My Dream Shark Tank

[AwesomePossum]

It’s finally happening! After years of dreaming I can finally begin planning out my dream shark tank and actually build it. It’s such a surreal feeling and I cannot wait to start.

My first step is brainstorming the exact fish I want for the tank. Just as an idea to gauge size, style, decor, filtration, e.t.c. The ultimate dream shark for me is a zebra shark. I love them and fortunately for me I have sourced a place that sells them on occasion. Naturally, they would require a giant tank and I am accounting for this.

My house has an extension that was added by the previous owners that my partner and I do not currently use. This is where we plan on adding the tank and a large filtration system.

My goal for the aquarium is to mimic a coral sea habitat as best as I can, focused around the zebra shark. If it’s possible, I would love to grow actual corals, however I’m not sure how this would go logistically with sharks and how I would get corals big enough. If anyone has done anything like this please let me know! I was thinking if it were feasible I would simply let the corals grow for months prior? The tank is going to be upwards of 7000 gallons.

As for fish, here is my potential list for species I want to include (please note I would not put all of these together, this is a list of what I could have as of now without extensive research on their compatibility, which will be done at a later stage);

- Zebra Shark (my dream fish
- Blacktip Reef Shark (depends on size of aquarium and availability and compatibility)
- Snowflake Eel (I’m very fond of their colors and I’ve heard lots of success stories with sharks and eels)
- Common or Banded Lionfish (I’ve heard mixed opinions about this one but maybe since the tank will be huge it could work? Needs extreme evaluation first though)
- Larger Butterflyfish (I’ve heard plenty of these guys picking shark eyes out, but I’m hoping I can find the most docile kind and the fact that the sharks I want are bigger will ward them off? Extensive research and inquiries are needed for this one)
- Tangs or Parrotfish (same situation as the butterfly fish)

Those are the fish so far, if anyone has advice or recommendations I’d love to hear them! Please no hate or telling me ‘the fish will pick their eyes out’ as I am aware they do that for smaller sharks, so unless it is specific to larger sharks I’d like to keep this thread clear of that.

I’d also love to hear large coral suggestions too! Thanks for reading my first update! I can’t wait to begin constructing the tank and eventually adding fish! The next post will be about construction plans and tank dimensions.

 

[GaryE]

I've only seen one "home" shark tank - a 16x16 tank the shark outgrew. It died. The usual formula I use (and it's personal - I don't worry of you disagree) is that a tank should be ten times the full adult size of a fish, measuring the front glass. That would be hard with a shark.

Aren't zebra sharks listed as threatened, with their numbers in serious decline?

I've helped friends with tanks I could crawl around in (I'm 6"3), and in fact a friend bought the old shark tank and redid it for freshwater rays. You'll have to build carefully, as I've seen them start to leak, too.

I don't know how much of a discussion will develop, as you aren't going to get many people out there who have considered your idea. First, you'd have an engineering project.

 

[AwesomePossum]

I've only seen one "home" shark tank - a 16x16 tank the shark outgrew. It died. The usual formula I use (and it's personal - I don't worry of you disagree) is that a tank should be ten times the full adult size of a fish, measuring the front glass. That would be hard with a shark.

Aren't zebra sharks listed as threatened, with their numbers in serious decline?

I've helped friends with tanks I could crawl around in (I'm 6"3), and in fact a friend bought the old shark tank and redid it for freshwater rays. You'll have to build carefully, as I've seen them start to leak, too.

I don't know how much of a discussion will develop, as you aren't going to get many people out there who have considered your idea. First, you'd have an engineering project.

Yes for sure, that’s why this is so rough. I was not aware zebra sharks were threatened, I guess I assumed they weren’t since a local place sold them from time to time. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I’ll remove them from the list and inquire about why the FS is selling them.

I look forward to the engineering part and I’ll post the highlights of it here if it’s allowed, the actual construction of the tank has been planned for well over a year and will hopefully come together quickly. I’m aware leaks could happen but the crew building it have done several other large tanks (smaller than what I want) and they’ve been great so far. I’ll have cameras too to monitor any damage or leaks.

This discussion is more for me to document my process of figuring out what fish I want and the realistic part of it all.

 

[Seisage]

I'm glad you're removing the zebra shark from your plans. They're beautiful animals, but I have serious concerns about legal sourcing in addition to the fact that they get to be rather massive—over 8ft long. Some animals can genuinely only be ethically kept in large public institutions.

