Shark Selection

[rnelson]

My 240 FOWLR has been up and running for almost a month now.....right now I have a 12" SFE and a few huge turbo snails in it.....I'll be adding a Zebra eel soon. I've been reading RC, WetWebMedia, and lots of misc websites, trying to determine what kind of shark to keep.....the tank is 8' long but has only 20" front-to-back because it has a 4" depth overflow/WetDry area behind it that runs the entire length of the tank. I've got an Oceanic Sump, 4"-5" DSB with fine sand, about 250 lbs of LR stacked on the left and right with an open space in the middle. I have a Tunze skimmer, 2 Fluval 404's running carbon, and bioballs in the above-mentioned Wet/Dry area. Circulation is 2 Tunze 6060's at 3200 GPH.

I've narrowed it down to these:
Marbled Catshark (Atelomycterus macleayi) Max 20"
Coral Catshark (Atelomycterus marmoratus) Max 24"
Brown-Banded Bamboo (Chiloscyllium punctatum) Max 45"
White-Spotted Bamboo (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) Max 38"
Epaulette (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) Max 42"

The advantages of the 2 catsharks are their smaller size and their swimming patterns, ie. they don't "walk" like Epaulettes do.....BUT, I've heard they are not quite as maneuverable and are more aggressive than the others listed. I just got thru reading Scott Michaels book and he mentions their aggressiveness as well.

My LFS has a nice brown-banded for $24....it's already eating.....it's about 1 month old......seems like everyone has one of these though.....

Any opinions on the pros/cons of these sharks I've listed, particularly their suitability for my tank/filtration/tankmates, activity level, hardiness.....

Thanks!

 

[aurorafish]

All of those get longer than your tank is wide, not ideal living conditions. The shark will need to be able to turn around. If you get one be prepared to buy a larger tank down the road or try to work out a place to give it to once it reaches maturity. Not too many places have tanks large enought to house sharks, or want to.

 

[Petstorejunkie]

i would consult puffer queen when it comes to sharks, they are not my strong point, and she has a whole pond of them and can prolly give you some great advice.

 

[billsreef]

That tank isn't going to accomodate anything bigger than the catsharks. The others would grow to large to be able to turn around.

 

[rnelson]

Sounds like the catshark is the way to go then!

 

[mitzel]

I know somebody with an Eppullatte in a 240 , I'll see if I can get them to drop by and talk to you about it. The guy has the shark a ray a few tangs and a grouper and everybody in there looks great.

:wildone:

 

[billsreef]

That sounds awefully cramped.

Sometimes the question is not can we shoehorn a big fish in a small glass box, but should we.

 

[Pilot Fish]

The coral cat shark, and or the white spotted shark are two of the better choices. Even after buying my 375 I realized that you truely need a 600gal+ tank to make a lot of these sharks & rays comfortable enough to survive humanely in an artificial environment. I have been keeping these animals for almost 17years and I have learned a few things:

1.DON"T belive what the store tells you- very few of them are even vaguely versed on these animals most don't even know the proper name of the animal they are selling
2. Water quality can never be pure enough
3. No metal equipment in the system's water at all
4. Be extremely, extremely, extremely careful and research any medications for treatment of a shark or its tank mates
5. The bigger that tank the better-same with filtration & H2O changes
Hope this helps
Good Luck

 

[mitzel]

Well I can assure you that "IF" it was overstocked I would be one of the first to make a fuss.
To be honest I really don't need advice on what is "cramped". I was only offering to have a friend that has experiance with an EP to give some first hand information. I wasn't suggesting this poster should go out and get a shark and a ton of other fish. So please save the shoe horn speach for somebody trying to turn a 55 into an aggressive



:wildone:

 

[kentrob11]

I really don't think the attitude was necessary. Bill was simply stating that there are issues with keeping that assortment of animals in a tank that size. I am far from a tree hugger but I think there are limits that the practical thinker needs to consider when getting into this kind of stuff. Whether you meant it that way or not, you came across as stating the possibility of what COULD be done successfully by mentioning the "success" of your friend's system with those fish in it. No matter how you look at it, keeping a fish in a tank that it can barely turn around in is inhumane and yes, I speak from personal experience. I had a 240 with a leopard shark, a grey smooth hound, a blue spot ray and a 36" snowflake moray. Sure, they are fine in there at the beginning but inevitably outgrow the tank and then the real issues start.

Getting back to the topic at hand, I will agree that your only option is one of several species of cat sharks, which will get big enough to have trouble turning around in a 20" wide tank. The thing is, keeping a catshark most often ends up being a lot less eventful than is initially anticipated, since they spend a lot of time laying around doing nothing. When I got into them, I was attracted to the graceful pacing and movement of the sharks and after having a marbled cat shark for a few months, I got bored of it and replaced it with the other two. The closest fish I could compare the activity of a cat shark to would be a SPS goby- Sitting around most of the time but moves around when fed....

