My New Silver-Tipped Sharks

[Supraman]

well finally got my big tank set up, and decided to go with a shark tank  
 
well here are some pics of my new friends.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
i love the last few pics  
 
these guys are really really active in the tank, by far my favorite fish I have ever had. Cant wait for them to get bigger so I have incentive to build my 150 gallon tank. If these pics are to big im sorry. I will fix them when I have acess to a computer and not off my cell.
 
 

 

[MartinS]

You are aware these get up to 14"SL? Although they ar quite tolerant of freshwater, should be moved gradually from fresh or slightly brackish) into 100% marine as they grow.
It's not a criticism, but many people buy these fish not knowing their eventual size and the water requirements.
Martin

 

[Supraman]

I'm aware of their size and that they need brackish as well, once they hit around 5-6 inches I will begin the transition and I am building a 150gal tank in the summer, but thanks for looking out.

 

[Wills]

Glad to hear about the upgrade When you say building a 150? Why not buy a 180? They are quite a standard size and reasonably easy to pick up second hand.
 
I knew someone who had 2 or 3 in a big tank with other brackish fish like Chromides and a few Gobies the tank was stunning!! Certainly a very nice niche to explore
 
Wills

 

[Supraman]

I only have one spot in my house to accommodate a large tank and a 180 is to long to fit in my area unfortunately. I'd love a a 180 but also no LFS carry such a large tank, and the nearest place that does is a 6.5 hour drive. But totally worth it.

Also don't mind all the horrid plastic decor, it's all left over items from previous tanks. It now has a small piece of drift wood in it and a nice big rock, I will be planting this aquarium just need more cash to do so.

 

[Wills]

Ah I see I have been in that situation before but unable to build my own tank and had to compensate with a smaller one Where are you from? If you are in the UK I can recommend ND aqautics for big tanks, free delivery and they often have good offers on big tanks might be worth checking out
 
Wills

 

[Supraman]

I'm in Canada unfortunately

 

[Wills]

ah right look forward to seeing this progress seeing big tanks build and grow is always fascinating - I have a 6 footer my self and can appreciate just how much planning they take I have taken 3 or 4 routes with mine and its changed a fair bit over time some through my own choices, some through things going wrong
 
good luck and keep us posted!
 
Wills

 

[Supraman]

Well unfortunately two nights ago I had a major spike in ph and ammonia taking both sharks and a tetra.

I plan on swapping this tank to a full brackish tank and going to a sand substrate instead of gravel and trying again.

 

[Wills]

aww no that sucks!! Any ideas what caused it? Its best to work out what it is first before you start again (unless you have already worked it out )
 
I think swapping to brackish is a good idea if the sharks are your ultimate goal as is adding sand 9 out of 10 times it makes a massive difference to catfish
 
Wills

 

[Supraman]

I know both reasons ,

Ph was caused by a nice rock I had in the tank, after removing my levels went to 7.8, I've adde driftwood in since then to help lower the ph some more.

And my ammonia was because of a fish in cycle, my local fish store said to buy some " tester fish " and add more in after two weeks if they all lived. I was unaware at the time about fish less cycling. When I switch to brackish i will do it properly so I do not harm any more innocent fish.

 

[techen]

Ouch, balasharks as a cycle fish? Nasty stuff.

 

[Supraman]

No I used tetra as a cycle fish all lived past two weeks so I got the sharks

They were getting ready for new stock so I got 14 tetra and a pleco for 5$

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Speaking very generally, "fish in cycling" would typically take >13 weeks and involve a lot of hard work on your behalf, because above all else, you must keep that water good with <0.25mg/l nitrite and <1mg/l ammonia (toxicity of ammonia varies with pH and temperature, warm alkaline water is far more toxic) by doing 75-95% water changes.
 
In contrast, many keepers can "fishless cycle" a tank in ~8 weeks, where your only job is to maintain 2-5mg/l ammonia and to regularly test the water with a liquid test kit.
 
If you ultimately still want a brackish setup, fishless cycle the tank and then once cycled with a "qualifying week," change upto 20% of the water daily with water of your desired salinity. This will give the bacterial colonies time to adjust.

 

[Supraman]

So start with regular water, ten once it has cycled do 20% water changes with my desired salinity until it ha reached my salinity in the tank. Then give it a little time to adjust?

Do I have that right?

Also now I feel horrible about doing a fish in cycle I think I am going to give these tetra away to someone with a tank already established. I don't want to hurt them