MightyMike
Member
- Location
- Jersey City
rules schmules, lookin great Dom, by the way .. what kinda skimmer are you running on this bad boy?
Breaking the Rules!! Large Tank
- Thread starter Domboski
- Start date
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
LOL! ETSS 750 (the old one). I need :help:there.
- Location
- Huntington
If nobody else is going to say it I will. That tank is nothing but cruel and unusual. You have 3 sharks in there that will all grow to about 3' if they are males and a few more if they are females along with 2 cortez rays....each shark should have a MINIMUM of 180 gallons since they are benthic and nocturnal (which by the way flash photography at night when their eyes are dialated for hunting is just wrong). You have a lookdown (an atlantic fish) in a warm water tank that is WAY too small and shallow for him as well. I am shocked and at a loss for words. You need to do some serious thinking about this tank because you are headed for some serious problems (besides the fact that you are basically torturing these animals). You want to talk about bad advice being spread throughout this forum, here is a great example of what NEVER to do. If you had done your research you may have never stocked your tank like this and if you did do research and still stocked these animals, than shame on you, they should take your tank privileges away. Also, you should let everyone know where it was that sold you these animals if they knew where they were going so everyone can never shop there again. This is one of the worst offenses of careless reef keeping I have ever seen. If you were told you could do this by someone else than I apologize (although you should have done research regardless). You need to get those sharks and rays and lookdown out of there ASAP. If I have offended anyone I couldn't care less think about how offended these animals should be. Breaking the rules? More like a blatant disregard for them.
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- Location
- Flushing NY 11355
Does the puffer bother/eat the anemone?
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
I appreciate your comments but I assure you all plans are in place to upgrade and I always have done as most of the sharks and rays I have I have owned since they were juveniles. I have a 400 gallon tank ready for them which they will be moved to in the spring and by early next year I will be finished with my THREE 5,000 gallon breeding ponds in a house I am having built as we speak.
This is a perfect example of someone jumping to conclusions. All of my fish are strong and healthy.
As far as the camera comment, that I didn't know. I am not a photographer and have had some of these animals for a few years and never really attempted to take pictures of them (especially at night) until today. For that, I will not do it again. Not sure where I could have researched information on that.
BTW, I have breed and raised sharks for over 15 years. Notice you don't see any Nurse sharks or leopards? Also, where do you see Cortez Rays? I don't own any. If you are talking about the yellow rays, well wrong species.
Again, I appreciate your comments but you jumped to conclusions. In fact, two of these sharks I wasn't planning on having but I took them off people hands who were not capable of handling and decided to hold them until my move early next year. The only shark I originally planned for was the Female Arabian Bamboo.
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- Location
- Montclair, NJ
The spotted puffer has never bothered the anemones but the striped puffer did when he was a juvenile. As he got older, he was more interested in the food I put in the tank. I feed them roughly three times a day and a very varied diet.
The puffers go crazy for seaweed to my surprise!
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
I used to have feeding videos but when I started a new job in Jersey where I am going to move early next year, I left all my videos on my laptop from the last job.
I will make a new video next weekend and try to post them. It is hard to feed everyone and take the video at the same time so my GF will help. :Hydrogen:
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
If you were truly knowledgable about the species of sharks that I have that talking in terms of minimum "gallons" is in correct. You would be talking in terms of tank dimensions. These sharks require a minimum tank width of almost three feet and a length of 6 feet. A height of two feet is ok but a little higher is better. These sharks are not swimmers (catsharks in general are not swimmers). The coral catsharks are somewhat of an exception but even they do not swim most of the time.
The next holding tank they are moving into is a 8 feet long, three feet wide and just over two feet high.
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- Location
- Ossining, NY
Dom,
I am pretty sure those brown thingy's are an encrusting gorgonian - I had one years ago and it grew like wildfire -
Good luck and kudos for balancing lifes more fragile systems in an acrylic box.
I HAVE to see those ponds - rock on!!
House
I am pretty sure those brown thingy's are an encrusting gorgonian - I had one years ago and it grew like wildfire -
Good luck and kudos for balancing lifes more fragile systems in an acrylic box.
