Cat Shark!

[baron1282]

Hey guys, I like to bring this debate up again as I know there is a lot of people out there that have so many difference of opinion on it. I have seen fully grown Cat and Bamboo Sharks in tanks that are only around 300 to even just 180 gallons which Liveaquaria suggest. Even at the Newport Aquarium where they are in a huge tank for people to pet. They don't seem like active sharks.

They don't hardly ever move, they look like they just want to stay in one place and never move. I was even told by the biologist at the Aquarium their the only type of shark that don't really need a round tank being they don't move or bump into things. They are perfectly happy just sitting in one spot all day every day. According to the "professionals" , they are like that in the wild and don't really need a big space to be happy. They are like the Betas of the Shark world!

Of course they don't recommend them as pets unless you know what your doing, but my question to this community is simple. Are we too hard on people that keep Bamboo and Cat Sharks in at least the minimal tank requirement that Liveaquaria suggest? It would seem kind of silly to build a HUGE tank for them only to pick out one spot and sit there all day without swimming. Be a boring tank if it was huge and no one really swimming in it.

Heck the cost of them are not even that much. They only ask $50 dollars for the shark. I am thinking of starting a pet store in my little community and I thought a 500 gallon Shark tank with a one or two Cat Sharks and one Bamboo shark would be cool for people to come see.

I know the cost really has nothing to do with their requirements, but I am just saying if they were something really hard to take care of and needed a lot of space and care the cost would be out of the ball park. Kind of like the Black Tip Reef Sharks. I only know of ONE person that has three of them, and they are in a HUGE round tank. He built the tank himself and he loves his sharks. The tank is over 17 thousands gallons.

I asked this here being that almost all Shark tanks are FOWLR.

By the way, just because we have been talking about "pool tanks before' here is one that is set up in a basement. I disagree with his stock, but it's still better than what most people have.

 

[Ericwm]

That is awesome, I would say it is overstocked but it would be cool with a couple. Especially if the had laser beams.

 

[bettaowner]

A 600 gallon might work. I'm not too familiar with shark care but to be safe I'd get the biggest tank for that space

 

[woody390]

Wow that tank is cool

 

[baron1282]

I like how everyone is talking about the tank, but not the Debate Question. LOL

 

[begginersluck]

Because not that any people are experienced with shark keeping I'm guessing.

It's got to be the ultimate tank though ay!

 

[begginersluck]

It's quite strange as I just watched a show with a shark egg that hatch out and was one of the most amazing this I'd ever seen. Very tempting in my new 220 gallon but I have smaller species in the tank I worry would get gobbled up.

 

[huma-huma]

I think you are referring to the coral cat shark in terms of the egg hatching. either way. Id say that the larger tank requirements are needed for sharks in general due to their bioload. they can be insanely messy eaters and also produce a TON of waste. but as for being to hard on hobbyists, yes I believe we are WAY too hard on hobbyists. that even goes for other fish as well (atleast in the sw side of it). I truthfully believe that so long as a fish isn't stunted, showing signs of depression/stress, and the parameters are ok, we really shouldn't jump on hobbyists for "overstocking"

 

[begginersluck]

What about their tank buddies? Would they eat things like chromis if kept well fed?

 

[huma-huma]

I personally don't have experience with sharks, so I couldn't answer that question reliably for you.

 

[baron1282]

They are aggressive, so they will eat whatever is there if they are hungry. I believe one guy is having issue with that on this message board. He is thinking of getting rid of it to a big Aquarium.

As for my opinion, I agree with Huma-Huma! If the fish looks healthy and is happy looking than why do we yell so much at someone? I personally want to have a few Cat Sharks some day in my store, just to have something to talk about with people.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Sharks create a large bio load, so if your filtration is up to it, it can be done. Lots of work keeping a big animal like these when they get full grown. And you are not likely to find rehousing him to be easy. Most public aquariums won't touch fish coming from hobbyists, for obvious reasons.

As to an earlier comment about stocking, the fish are very poor communicators. They only way you can tell if you are stocked properly or improperly is the behavior and feeding habits of the fish. Their overall,health will indicate if you are doing fine or have a problem.

 

[huma-huma]

Sharks create a large bio load, so if your filtration is up to it, it can be done. Lots of work keeping a big animal like these when they get full grown. And you are not likely to find rehousing him to be easy. Most public aquariums won't touch fish coming from hobbyists, for obvious reasons.

As to an earlier comment about stocking, the fish are very poor communicators. They only way you can tell if you are stocked properly or improperly is the behavior and feeding habits of the fish. Their overall,health will indicate if you are doing fine or have a problem.

so would you agree its safe to say that we as hobbyists usually form imaginary limits to stocking and tend to fall victim to the belief that theres a set,proven way to determine stock level?

 

[Gregcoyote]

You have to start some where. When making recommendations, I tend to be conservative as a result of running what I thought of as responsible fish shops. I have been dealing with aquarium headaches since I was 18 and that was a long time ago. Stocking isn't a science, but there are some lessons to be learned. My dad use to say there was nothing to be learned from the second kick from a mule. If 80% of those you talk with have had disasters created by the same poor stocking decisions, you tend to lean in that direction. There are always folks that have had a different experience, which you fairly note, but 80% means there is a good chance you won't win the gamble.

Back to the cat shark, when they are little they eat a lot of food because they grow fast, which is where the filtration comes in. I would guess feeding them properly is a big part of successfully raising one. We have a local LFS that has a shark tank, a pool that's about 1000 gallons. They seem a bit cramped to me, but they are healthy.

 

[gafights]

I house five sharks in a 7ft x 7ft x 3ft tank. Bio load is ridiculous. My filtration is a 300 gallon sump with. Carbon and phosphate reactor. Two 1000 gallon skimmers. Uv filter. Enough matrix to filter the ocean. I change 120 gallons of water a week and my nitrates stay around 20-30 and have been as high as 80. Lot of work. I go through a bag of large shrimp every 10 days and a bag of scallops every three weeks. One bag of whiting every two months. They are all around 2ft to 2.5 ft. Two white spotted bamboo. One brown banded bamboo. One coral catshark. One banded houndshark.

 

[jwh0818]

I house five sharks in a 7ft x 7ft x 3ft tank. Bio load is ridiculous. My filtration is a 300 gallon sump with. Carbon and phosphate reactor. Two 1000 gallon skimmers. Uv filter. Enough matrix to filter the ocean. I change 120 gallons of water a week and my nitrates stay around 20-30 and have been as high as 80. Lot of work. I go through a bag of large shrimp every 10 days and a bag of scallops every three weeks. One bag of whiting every two months. They are all around 2ft to 2.5 ft. Two white spotted bamboo. One brown banded bamboo. One coral catshark. One banded houndshark.

Mind sharing a pic with us? Not a lot of people can say they have a shark tank

 

[gafights]

Here is a video from youtube. This was taken about 8-9 months ago.

 

[gafights]

I have since had an issue with my starfish eating all of the mushroom corals in the tank and the sharks toppling most of the rock causing me to rearrange. And just when everything was perfect I added a powder blue tang that infected my tank with Brooklynella. I lost everything except the wrasse who is a nightmare and the two squirrelfish. The sharks and eel are were all fine but I lost everything else. Also there were more fish in the tank than what is pictured. I lost about 5-6k worth of fish.