something tells me that shark is not reef safe

[dragonfisher33]

i have never kept shark and probably never will, but i have always thought that sharks, regardless of what the individual species is, are not reef safe. This is a Craigslist listing of a bamboo cat shark and i have a suspicion that he/she isn't telling the whole truth. it really narrows down to 2 categories. Either 1) i'm ignorant of the shark community OR 2) my misconception about shark been non-reef-safe is incorrect. it was just funny to me when i saw this listing and i have got to share with everyone on AA about it. maybe someone can take me to school about sharks

bamboo catshark for sale

 

[alco1]

ive had a bamboo shark before.... it needs plenty of room to move around.... they are commonly nocturnal. They do cause a bit of a mess by knocking around your live rock and messing up your sand bed..... but still awesome

I wouldn't be putting one in a tank with inverts or small fish... I used to have one with a few tangs, zebra eel and a lionfish and never bothered them at all.... expect there were a few little battles between the shark and eel but just a few scratches.... no big damage and once when I fed my lionfish live fish the shark and lion were both trying to eat the small live fish.... hense why I believe that no small fish would be a good idea to co exist with a bamboo shark lol

 

[dragonfisher33]

well, this person's exact words were "It is reefsafe i used to keep larger ones with coral and inverts and they were fine together". not sure how big those inverts and corals are, but don't sharks eat corals/inverts especially when there's nothing around?

 

[alco1]

had the shark with a few corals once upon a time and didn't bother them but for inverts though.... bamboo sharks are bottom feeders. anything that really fits in the shark's mouth and is on the ground is in trouble.

 

[bettaowner]

Due to the fact that these sharks are nocturnal, I don't think a reef tank would be a great home due to the bright lights needed to sustain many corals.

 

[GouldFever]

It's doable if the tank is big enough. But there would have to be plenty of room for the shark to maneuver. I've seen them in reef tanks but not in anything less than 700g

 

[DaleHauze]

Thats a great price if the fish is healthy. My lfs sells them for $120 and say they're ok for a min 100g

 

[dragonfisher33]

I was at a scuba diving center months ago and I found them to own a couple aquariums ranging from biocube to larger 100gal system. The thing shocked me was that the owner put one bamboo shark in one of the biocubes. I'm sure it's a good deal but it's a creature that I believe belong in the ocean

 

[KeithFrancis]

Thats a great price if the fish is healthy. My lfs sells them for $120 and say they're ok for a min 100g

A few years back I bought a juvenile bamboo for $200 from my Lfs..he also told me my 125 gallon was fine. What a mistake...I felt bad for it after 2 days of him confined to such limited swimming areas..I returned him to the store a week later and was given half of what I paid for him In store credit! Live and learn I guess.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Sharks need lots of room. Lots of room. And while they may be reef safe and not eat polyps, they aren't little fish safe.

 

[gafights]

I house three bamboo sharks with a few low light corals. But you have to make sure that rocks are secured because they move what they want to move.