I HAVE to see those ponds - rock on!!
House
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
Thank you! One of the most amazing behaviors I have witnessed over the years is that the sharks will not bother the "ornamental" fish (besides wrasses) until the fish is a "little under the weather". For example, most of the fish you see with the sharks I have had before I took on the sharks again. I had a few clownfish that were in there too but when the female clarkii you see in the pictures got a bit bigger and started beating up the others, they became bait. The injured or stressed clownfishes triggered an instinct in the shark and she ate them.
The striped puffer has some personality too. He goes right in the sharks mouth to take frozen fish from them.
The Lookdown is my buddy. When I go near the tank he splashes water on me with his tail to let me know he wants to eat.
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- Location
- Montclair, NJ
Thanks Jim! reefs4life had the right id. Thanks!
The ponds are going to be crazy!!! I am trying to plan the footprint and figure out the best way to set them up for viewing. I don't only want to see the animals from the top. I am also trying to come up with a way to keep the jumpers from getting out of the top although I have found that a happy shark or ray will not attempt to get out of the tank / pond through the top but you never know. I am trying to avoid nets or mesh...... I don't know if that is possible though.
If anyone is interested, here is a link to someone who took something like 15 years to breed Epaulettes: http://www.tropicorium.com/Trop_Sharks.html
Pretty cool and the dedication to making it happen is awesome!
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
Another interesting behavior of the Coral catsharks I stumbled upon is they like to swim against the current at night. It is hard to see in the pictures but I have added a Vortech that only goes on night. They like sitting underneath it as well and get a nice rush of fresh oxygenated water (I presume). I used to have a Mag 9.5 that I used to brush all of the poop off the sand and realized that (at the time) my one catshark was swimming against the current at night.
If you look at the tank pictures, you would be hard pressed to find the sharks during the day. In fact, I always challenge people to find them when they are over. I carefully aquascaped the tank to provide many "caves" which is a natural behavior for these partcular species. All of the rocks are on top of a three entrance / exit cave I built for the Arabian Bamboo. She loves it!
I have been fortunate to have access to pros who work at some of the largest aquariums in the world. It is amazing how much even "experts" learn everyday from these animals.
If you look at the tank pictures, you would be hard pressed to find the sharks during the day. In fact, I always challenge people to find them when they are over. I carefully aquascaped the tank to provide many "caves" which is a natural behavior for these partcular species. All of the rocks are on top of a three entrance / exit cave I built for the Arabian Bamboo. She loves it!
I have been fortunate to have access to pros who work at some of the largest aquariums in the world. It is amazing how much even "experts" learn everyday from these animals.
- Location
- Huntington
1) I reffered to these sharks as "benthic" it's a good vocabulary word when talking about these guys maybe you should look it up before you question my knowledge on them.
2) These sharks don't attack ornamental fish because they a) don't hunt during the day and b) prefer shellfish and other inverts. They have that long tail because it helps them cruise over the sand bed at night looking for their prey, unlike the muscular double tail fin of the requiem type sharks, which are pelagic swimmers.
As for the gallonage a 200 is an ok size for just one of these sharks as I stated. Whether you acquired them intentionally or not is not a loophole for livestock. Also, the fact that they are in fact yellow rays is even worse since they get larger than the cortez as far as the current tank is concerned. I'm glad you are planning on a few 5k tanks for these guys but you shouldn't stock the ponds before you get them up and running it's still less than desirable conditions for the livestock. I'm thrilled you took the sharks off peoples hands who couldn't handle them. Most people have no idea what these guys need as far as feeding and tank space. They are prolific diggers and are known for toppling even the sturdiest of rock work which is why nobody keeps them in reef tanks (besides them being very sensitive to water parameters and additives). I have access to "experts" as well but that doesn't mean I'm going to try and recreate these conditions. I apologize for flying off in the first place, I did not know your plans for expansion. However, I wouldn't post pics of this tank and preach about it since there are too many impressionable minds in this hobby already who don't have access to experts.
2) These sharks don't attack ornamental fish because they a) don't hunt during the day and b) prefer shellfish and other inverts. They have that long tail because it helps them cruise over the sand bed at night looking for their prey, unlike the muscular double tail fin of the requiem type sharks, which are pelagic swimmers.