You mentioned black-tips. They're smaller than zebras, and aren't threatened, but they still grow to be over 5ft long. Even if you reduce the size formula from Gary's 10x (which is a number I agree with) down to 8x, you're still looking at a 40' long tank. And that's only length, not even considering width or height. Black-tips also swim continuously—they need to in order to breathe (which I'm sure you know) and as such, they need large amounts of space. Probably much more than 8x their body length. Even in public aquaria with truly massive ballroom-sized tanks, sharks still get noserub from habitual wall-surfing.

The parrotfish and tangs and lionfish will probably do wonderfully, but I'd re-consider sharks. If you are dead-set though, I'd pitch bamboo sharks, epaulette sharks, or one of the smaller catsharks to you. Their size and behavior is better suited for a home situation and I think they're not uncommonly captive-bred. I don't know about their ability to cohab with other sharks, but you could probably house multiple as long as they wouldn't be aggressive. You might have to adjust your other inhabitants to avoid aggression from that side, but I think it's better to plan around a shark species you know won't outgrow your tank.

Really what I would recommend is making friends with an aquarist at a public institution, or reaching out very politely to one who's a stranger to ask questions. Ultimately, they would be the best-equipped to make an educated guess about appropriate stocking for your tank.

 

[GaryE]

I once gave a talk at the New England Aquarium, and they let me wander freely through the behind the scenes part of their set up. I noted the lack of boxes - tanks were curved without corners. The best were the giant cheese wheel tanks with jellyfish.
I've never gotten into the shark mystique. When I was new corresponded to when the salt water hobby was starting to have its own stores, and as a teenager, I saw a lot of young sharks for sale. That very quickly died out, I assume because of the difficulties of keeping them alive and well.
Whether you're into salt or freshwater (as I am), a fundamental rule for success is never to look at a fish as it is. Look at it for what your research says it could become. If it's 3 inches long, that doesn't matter because if you don't kill it, and it can grow to 3 feet, you just bought a 3 foot fish at an early stage, and you'd better have a tank NOW to deal with it,
I know that's your plan, but this thread will probably get a lot of views, so I think it's worth saying.

Are you going with acrylic? And will you have to swim in there to do cleaning?

 

[Colin_T]

No black tips because they are fast moving and live in groups.
Zebra shark gets too big too.

Small bottom dwelling sharks like catsharks, Port Jackson sharks and maybe small species of stingrays would be a better choice. They don't grow as big and don't swim as much so are better suited to aquariums.

Snowflake eels and lionfish are fine. Just make sure you know where the lionfish is before doing any work in the tank. Lots of people get stung by them when they stick their hand behind a rock. Eels jump so you need really good covers.

Never heard of butterflyfish or parrot fish picking at the eyes of other fish, let alone sharks.

Corals are slow growing and take decades to get big. You might be able to find a shop that can order you in large corals, but they would cost a heap. You would be better off starting with small corals and letting them grow. If you haven't kept corals before, set up a smallish tank (3 foot) now and start keeping some of the smaller cheaper corals to learn about them.

If you want a large aquarium, it can cost a lot and usually ends up too small for the fish you want in it. Some people get aquaculture ponds and use them instead. If you have it indoors, insulate the base and heat the room. Get some 500 watt LED spotlights and fit them above the pond. Put some beach sand on the bottom, add a heap of limestone rocks to make the reef base. Let the pond cycle and then add small corals to it. After they have been there for 6 months, add some fish. You can add a few snails beforehand to help clean up the algae.

 

[AwesomePossum]

I'm glad you're removing the zebra shark from your plans. They're beautiful animals, but I have serious concerns about legal sourcing in addition to the fact that they get to be rather massive—over 8ft long. Some animals can genuinely only be ethically kept in large public institutions.

You mentioned black-tips. They're smaller than zebras, and aren't threatened, but they still grow to be over 5ft long. Even if you reduce the size formula from Gary's 10x (which is a number I agree with) down to 8x, you're still looking at a 40' long tank. And that's only length, not even considering width or height. Black-tips also swim continuously—they need to in order to breathe (which I'm sure you know) and as such, they need large amounts of space. Probably much more than 8x their body length. Even in public aquaria with truly massive ballroom-sized tanks, sharks still get noserub from habitual wall-surfing.

The parrotfish and tangs and lionfish will probably do wonderfully, but I'd re-consider sharks. If you are dead-set though, I'd pitch bamboo sharks, epaulette sharks, or one of the smaller catsharks to you. Their size and behavior is better suited for a home situation and I think they're not uncommonly captive-bred. I don't know about their ability to cohab with other sharks, but you could probably house multiple as long as they wouldn't be aggressive. You might have to adjust your other inhabitants to avoid aggression from that side, but I think it's better to plan around a shark species you know won't outgrow your tank.

