Shark tank?????'s
- Thread starter A3zrider
- Start date
Doc Hammer
New member
Sharks are in trouble as is, with the culling of thousands after one person gets so much as a leg taken off of them, the mass slaughter of them for their fins for a soup, and their deaths at the hands of irresponsible beach officials that think that throwing gill nets up along miles of coast line are going to some how stop sharks from scaring their precious beach goers away, so it's safe to say that OWNING a shark is just as irresponible and silly as all these other practices. I mean, I'm the guy that doesn't even like to see sharks at public aquairums, let alone private ownership!
Doc Hammer
New member
What we're trying to say is that we hope you have atleast half a million dollars and are willing to devote 50% of your life to this large animal. 
firedogg2
New member
Hey A3zrider,
I wanted to share my experience with you, hope it helps. I was in you same shoes a few years ago. I had a 150 gal that was fish only and I wanted to take them out and put in a shark. I started with a Bamboo shark. Very pretty shark but very boring. They're only active at night and he was very small for a 150 gal tank. So I traded him in for a Nurse shark. When I got him he was 12 in. Very cool shark very active just the coolest damn thing to have in my living room. But then he began to grow. Within 6 months he well outgrew the tank. He was over 24in and had to swim up just to make a turn instead of just turning. He made the water look yellow all the time. I was doing big water changes all the time just to keep the water clean, and I had pretty good filtration. Lastly, he began eating better than me. I was buying jumbo shrimp and squid form the grocery store like twice a week. Also you can’t just feed them less. Trust me they let you know when they want to eat. Its not fun having to clean up the 10gals of water he splashed out of the tank to let you know hes hungry. It just became to much. Its very cool but trust me you will get sick of it quick and I don't think its fair to take an animal out of the wild and throw him in captivity that’s too small for him. There are many other cool things you can do with your 120, I think in the long run you would be much happier. Well I hope this helps. Good luck to you.
Casey
I wanted to share my experience with you, hope it helps. I was in you same shoes a few years ago. I had a 150 gal that was fish only and I wanted to take them out and put in a shark. I started with a Bamboo shark. Very pretty shark but very boring. They're only active at night and he was very small for a 150 gal tank. So I traded him in for a Nurse shark. When I got him he was 12 in. Very cool shark very active just the coolest damn thing to have in my living room. But then he began to grow. Within 6 months he well outgrew the tank. He was over 24in and had to swim up just to make a turn instead of just turning. He made the water look yellow all the time. I was doing big water changes all the time just to keep the water clean, and I had pretty good filtration. Lastly, he began eating better than me. I was buying jumbo shrimp and squid form the grocery store like twice a week. Also you can’t just feed them less. Trust me they let you know when they want to eat. Its not fun having to clean up the 10gals of water he splashed out of the tank to let you know hes hungry. It just became to much. Its very cool but trust me you will get sick of it quick and I don't think its fair to take an animal out of the wild and throw him in captivity that’s too small for him. There are many other cool things you can do with your 120, I think in the long run you would be much happier. Well I hope this helps. Good luck to you.
Casey
ArgonDreams
Premium Member
This is sensationalism, but I agree with everyone here on this subject.
earthboy17
New member
At first I was kinda siding with you, A3. But a lot of people have made some very valid points.
One counter argument that I was thinking is that if you catch the shark, that kind of puts its life-credit in your bank. But I thought about it for .5 second and realized that's a stupid argument.
One thing that I thought was that you could catch one, throw it in the tank (as a fisherman I love the idea of catching a fish and then keeping it as a pet!), and then when it gets too big catch it and release it again. Kind of like a fish rental.
That way you'd get your predatory shark, it'd be small enough for your tank, and then when it started to get big you take it back and set it free. No harm no foul, right?
But then, what if, since the shark had related humans and food, it bothered swimmers looking for an easy meal. It would scare the bejeebus out of people, not to mention if it actually bit someone!
So I feel for you, I really do. My impulsive nature knows where you're coming from. But in this hobby, we've gotta repress it, do the responsible thing, etc. etc. etc. I'd pass on it.
Send me a PM and let me know what you end up doing.
One counter argument that I was thinking is that if you catch the shark, that kind of puts its life-credit in your bank. But I thought about it for .5 second and realized that's a stupid argument.
One thing that I thought was that you could catch one, throw it in the tank (as a fisherman I love the idea of catching a fish and then keeping it as a pet!), and then when it gets too big catch it and release it again. Kind of like a fish rental.
That way you'd get your predatory shark, it'd be small enough for your tank, and then when it started to get big you take it back and set it free. No harm no foul, right?
But then, what if, since the shark had related humans and food, it bothered swimmers looking for an easy meal. It would scare the bejeebus out of people, not to mention if it actually bit someone!
So I feel for you, I really do. My impulsive nature knows where you're coming from. But in this hobby, we've gotta repress it, do the responsible thing, etc. etc. etc. I'd pass on it.
Send me a PM and let me know what you end up doing.
kau_cinta_ku
New member
the prob. with ppl keeping fish and then releasing them back into the ocean when they don't want them again is not a very good idea. as they can get dieseses that normally wouldn't be found in the ocean and they won't be immune to it. then if you relese it and it spreads to others it could kill alot of fish this way. I have read an artical about a person that did this with salmon, and it nearly whiped out the whole population in that area because of a diesiese that was not from there and they wern't immune to it.
so don't think you can release them when they get to big. also if you get cought doing that it can lead to a very heafty fine.
kathainbowen
New member
This is also the reason that, despite reef enthusiasts' best intentions and hopes of restarting dead or dying reefs with frags and aquacultured corals that it would never work. There's just too large of a chance of introducing pathogens, little macro organisms, and parasites from parts of the world that are not native to that area. It's definitely a situation of our hearts are just far bigger than our heads when it comes to releasing things to the wild, when it comes to both that and the humanization factor.
Southern Boy
New member
Wow what a good thread! Want to buy a bambbo shark?LOL yea he eats alot and grows between 1-2 " a month.If you want a shark they are good.But take the advice of the others.There are rasons they are mostly only found in big public aquariums.I feel your want though.As an avid diver and fisherman I would love to have a 9' nurse shark like the one I bumped into yesturday while chaseing an elusive lobster.When he came out from under that ledge he didn,t look happy.I wanted a shark bad and got it now I'm gettin rid of him.All he does is nock over corals on a daily bases.I think I spend more time cleaning up after him than I do enjoying the rest of the tank.But big sharks wern't ment to be in a bottle.I just watched a special on tiger sharks an they attached a beacon on him and watched its travels.It went from africa to austalia in a very short amount of time.Imagine going from that to a total stetch of 6-8'.Not much room.But good luck.I can't remember the name but there is a site like this that is just about sharks.I learned alot on there whle I was waiting for my egg to hatch.
earthboy17
New member
whoa, you got your shark from an egg? How cool!
i have an idea - why not try a columbian shark? There not full saltwater but are a brackish water fish - here is an offsite link with some info - http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=747
