enough to eat.

 

[FishyMel]

You should feed her every 2-3 days but they can go several weeks without food.

She is probably on strike from new surroundings. How long have you had her? If it has only been a few days I would be too worried yet. Try some mysis shrimp, they make a good introductory food.

 

[Pjot]

She been going in my tank for a couple of weeks. I tried to have much LR in the tank, but she always finds a little hole to get stuck in. Now I only have 5 large LR in the tank, but I worry about the filtration with so little LR. She have eaten 3 shrimps today, and the last one she took quite fast. I think I have the right aquascaping for her now, and I will not bother her again. The tank is about 150-200gallon (740L).

Do you mind describe your setup of the 150g shark and ray tank.? Picture would be nice to. Thank you.

 

[Pjot]

The mysis I know is the one frosen in cubes. The shrimps are not more than a centimeter long. Do I feed her a hole frozen cube? That dont make sence to me.

 

[Fishfreak218]

try larger shrimp such as Krill

 

[FishyMel]

For mine I just have 4 peices of live rock. I just got rid of my banded bamboo that I hatched myself becuase they get 3 1/2 feet long which needs atleast a 400 gallons IMO. I replaced her with a smaller marbled cat shark which average 18-24 inches in home aquaria, which is much reasonable size. Still I am saving up for a larger aquarium for her in the future.

For now for you I'd make sure you keep your nitrates lower than 30, but IMO lower than 20 ppm. You shouldn't have very much LR in the tank because they really do need the swimming space at night; 5 peices is a reasonable amount.

In my area I can buy very large mysis called PE Mysis which is pretty large and comes in plates. I wouldn't feed her mysis cubes, that would indicate very small mysis. Try krill if you can't get krill, I like Prosalt. Grocery store shrimp are always kind of risky because they can be loaded with preservatives.

 

[FishyMel]

Well...I guess I should qualify. I haven't sold my bamboo yet. I moved her to a smaller tank temporarily while I figure out what to do with her longterm. I have a friend who is interested in her, but I am trying go figure out if she would go with my marble for awhile, or if I need to re-home her immediately. At the present time she is only 8 inches long and I don't know if the marble would harm her if I put them together because she is half as big, or if would be okay, for awhile. Any opinoins? I know eventually she will outgrow a 150 but I can I keep her until that time and try her with my marble and ray, or should I just re-home her now?

 

[krj-1168]

For now for you I'd make sure you keep your nitrates lower than 30, but IMO lower than 20 ppm.

Ummm... for Sharks - evevn 20 ppm is too high. At 20 ppm sharks usuallly start developing health problems.

Best is complete de-nitrification - 0 ppm for Nitrates, Nitrites & Ammonia. But certainly no higher than 5 ppm.

 

[FishyMel]

Krj- anyone?what is the best to completely denitrify in a shark/ray setup. Even with a refugium liverock for a filter, protein skimming and water changes, I can't keep my predator tank below 30. My shark tank is running around 15 right now, and I do 25% weekly water changes to mantain this.