[fishguy_8]

Hey guys....well Im back w/ a new question. A guy in my house is really into the tank I put up in our chapter room here at school and naturally wants to get a shark. He's loaded as far as funding is concerned and Im more than willing to help him but I have never seen a shark tank set up. I have seen a pool of black tip reef sharks but it wasnt for permanent housing it was a halfway home for the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Can someone point me towards a good link or give me some advice on them. We're talking about the banded cat shark here. Id really like to watch the egg develop and hatch but again i know nothing about that and how difficult it could be to hatch/get started on eating etc. All info would be great from tank size and circulation to feeding and cleaning. thanks
Jon

[fishgeeksrus]

I don't know a whole lot about sharks, but the guy at the lfs does not recommend putting a black tip in anything less than 700 gallons. He just built a 2000 gallon shark tank for his store. As far as the other type of shark, I dont know. He has a couple of shark eggs in a shallow 300+ gal viewing tank.

[reefsus]

What kind of specific questions are you wondering?

[Reefland]

That is really the most important thing, the size of the tank. Despite food, maintenance, etc., if you can't provide a very large tank (~1000gal) then you should steer your buddy away from even trying it.

[fishguy_8]

Well I was reading up on the banded cat shark and suggested tank size was 180g and I know its best to be on the big size so I suggested like a 200-225g tank. Specific questions would be like: How much live rock should he get? How deep of a sand bed? Do these like low current levels or high or alternating? Should the rock be stacked in one general area to increase swimming room? Is there any special care requirements as far as certain foods to ensure a healthy shark. This is the only kind were looking at I just mentioned the black tips to show how little Ive seen in person as far as shark tanks go. I know copperbased meds are a no no so what is a good med to use if something goes wrong and he gets an infection? Melafix? Thanks for the feedback.
Jon

[saltjunkie]

filtration filtration, filtration..........



you dont want hardly anything in the disply tank.. they dont see very well, and will run into stuff knocking it over and possibly hurting themselves and getting infections...which can/ will cause stress and death..
i would get a huge sump/ filter/ refugium going...
you will need all types. to effectively function.. sand beds are nice.. but i wouldnt go too deep, as you will have to vaccum, clean the tank often because of the messy eating habits...

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

I don't know a whole lot about sharks, but the guy at the lfs does not recommend putting a black tip in anything less than 700 gallons.

The guy at the LFS is a complete idiot if he thinks it's OK to put a black tip reef shark in a tiny 700-gallon tank. I can't imagine putting one in anything less than a 20,000 gal tank MINIMUM!!!

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by fishguy_8

Hey guys....well Im back w/ a new question. A guy in my house is really into the tank I put up in our chapter room here at school and naturally wants to get a shark. He's loaded as far as funding is concerned and Im more than willing to help him but I have never seen a shark tank set up. I have seen a pool of black tip reef sharks but it wasnt for permanent housing it was a halfway home for the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Can someone point me towards a good link or give me some advice on them. We're talking about the banded cat shark here. Id really like to watch the egg develop and hatch but again i know nothing about that and how difficult it could be to hatch/get started on eating etc. All info would be great from tank size and circulation to feeding and cleaning. thanks
Jon

I don't agree with putting a cat shark in a 180-gal tank but I realize that some people actually do that. I think a better minimum size would be 300-gallons (96"L x 30"W x 24"H). A better size would be 96"L x 36"W x 24"H. The width is more important than the height since it is a bottom dweller. The tank should have a fine grain sand bed and not too much live rock -- maybe just two modest sized berms of live rock in the center of the tank. It is important to keep as much open swimming space and open sand bed as possible.

[Ninong]

Scott Michael has a good book on Sharks & Rays, tell your friend to get it before he does anything.

[fishguy_8]

alrighty...thanks for all you guys' help....Much appreciated.
Jon