Shark's

[Yuri]

What is the smallest shark
i have got my self a 450l tank
what shark can i keep in it

 

[ALEXF]

are you talking actual shark, or like bala shark?

 

[tangokitty]

I'm sure they mean real shark since they posted in salt water section....

sorry i have know idea, but enjoy the free bump!

 

[Yuri]

A real shark
will a bamboo shark work in a tank of 450l

 

[dilbert]

Sharks should really be kept in very large tanks. Their swimming style is to do a few strokes with the fins and then glide through the water. They can't do that in a tank that people normally have at home. They start gliding and already to stop again. It is as you would live in a tiny bathroom. Surely, you could hold out there for decades but it wouldn't be very healthy.

That is different from a clownfish for example where it doesn't matter if he's wiggling a distance of 5 or 10 inches. The wiggling swimming style is always the same.

Even prisoners have a yard where they can move around but a shark in a small tank wouldn't have the possibility to exercise his favourite swimming style.

 

[sandfire]

If you want a 'shark' in your tank have you thought about getting a Columbian Cat Shark?

I know it's actually a catfish and well known in the freshwater hobby, but they live longer and grow faster/better in a high end brackish/Marine environment and are extremely hardy in these conditions

I have two in a marine tank and everybody who views the tank think they are real sharks, they move the same and look very similar to black Tip Reef Sharks, absolutely stunning!

If you Google them its difficult to find a photo of the adults that do them justice as its not just their appearance but their movement which makes them look like Sharks, they can reach 24 inches in the wild, but stay smaller in home aquarium about 14-18 inches. They are readily available and pretty inexpensive and when you see their gorgeous adult appearance you will be hooked!

http/images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h...l%3Den%26sa%3DN

http/images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h...l%3Den%26sa%3DN

I can't understand why they are more popular in marine tanks!

 

[kj23502]

To house an actual shark, you're talking about getting at least a small pool (not kiddy pool, the big ones that are 4 feet deep). Most people can't accomodate something like that. Talk about the expense of heating it and then the massive water changes, cost of feeding it, etc. Oh and don't forget massive filtration for the massive system. Out of reach for 99.5% of hobbyists, I would guess.

 

[SkiFletch]

Agreed, think tanks in the thousands of gallons

 

[Lynden]

If you want a 'shark' in your tank have you thought about getting a Columbian Cat Shark?

I would like to add, Columbian Cat Sharks, if you you are referring to the same species I am (i.e., Arius seemani), totally kick ass.

My tanks are currently undergoing "renovation" but the last fish I have purchased in quite a while is one of those. Great fish, and I can't wait 'till it's huge.

 

[tangokitty]

How big do those get??

 

[Musho3210]

we have marbled bamboo sharks in my LFS, 2 of them last count in a 2000 gallon pond, as well as a baby nurse shark (to be donated to the Shedd Aquarium). Even the owners of the store admit that the will need to rehouse all of the sharks.

 

[sandfire]

Yes I mean Arius seemani, I have two in a tank and they are totally stunning.

I took the day to acclimatise them to full salt conditions when they were only a few inches in size and my God do they grow fast - about a 1cm a week!

They are muscular, active fish with beautiful subtle colouring when young which changes to grey when older (just like a shark) they cruse around the tank always on the move. I highly recommend them for a marine tank with fish big enough not to be considered food. Plus they are extremely hardy in Marine conditions and highly tolerant of changing salinity levels, they frequently swim between fresh and salt water until eventually living in total marine conditions as adults.

The ones you see in freshwater always look thin, stunted, lack body and vitality I feel sorry for them. They should never be kept in pure fresh water which unfortunetly they usually are.

I am pretty confident they reach on average of 14 – 16 inches and a 18 inch specimen being large in a tank environment, but max can be 2ft, which is still much smaller than a Bamboo Shark and I must admit the two look similar when mature. Plus Arius seemani is much more adaptable to aquarium life than a shark.

They have all the appeal of real shark but are easy to feed, easy to care for, very hardy and much smaller. They have real personalities mine take cockles from your fingers (although use a feeding stick as their bites have blood anticoagulant properties and there dorsal fin is venomous, I been told it's like a bee sting)

No one would guess they weren't a real shark…but with whiskers! lol

 

[kj23502]

we have marbled bamboo sharks in my LFS, 2 of them last count in a 2000 gallon pond, as well as a baby nurse shark (to be donated to the Shedd Aquarium). Even the owners of the store admit that the will need to rehouse all of the sharks.

Wow, I bet that's a sight to see, though!!

One of the local fish stores had a bambo shark, but they had it in a kiddie pool Not to good for the shark, I guess. It was about 2 feet long. I don't even remember what kind of filtration they had or if it ran off of their main system....that store has closed.

--edit
Musho, we're going to try to get to the Shedd one of these days!!

 

[andywg]

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with the above.

While 450l will not really be large enough to house a shark for life, the smallest sharks do not need much bigger. The smaller Epaullette and Bamboo sharks will top out at around 24" and don't need to ram-ventilate (so can rest on the bottom) and are not as active as other sharks.

An 8x4 footprint tank would be more than enough for sharks and a 6x3 could probably house one.