New Oddball Project

[crazyelece]

I decided to try my hand out on a new project today. Hopefully all goes well. I plan to document the process here with pictures in case its beneficial to any others willing to give it a try. Also for future purposes does anyone know where I can host video fotage when I get it?

Anyway on to the project. I am trying to hatch a shark from an egg. So here are the first pictures.

Acclimation

Placement

 

[Fish Fingers]

Cool!

What type of shark is it?

 

[steelhealr]

(sigh) Why? SH

 

[SkiFletch]

Wow, that's gutsy

 

[Opcn]

You don't have enought room for a shark man.

 

[bunjiweb]

You are trying to hatch a shark in a tank with from I can see, other small fish - an orange-spot goby?

What size tank is it? Are you prepared for it to be at the very least, a banded reef shark that will grow to half a metre long, so requries a tank 8x3x3ft MINIMUM for it to lead a content life.

Have to say i agree with steelhealr on this one.

Ben

 

[Fatty]

You don't have enought room for a shark man.

Yeh I kinda agree, don't want to be completely negative, I can see how it would be an interesting thing to do, but only if there is someone or somewhere that wants this shark once it's too big??

Altho I suppose that demand would mean more eggs for sale, more people trying it etc.. which I think would be a bad thing.

Oh well, good luck with it now you have it, And hopefully you know where it's going when it grows too big.

 

[Fish Fingers]

We don't know if they are planning on keeping the shark guys...they might just be hatching it, then giving it to someone else or an LFS or something.

 

[bunjiweb]

I sure hope so! We'll see....

 

[crazyelece]

You know I thought I had stuck around this forum due to the non negative, respect I had seen in the past. Some people do know what they are doing. How many of those that have responded know what they are talking about when they say my tank is too small. You don't even know what species the shark is, how do you know what it needs. I have done my research, I have experience with both fresh and marine stingrays; sharks are in the same family. The egg wasn't taken off the reef somewhere but gotten from a local source who traded them to a local wholesaler for other items. I'm not too certain of the exact type as it was listed as a bandded shark and for now I am assuming it is a brown bandded bamboo shark. Also for those spewing out info they are known to actually get to 40 inches long in the wild. They usually stay within 28-34 inches in captivity. But this is the max size at adulthood which is usually in 15 years. They hatch at around 4-6 inches and can easily be kept in as small as a 20 long for hatching and up to a year later. It takes around 90 days for the egg to hatch, I am not sure how long it will take as the owner wasn't entirely sure how long the eggs had been out. I plan to keep this (if it lives) in a custom plywood tank I want to build, but for now its in my 120 gal tank. The reason I chose to do this was that I don't personally know anyone who has tried it and the price was right. Also I have a great selection of LFSs in my area two of which specialize in exotic fish and coral. Do I need to bring up the 10,000 gal black tip reef shark tank. I am fairly confident that these LFSs can and will help me through the process and if it ends up I can't keep the shark (assuming it lives) they will find it a great home (probablly the owner's house). Only about 10% of egg cases hatch with a healthy enough specimen to live more than a month. Now if no one is interested in a fruitful article on the subject I'm more than willing to not waste my time and go enjoy my tanks more. If I really needed to take abuse like this I would have posted this thread on RC and been done.

 

[crazyelece]

Here is a shot checking the movement of the embryo tonight inside the egg case. I saw some movement but not as much as when I purchased it.

 

[SkiFletch]

Figured the surviavability was pretty low, not too much different than in the wild there. Good luck elece, I for one cant wait to see if it hatches

 

[Opcn]

I don't mean to be Vicious, I'm simply trying to get my concerns across in a concise manner.

I acctually do know what I'm talking about thanks. Some sort of banded catshark was/is the best case senario, But some of us belong to a school of fishkeeping were you're animal needs to be able to turn around in its tank easily, and were it can swim atleast several body lengths without hitting a wall. Idealy you have a long 72' X 24' X 17' (which is actually a 125) in which case you can handle the fish till its about 16" long, which should be less than a year. whomever told you that you can keep them in a 20 gallon long for the first year needs a lesson in growth and development.

You stated that they don't grow past 28-34 inches in captivity but that doesn't mean much, Nurse sharks grow to be 15 feet long in the wild, but in captivity they seldom get past 5 feet, at which point they often croak, if you are keeping a fish right it should be larger incaptivity than the mean max size in the wild, sure Genes may contribute to the mosters that you hear about, like the 350 lb catfish but in captivity we should be keeping water clean and providing food regularly and that should lead to more growth than they experience in the wild.

 

[bunjiweb]

I hope none of the above was directed at me.

I stand by my original statement, I also believe that you aren't doing the right thing by hatching it in a tank with other small fish.

And yes, i do not what species the shark is because it is one of the shark eggs from TMC, i've been there myself, i've seen them myself. Its a banded reef shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum that despite being one of the only tank-compatible sharks still requires a heavy work load to keep them happy and a huge tank... Luckily they aren't the kind of sharks to be constantly free swimming so that is a good thing when considering tank size.

Oh, and who cares about the 10,000Gal black tip tank, thats isnt YOUR tank, So i don't see that as an option for yourself, and you CANT rely on the fact that a fish shop would take it off your hands if you can't home it suitably.

Ben

 

[steelhealr]

I'm not too certain of the exact type

The reason I chose to do this was that I don't personally know anyone who has tried it and the price was right.

I plan to keep this (if it lives)

If I really needed to take abuse like this I would have posted this thread on RC and been done.

crazyelece....I'm sorry that you felt personally attacked, especially after you've been a major contributor here. But, to be honest, I can't support any of the reasons that you have chosen to do this. All you have to do is read the quotes above.

None of my comments here are meant to imply that you don't know what you are doing, nor that you don't have enough experience. I simply think that hatching sharks eggs belongs in the realm of marine biologists and/or publicly supported aquariums. It defies almost all tenets of being a true 'conscientious marine aquarist'.
The main issues are:
1) the exact species of shark is not known
2) no direct experience with raising sharks
3) no currently existing tank that can house an animal of this type.

As for RC, I think the flaming would be much worse there for this post than here. I've spent a lot of time over there during my learning curve while starting up my nano cube. Although you can find some excellent posts there and certainly their resources are extensive, that forum is cold, egotistical and the search engine is virtually unavailable during waking hours unless you plunk down $25.

As a mod now, I still can get my fanny warmed by TFF members here...I don't and can't know everything. I STILL learn from them. But...that's what a forum is for. All types..all personalities....but, information gained here is still quite valuable. We've just posted our opinions. Despite this, I would think most members here would still read any threads that you posted on your success. Good luck with this endeavor. SH