Really what I would recommend is making friends with an aquarist at a public institution, or reaching out very politely to one who's a stranger to ask questions. Ultimately, they would be the best-equipped to make an educated guess about appropriate stocking for your tank.

Ok I’ll probably do that as it seems my FS has been giving me lots of false information. (Also my fault because I hadn’t double checked yet). Maybe I’ll switch to a various butterfly fish instead and give up on sharks.

 

[AwesomePossum]

I once gave a talk at the New England Aquarium, and they let me wander freely through the behind the scenes part of their set up. I noted the lack of boxes - tanks were curved without corners. The best were the giant cheese wheel tanks with jellyfish.
I've never gotten into the shark mystique. When I was new corresponded to when the salt water hobby was starting to have its own stores, and as a teenager, I saw a lot of young sharks for sale. That very quickly died out, I assume because of the difficulties of keeping them alive and well.
Whether you're into salt or freshwater (as I am), a fundamental rule for success is never to look at a fish as it is. Look at it for what your research says it could become. If it's 3 inches long, that doesn't matter because if you don't kill it, and it can grow to 3 feet, you just bought a 3 foot fish at an early stage, and you'd better have a tank NOW to deal with it,
I know that's your plan, but this thread will probably get a lot of views, so I think it's worth saying.

Are you going with acrylic? And will you have to swim in there to do cleaning?

Yes I’m aware I need to look at the fish for what it will become, but thanks for the reminder! The plan is currently acrylic and yes, I would swim in it to clean it. Thanks for also bringing up the lack of boxes! I wanted to just have rounded edges since I read sharks hate corners, not as good as a circle I suppose but I’m hoping it could work well.

 

[AwesomePossum]

No black tips because they are fast moving and live in groups.
Zebra shark gets too big too.

Small bottom dwelling sharks like catsharks, Port Jackson sharks and maybe small species of stingrays would be a better choice. They don't grow as big and don't swim as much so are better suited to aquariums.

Snowflake eels and lionfish are fine. Just make sure you know where the lionfish is before doing any work in the tank. Lots of people get stung by them when they stick their hand behind a rock. Eels jump so you need really good covers.

Never heard of butterflyfish or parrot fish picking at the eyes of other fish, let alone sharks.

Corals are slow growing and take decades to get big. You might be able to find a shop that can order you in large corals, but they would cost a heap. You would be better off starting with small corals and letting them grow. If you haven't kept corals before, set up a smallish tank (3 foot) now and start keeping some of the smaller cheaper corals to learn about them.

If you want a large aquarium, it can cost a lot and usually ends up too small for the fish you want in it. Some people get aquaculture ponds and use them instead. If you have it indoors, insulate the base and heat the room. Get some 500 watt LED spotlights and fit them above the pond. Put some beach sand on the bottom, add a heap of limestone rocks to make the reef base. Let the pond cycle and then add small corals to it. After they have been there for 6 months, add some fish. You can add a few snails beforehand to help clean up the algae.

Yeah I think I’ll just have to give up on my shark dreams for now and go with other reef fish instead. I’ve just heard lots about fish picking at eyes of sharks and rays, particularly butterfly fish. Maybe they don’t and I just know fish keepers who think nothing should go together, who knows.

I know the coral part was a stretch and it would cost huge amounts of money. More of a faraway dream in reality. I have kept many corals before, I just like to fantasize of having massive ones in a massive tank I suppose. It most likely won’t work in the end and I’ll just have to order synthetic ones.

 

[Seisage]

If you're thinking of pivoting to smaller reef fish, you could consider desjardini tangs. I saw one in person at a saltwater shop once and it was one of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen, especially with its fins flared. Very calm, but bold. The shop manager let me hold some dried nori for it to nibble at. Would've eaten out of my hand if I'd let it. They're pretty pricey though, and are all wild-caught, so it may take some sleuthing to find a good, sustainable source.

 

[AwesomePossum]

If you're thinking of pivoting to smaller reef fish, you could consider desjardini tangs. I saw one in person at a saltwater shop once and it was one of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen, especially with its fins flared. Very calm, but bold. The shop manager let me hold some dried nori for it to nibble at. Would've eaten out of my hand if I'd let it. They're pretty pricey though, and are all wild-caught, so it may take some sleuthing to find a good, sustainable source.

I just looked them up and they are gorgeous! I’ll look into them. I’m not usually a huge fan of WC fish however due to some bad experiences in the past and just the fact that well kept ones are so hard to find. Thanks for the suggestion I’ll search my LFS!