As for the gallonage a 200 is an ok size for just one of these sharks as I stated. Whether you acquired them intentionally or not is not a loophole for livestock. Also, the fact that they are in fact yellow rays is even worse since they get larger than the cortez as far as the current tank is concerned. I'm glad you are planning on a few 5k tanks for these guys but you shouldn't stock the ponds before you get them up and running it's still less than desirable conditions for the livestock. I'm thrilled you took the sharks off peoples hands who couldn't handle them. Most people have no idea what these guys need as far as feeding and tank space. They are prolific diggers and are known for toppling even the sturdiest of rock work which is why nobody keeps them in reef tanks (besides them being very sensitive to water parameters and additives). I have access to "experts" as well but that doesn't mean I'm going to try and recreate these conditions. I apologize for flying off in the first place, I did not know your plans for expansion. However, I wouldn't post pics of this tank and preach about it since there are too many impressionable minds in this hobby already who don't have access to experts.
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- Location
- Montclair, NJ
Believe me I understand where you are coming from but people need to be responsible for their own actions. I am going to enjoy my hobbies regardless of what other people might do. The old jump off a bridge. In this day and age with all of the tools at hand for research, there is no excuse (IMO) for anyone. Common sense is all you need. People believe what they want to believe and do what they want. I popped off about Petland a while back and I took heat for it and people were right. I am responsible for what I do and should know better.
My yellow rays are full grown. My male has fathered a few offspring in his day too. Lately he has been courting the female who doesn't seem interested at the time although it is a scary sight when they mate. You would think the male is going to kill the female!
The only problem I had with your post was the assumptions you made about me but keeping in mind the time you posted and the fact you had the fishes best interest in mind made it ok with me.
In any case, you gave me good feedback about the photography and that is what this hobby is all about learning from each others experience and knowledge.
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
benthic (běn'thĭk) Pronunciation Key
<!--BOF_DEF--> Relating to the bottom of a sea or lake or to the organisms that live there.
:sgrin:
<!--BOF_DEF--> Relating to the bottom of a sea or lake or to the organisms that live there.
:sgrin:
three 5,000 gallon ponds? :shocked:
you are documenting this, with lots of photos right?
think about starting a thread detailing their build.
are the ponds going to be connected to the house in some way, like a viewing wall in the basement. I guess if you did that you could have a moat around the house filled with sharks LOL.
we need some more details! you can't just drop that info in a casual way, that's just cruel
can we have the MR diving team come visit and help clean the ponds??
so many questions, where to begin. :help:
you are documenting this, with lots of photos right?
think about starting a thread detailing their build.
are the ponds going to be connected to the house in some way, like a viewing wall in the basement. I guess if you did that you could have a moat around the house filled with sharks LOL.
we need some more details! you can't just drop that info in a casual way, that's just cruel
can we have the MR diving team come visit and help clean the ponds??
so many questions, where to begin. :help:
That is crazy. Simply crazy. What type of filtration are you using? What are you feeding?
As far as the comments made about it looking like a representation of a real reef I disagree. Yeah, it is a very interesting assortment of fish but they each have their own niche in a reef and you wouldn't find them all in the same spot in a reef.
You should try to move them sooner than later to your 400gl system.
Keep us posted.
As far as the comments made about it looking like a representation of a real reef I disagree. Yeah, it is a very interesting assortment of fish but they each have their own niche in a reef and you wouldn't find them all in the same spot in a reef.
You should try to move them sooner than later to your 400gl system.
Keep us posted.
- Location
- Montclair, NJ
three 5,000 gallon ponds? :shocked:
you are documenting this, with lots of photos right?
think about starting a thread detailing their build.
are the ponds going to be connected to the house in some way, like a viewing wall in the basement. I guess if you did that you could have a moat around the house filled with sharks LOL.
we need some more details! you can't just drop that info in a casual way, that's just cruel
can we have the MR diving team come visit and help clean the ponds??
so many questions, where to begin. :help:
LOL. Sent you a PM. You have to be a little crazy to think things up like this.
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