Shark Keeping?

[Z06-Hec]

Anyone have a tank with a shark or sharks or Rays?

Curious in how the setup... Feeding, anything else needed.

Maybe one day i will change my tank from reef to shark/rays...
My thought now is i would need to get rid of all or most of my rock/corals and have only sand?

Think i would be able to keep my large fish no?

Not something I am ready for but in case i do make the change...

I have a 150 gal 6 foot long

 

[clasystems]

If you're gonna do small sharks like cat or maybe Epi you need open space and a sandbed. No piles of rocks like a regular reef or fowlr has. If you do Horn sharks you need a chiller. You also need a huge skimmer because you'll be feeding large amounts of food and creating large amounts of waste. Sharks dont do so great in dirty water. There are 100 people on here that will tell you your tank is to small.

 

[Ryno]

I love sharks too but unfortunately they are not practical for pretty much anyone to keep as even the smallest sharks will reach a size of over 3 feet. So in order for it to even be able to turn around you need a minimum 4 foot deep tank. I would say the smallest tank you could consider even a cat shark would be 4 x 8. I know plenty of people have tried in tanks as small as 6 feet by 2 but I don't think long term that's fair to the animal. Just my opinion.

 

[vashawn]

my brother and i had a nurse shark, 2 sand shark and a ray about 7-8 years ago.
they eat everything, **** alot and went through our wallet feeding got expensive.

so we bbq them ...lol just kidding

housed in a 155 bow then a 265

 

[Z06-Hec]

my brother and i had a nurse shark, 2 sand shark and a ray about 7-8 years ago.
they eat everything, **** alot and went through our wallet feeding got expensive.

so we bbq them ...lol just kidding

housed in a 155 bow then a 265

How fast do they grow?
With all the pooping, how much water maintenance is needed?

Again i love my 150 Reef, so im not even considering it really, but in case i do, maybe i can sell my entire setup or trade the entire setup for a larger empty tank for 1 or 2 sharks...

 

[clasystems]

depends on how much you feed them. I once thought sharks were so cool, they get boring after a while plus youre so limited with what you can keep with them.

 

[Z06-Hec]

depends on how much you feed them. I once thought sharks were so cool, they get boring after a while plus youre so limited with what you can keep with them.

Thats a worry of mine as well....
Will i get bored with them...

As it is now, i have to be careful what i put with my angels (corals/inverts)
But love seeing my corals grow.

But as you said, i always thought it would be cool to have sharks since i was a little boy.

 

[theMeat]

Yup. To make it more doable a tank with rounded corners, nothing to crash into, a massive filter system, and a separate tank to house feeders is a good idea. They are cool but imo get boring. Kinda like mindless, swimming around crashing into things looking to swallow anything the can. And while rays and sharks are housed in tanks with the same design features, the Sharks crash into and disturb the Rays.

 

[vashawn]

How fast do they grow?
With all the pooping, how much water maintenance is needed?

Again i love my 150 Reef, so im not even considering it really, but in case i do, maybe i can sell my entire setup or trade the entire setup for a larger empty tank for 1 or 2 sharks...

they grew fast from what i remember!
eat alot and water change evry other week. my wet/dry at that time did not keep up with the main.
there kewl to say u have em but wont happen again. to much work n money
mixed reef for me

 

[NYreefNoob]

plus not reccommended to have corners in a tank as they can and will swim and bump nose on the corner and can cause damage, my friend have been keeping them for over a decade but ended up setting a small swimming pool up in his basement

 

[kres1024]

My female bamboo between her 2 eel body guards!

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[kres1024]

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[kres1024]

And my coral cat shark

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[leoent]

it pretty amazing to have sharks, but if your tank is not big enough dont bother!! They do grow fast and eat EVERYTHING!! lol
when said and done, and they grow to a point where its not comfy in your tank what will you do with it? I had sharks before and was lucky for an fish store to take it (for free!!)
Most Sharks are lazy also, they just lay at the bottom most of the time..

Good luck..

 

[Z06-Hec]

def not pursuing at this time.