 

[rnelson]

Thanks for all the replies....

PilotFish,
I know that metals will adversely affect sharks (ampullae of Lorenzini)... how do you provide water circulation in a tank then? I've got a couple of Tunze Stream 6060's....they are earthed (3-prong) and only use 11W. I have a grounding probe in the tank also.

I've been researching tankmates alot......there will be a SFE and a Zebra Eel, probably a goatfish.....in Scott Michaels book, he recommends Blue-Head wrasses and Mexican Rainbow wrasses as possible tankmates. He also suggests a Passer Angel....supposedly they act as cleaners for sharks......I love Angels but was not planning on getting one for this tank since some of them have been known to pick at sharks, especially the eyes (same with most triggers and puffers, although a Blue-Jaw Trigger is on my list of possible tankmates also). In addition to the 2 eels and shark, I'll probably have 2 other fish at most, since keeping the water clean is going to be hard enough without overstocking.

 

[kentrob11]

Sounds like you are doing some good research. I would invest in a large, strong skimmer for your system as these larger aggressive fish can put out some serious crap. I would get a skimmer rated for a minimum of 500 gallons....They can get expensive but if you're a good DIY'er you could build one yourself without having to take out a second mortgage....Do you have access to another room or a basement for your filtration equipment?

 

[rnelson]

My Tunze skimmer is rated for 396....maybe I need to add a second one on there.....

Unfortunately I don't have another room or basement......the "fish room" has this 240 FOWLR and my 240 Reef. I used to have them on a wireless webcam, but for some reason the web server in the cam went south on me.

Here are a couple of pics:

 

[kentrob11]

Yeah- another recirculating needlewheel skimmer would be a good idea...I really like your aquascaping on that tank!

 

[rnelson]

I've thought about getting a Deltec MCE600 and hanging it off the back of the tank....

Thanks for the aquascaping comment....I usually would spread the rocks out more, but I wanted a big open area for the shark. Also I built a cave and a ledge on the right side for him.

I have a piece of 2" PVC under both piles of rocks for the eels. So far the SFE doesn't get it them much, but, he's small and is more comfortable with a smaller hole right now....

 

[BJJ]

Hi Rnelson,

Nice tank, One method generaly recomended for keeping sharks is to minimize the amount of aquascaping. Typically this can be acheived by sipply having the LR placed more in the centre of the tank allowing the shark to use the outer perimeter to swim. This should also give the sahrk a little more room to turn at the ends of the tank.

IMO the Cat sharks would probably be the best, but the problem is that they are less available than the bamboo's.

Oh yeah... If possible employ some means of an automatic water top-off. This will control fluctuations in salinity which sharks are sensitive to.

Good luck.

 

[rnelson]

BJJ,

Nice tank....is that a Horn Shark?

and yes, I do have an auto topoff system in place.

 

[calvin415]

This place always seems to have a Marbled Cat Shark Atelomycterus macleayi listed, you might try contacting them. Personally I think you have a little too much rock for a shark, but I love the way it looks.

http://www.thepetstop.com/showprofile.cgi?index=6143&cat=livestock.fish.sharks&loc=&listpage=1

 

[rnelson]

CAlvin,

Yeah, I've wondered about that too.....I wanted as much rock as possible for the filtration, plus I wanted plenty of hiding places for the 2 eels.....kind of a trade-off I realize.....on the right pile the shark can swim all the way around it....when I was stacking that side, I made sure to leave a gap at sand level....I didn't start stacking rocks against the back wall until about 6" off the sand level, so he should be able to swim back there too.....not so on the left side.....I stacked it first and didn't think about doing it that way until it was already done.....thanks for the tip about thepetshop.....I've found 3 sites so far that sell Catsharks....they are kind of hard to find.


For those of you with these smaller sharks, do they ever move during the day? I'm just trying to get a feel for their activity level.

 

[jjcrim]

Here's a pic of my eppaullette in a 220. Eventually I plan to upgrade when necessary. A bottom dweller in your 240 would be fine for a long time. To compare a bottom dweller to leopards and smoothounds is just asinine. That's like comparing a snail to the roadrunner. That being said, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

It's so easy to flame shark owners... takes no thought at all. Hear the word shark and automatically respond no just to sound intelligent. I enjoy hearing people think they can ascertain the happiness of sharks/fish to such a degree that they can specify within mere inches what will make the animal "happy".

It's funny. Just do some research and focus on bottom dwellers and there is no reason not to try one of these amazing animals. People like to criticize but, of course, opinions are like a--holes... everyone's got one.