Question for the Shark Keepers

[forddna]

How much maintenance is required on a shark only tank? Do they make a lot of waste?

 

[dossfj]

Yes, most saltwater sharks are quite large(2.5-6.5 feet covers most commonly kept sharks) and as such produce alot of waste. They are also really messy eaters and need to be fed often. Powerful protein skimming! Also generally recommended are canister filters, sand filters, uv sterilizer, bio balls, and refugium, though personally I just do the protein skimmer, canister filter and refugium. What kind of shark are you looking at?

FYI I am in no way an expert. Have one shark in a big aquarium now, and am in the beginning process of building my shark pond(14x7 )

 

[college429]

I have had two whitespotted bamboos is a 180 for 3+ years. My only filter is a sump with rock. I do use a good protein skimmer. My sharks are quite happy and layed eggs this year. I feed them every third day. Predators don't need to be fed everyday.
Some damsel fish clean up any small bits they don't eat. Just do regular water changes to keep the water quality good.

 

[forddna]

Two bamboos in a 180? Cool. What skimmer/model are you running? What other fish are you keeping?

 

[college429]

It is a octopus. I am not sure of the model. Fits inside my 50 gallon sump. Only have some damsels in with them. I have a created a ledge our of pvc pipe and eggcrate with rock on top. The entire bottom of the tank is open, with just the pvc pipe, so they can swim around the entire bottom. My goal was always to raise them from babies and breed them. Now that they have layed eggs, I will be selling them in a few weeks. Later this summer I will sell the babies, and then the complete set up. Moving on to another hobby. I see you are from Zephyrhills, I am in Tampa, not too far if your interested in buying these sharks.

 

[CPL_DSM]

I run two protein skimmers, sump w/ bio balls, two canister filters, and UV sterilizer. I also have the grounding rod. In side the tank I have some water flow with power heads just so waste doesn't settle. I do about 15 gallon water change once a week. I say maintance isn't to bad. I just try to keep the tank clean of food that isn't eaten.