Shark Tank...

[tangboy]

The pastor at my church has decided that he is going to start looking for a tank to hous a shark! He is wanting one about 300g and is wanting me to try and make some connections with people who have knowledge about keeping sharks (Will be bugging Matt of course) and possibly know of a used setup forsale. If you have any info that would be of benifit just toss me a PM. Appreciate your time!
-geoff

 

[Fishboy42]

The epoxy-painted wooden "shark lagoon" has been a very rewarding project, but the major drawback of course is that it only offers a top-down view of the animals. When they become tame, they splash at the surface and disturb the view

We have an extra shark (a large male epaulette shark, Hemiscyllium ocellatum) when he is ready to stock the tank if he would be interested. We ended up with two males (they don't tolerate each other in this species), so we had to separate them...

If he is looking at doing a custom acrylic tank, there are quite a few good custom manufacturers. One that I might suggest is tru vu aquariums in CA based on some of the work they've done for us:
http://www.truvuaquariums.com/170gto300g.html

 

[tangboy]

Thanks Matt, I figured you might have a say in this thread. I will have to ask the Pastor this week, maybe Monday during Parent Teacher Conferences, what his budget is for starting the project and projected budget for maintenance. Maybe you could list a few of the requirements you're finding with your sharks you're working with now. What I mean is what are the dietary issues, equipment needed, etc etc. Thanks again!

-geoff

 

[tribal21]

Hello I hate to bump the thread here but I am looking to possably start a shark tank also..I need some in put alot..I have been running salt for a while and I am ready to step up and do some thing bigger and better.. I just bought a 190 and in the process of setting it up..was thinking about putting a shark in..I would like to talk to some one that has had sharks in the past to get a idea if this is something that I could take on...

Any input would be great..

 

[Fishboy42]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11066887#post11066887 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tangboy
Maybe you could list a few of the requirements you're finding with your sharks you're working with now. What I mean is what are the dietary issues, equipment needed, etc etc. Thanks again!

-geoff

We are still very much beginners with sharks, but we have simply followed the same philosophy as with other fish: provide a good/varied diet, good water quality, and proper habitat/space.

We feed our sharks mostly frozen seafoods such as table shrimp, krill, squid/octopus, silversides/lancefish, mysis shrimp (they are small, but the sharks seem to enjoy searching the bottom for them), mussels, our homemade gel-diet, etc. I did try Ocean Nutrition's "Shark Diet," but they didn't seem to like it and it smelled rancid to me. It may have just been a bad/spoiled batch, but we've stopped using frozen Formula foods on the clowns since the recipe changed and they don't like it anymore )

Oversizing everything is probably a good idea. This includes skimmer, biofilter, water movement, and the tank itself. We are running a large RK2 skimmer and bioreactor on the shark system to handle all of the wastes. It becomes clear how important they are for processing the wastes when you see how much food goes INTO that system. One can supposedly keep the smaller species happy in a tank as small as a 180g, but I find myself feeling sorry for the male that had to be moved into the 300g, and we all know how big that thing is

For tankmates, tangs and small, nonagressive fish are probably safe. Priscilla (Naso tang), Orby (batfish) and Linus (Kole tang) are the current tankmates. We will be adding a regal tang as soon as I can catch and move it. They seem to basically ignore the sharks (except that Priscilla is always trying to take the food from our hands as we feed them, and Orby has learned to scan the bottom for food that we have placed for the sharks).

Scott Michaels has a book about keeping sharks in aquariums that would make for a good study before actually starting on the project (I let a friend borrow my copy, so I haven't read it again since we got the sharks )

An online resource I recently found is Shark and Ray Central. You must register to view posts, but from the few posts that I have read, there is some good information there (some of the members are also RC regulars) about tanks, equipment, feeding, breeding, etc.

 

[tangboy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11079818#post11079818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fishboy42
We are still very much beginners with sharks, but we have simply followed the same philosophy as with other fish: provide a good/varied diet, good water quality, and proper habitat/space.

We feed our sharks mostly frozen seafoods such as table shrimp, krill, squid/octopus, silversides/lancefish, mysis shrimp (they are small, but the sharks seem to enjoy searching the bottom for them), mussels, our homemade gel-diet, etc. I did try Ocean Nutrition's "Shark Diet," but they didn't seem to like it and it smelled rancid to me. It may have just been a bad/spoiled batch, but we've stopped using frozen Formula foods on the clowns since the recipe changed and they don't like it anymore )

Oversizing everything is probably a good idea. This includes skimmer, biofilter, water movement, and the tank itself. We are running a large RK2 skimmer and bioreactor on the shark system to handle all of the wastes. It becomes clear how important they are for processing the wastes when you see how much food goes INTO that system. One can supposedly keep the smaller species happy in a tank as small as a 180g, but I find myself feeling sorry for the male that had to be moved into the 300g, and we all know how big that thing is

For tankmates, tangs and small, nonagressive fish are probably safe. Priscilla (Naso tang), Orby (batfish) and Linus (Kole tang) are the current tankmates. We will be adding a regal tang as soon as I can catch and move it. They seem to basically ignore the sharks (except that Priscilla is always trying to take the food from our hands as we feed them, and Orby has learned to scan the bottom for food that we have placed for the sharks).

Scott Michaels has a book about keeping sharks in aquariums that would make for a good study before actually starting on the project (I let a friend borrow my copy, so I haven't read it again since we got the sharks )

An online resource I recently found is Shark and Ray Central. You must register to view posts, but from the few posts that I have read, there is some good information there (some of the members are also RC regulars) about tanks, equipment, feeding, breeding, etc.

Matt,

Thanks for the input, I am going to do a LOT of research before I approach my pastor with any ideas. If he is going to put forth the money then I want to make sure I have done my research and let him know that I am not responsible for anything, I'm just giving him ideas that I have found from other people who have taken care of sharks etc.

I have my hands full with the two salt tanks at home, the 2 FW and 2 reef tanks at school so won't have much time to babysit a shark tank during the day/afternoons.

If I propose a shark tank I would definately push for a larger tank, but will need to check out that link to custom tanks. I was thinking more of a wide and deep tank with lots of movement around instead of a tall tank, I figure something they can swim figure 8's in or at least circles but not forced to. We'll see!

Thanks again

-geoff