Banded carshark help

[Only200]

Ust adopted a 12" banded catshark I know nothing about it has anyone raised one I know that my tank is to small (250gal) how long can I keep it in this tank thanks

 

[Duddits]

Banded sharks are pretty easy to keep actually. Unfortunately they need lots of room to swim. The most important thing is their eating habits. Most sharks tend to go on a eating strike when introduced to a new tank. Make sure you have good flow in your tank. I'd do some research on liveaquaria.com as well as the rest of the Internet. What else do you have in the tank with it?

 

[Only200]

A 8" lionfish and a 6" long horned cow fish my tank looks really empty trying to find some new fish to add not sure what yet pics are when I was setting up water was a bit cloudy

 

[Duddits]

They'd be ok for tank mates. Few rocks and cliffs/caves would help as well.

 

[Only200]

Where is a good place to buy rock do I have to buy live rock or can I get dry rock I think for this tank I will need 400lbs or more I have a ton of lava rock that I use in my cichlid tanks not sure if I can put that in a salt setup this is my first saltwater tank everything I have was given to me fish tank and supply

 

[Crystal A]

I'm confused! You just inherited a 250 gallon tank with fish that I would consider expert level fish. What do you currently know about saltwater we may be able to help you better if we knew that.

 

[Only200]

One of my good friends just moved he gave me his tank because I've been into tanks for a long time (freshwater) as for saltwater this is my first tank. I've been around saltwater for the last 1 1/2 years with this friend but I have no hands on experience with salt. I want to take the best care that I can that's why I'm asking for help I'm hoping I can find the help I need or advise here I don't really trust the Internet because it says the shark only needs a 180gal tank which I'm sure is false my friend got stuck in that trap now I am. So if there's anything I really need to know so I can advoid a rookie mistake I would really appreciate it thanks

 

[Crystal A]

Oh wow that's a jam man. I don't know to much about These particular fish and I hope more people will chime in. What I do know is you will have to watch your water parameters really closely at this point. Am I correct in that you just moved the tank and re-set it up? If so did you use the existing rock that was in the tank? How about the water, did you reuse it from the previous set up? Wow so many questions come to mind. Sorry

 

[Only200]

I was able to save about 100gals of water and all the rock is in the tank it's taken me 6 days but I finally got it full with r.o water my ammonia was at the stress mark on my test strip when started filling it I'm going to test the water again tomarro to see if a water change is needed again I know about nitrites and nitrates I'm sure it's the same as freshwater my biggest fear is having to tell my friend I killed his fish. And I know nothing about cleaner crews for salt there are 2 hermit crabs and a star fish are they the cleaners or is there more and can I buy dry rock for saltwater what type of rock I use lava in my fresh will that work in salt sorry for the short story I'm just really stressed over trying to do my best without messing it up thanks

 

[huma-huma]

Given the responses provided and what seems to be a bit of a worried frantic sense to your posts, im gonna say that your best bet is to possibly find an experienced salty hobbyist near you to take the fish while you gather your bearings and get the tank properly set up. Being as to how its a 250g tank, repeated pwc's are gonna get expensive rather quickly. In order to successfully maintain these fish in a healthy environment, you are gonna need certain tools and gadgets. Those being a refractometer (to measure the SG or "specific gravity" of your saltwater mix, 1.022-1.025 is ideal) a master SW test kit ( stay away from API Nitrate tests) various measuring cups and a few 5g buckets. Now onto the tank. In sw, the optimum lr ratio is 1-2 lbs per gallon.. So obviously thatll put you at 250-500 lbs of lr. Id personally shoot for 375-400..

 

[Crystal A]

Right now I would suggest you go out and get a saltwater test kit. Don't add anything else to it at all. You are gonna have to stabilize the water before anything else is added. Check the ammonia daily and most Likly you will have to do large water changes to keep it at safe levels for the fish till the cycle is over. I'm not good a linking things so I would say google fish-in cycle for saltwater and read up. Saltwater is a whole different animal then freshwater research is the best way to understand it.

 

[huma-huma]

Youll need a water turnover rate of 12-14x tank volume ( 3,000+ gph) which can be accomplised with a couple hydor koralia 1400's and your sump return pump(s). Oh and dont forget substrate... And about 250-300 lbs of it. (at minimum) youll also need roughly 1-3 watts of heating per gallon as well. So theres another 250-750 watts of heaters.. (just go with 2 500w titanium heaters).

 

[Only200]

I have all the things you've listed but the rock and I do plan on ordering more rock the tank has ran for 1-1/2 years with 50lbs of rock I know that's not right so I am going to order more as for the price that's not my biggest issue I'm not bashful about dropping some money for a good cause I just need someone to point me in the right direction

 

[huma-huma]

If you check the stickys in the sw forums on here they will have all the info you need

 

[huma-huma]

In all honesty id just worry about getting your water parameters under control first ... Thatll give you some breathing room, especially in a 250g

 

[Crystal A]

I think huma huma could be onto something, maybe seeing if someone could temporarily home the fish that you trust so you can get the tank under control. If you are gonna add more live rock cure it first before you add it to the tank or a whole nother cycle will start! Best of luck will follow along and see how it progresses.

 

[huma-huma]

Atleast that way the OP can focus on smoothin out the water issues. And not worry about the gorgeous fish dying

 

[JustinKBreen]

Are you running a sump. Someone correct me but with sharks I think you want minimal rock in the display tank so the shark has room to swim without scratching his belly.

The biggest concern to me would be your boxfish.. If they get stressed and die they can poison the whole tank. Super cool fish but it can be a disaster waiting to happen. Search on this forum for that guy and you will hear some horror stories.

 

[Bearchumjs]

Are you running a sump.

that's a good question. What equipment did you get with the tank?

 

[Only200]

With this shark it dose need rock because it likes to hide in caves and such (learned by lots of reading) as for equipment I have a 40gal sump protein skimmer uv staralizer two 3500 return pumps a wave maker I'm running three 200watt heaters I do need new power heads(sometimes they run backwards) by the way what should I put in the refugeum