Need some help saving a shark

Waddleboy

New member
This is also in reef discussion but after someone mentioned it should go here i decided to repost it here:

Hey everyone. Please dont turn this into a thread about bashing about equipment and tank size as this is about trying to save an animal.

Yesterday i went into petco where i saw what i think is a banded cat shark. The sign said up for adoption and i asked what happened. The story was the night before at 9pm when they were closing someone dropped him off along with six other fish, a ray, and snowflake eel in a bucket with 4" of water. They didnt drip him and dumped him into the tank. Over night the sump ran low and stopped circulating water into the tank and spewed a lot of micro bubbles into the tank. The tank he was in was about 30 gal? with angels, tangs, chromis, and the shark. The shark was breathing heavy being picked on by the other fish and didnt look well. They said he probably wouldnt make it and they had nothing they could do. I offered that if he was alive today i would take him and low and behold he was, still look in bad shape but i took him home in hope i could keep him alive and nurse him back to health

The shark isnt more than 3-4" and was hatched at home from an egg. He hasnt eaten in about 2 days and is still breathing heavy. I currently have him in my qt. I dripped him for about an hour and matched the salinity petco had which was 1.016. I placed him in and he went belly side up. I flipped him over and now he is resting on the floor breathing heavy but doesnt look dead. He has been in for about 2 hours now and has moved from the spot i put him in.

My plan is to revive him, get him eating, move him into my 150 and nurse him back to health. I know i cant keep him forever in this size tank and will plan on looking for a home for him whether its a person or a larger aquarium facility. I just couldnt let a poor animal die without at least been given a fighting chance to survive.

I am asking RC for help. I dont have any experience with sharks other than what i have read on RC over the years and what i have heard. That being said I am willing to listen to save this poor animal. Does anyone have any advice on what can be done for him or what i can do to help him? I am going to let him rest tonight and tomorrow see if I can get him to start eating small foods soaked in vitamins and garlic that i feed to my anemones and other fish. Thanks in advance

Transport from petco


First introduced into qt


About 1hr in the qt tank
 
I hope he makes it, I wish you good luck.

If you can, I would recommend sending either alprazo or griseum your questions, they both seem to be great with sharks and hopefully will be be able to help you save this guy
 
I'd definitely get the s.g. up, sharks like it ocean level. But do it slow.


Posted from ReefCentral.com App for Android
 
Aw...that poor baby. People ooh and ahh about kittens and puppies, but how on earth could a person buy a shark egg, hatch it, and then treat the baby that way?!?! You'd THINK after hatching him the person would feel some maternal/paternal obligation for the little guy.

Kudos to you for giving him a chance. I wish you two the best.
 
Thanks everyone for the help. Unfortunately he passed over night... Must have been the stress. It's sad how some people have no respect for animals that they call their pets
 
Right off the bat, the salt level was too low for a pup like that. You probably started behind the curve if it was being kept poorly to start with. Pups are very sensative - especially right out of the egg like that. Chances are it was not a savable animal.

Next time, you're best bet would be acclimate it up to proper salinity instead of dripping down to match the lower level.

And for whatever it's worth, that's a brown banded bamboo shark - not a catshark.
 
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