If you have the funds to purchase a pet shark and all of the necessary equipment, then you need to do some research to decide which shark will give you the most enjoyment. If you are looking for a shark for a gallon tank, consider one of the following:.
All of the sharks mentioned above are relatively hardy and can be kept by anyone who has experience with saltwater fish or reef aquariums.
They can be sensitive to nitrate levels as low as 10—20 ppm and do need a high flow rate, but other than that, most of these sharks are happy in a standard reef environment. A 1,gallon tank can accommodate Blacktip Carcharhinus limbatus or Whitetip Triaenodon obesus sharks. These sharks can grow anywhere from 48" to 60" and can be kept with a variety of reef fish as long as they are adequately fed. In some cases, you will be offered nurse sharks because of their docile nature.
Do not buy a nurse shark unless you have a 15,gallon pool to keep it in. Nurse sharks can grow to lengths of up to 14 feet. Before you buy a pet shark, you need to have an aquarium ready for it. Sharks are extremely sensitive to water conditions, and not having the correct tank ready for their arrival is a death sentence.
Your tank should be set up and running with a high water filtration rate at least six full water cycles per hour. Outfit your tank with a sandy bottom and live rock and run it through an entire nitrogen cycle before adding your shark. This could take up to six months, depending on the method you use to cycle the tank. Once the ammonia and nitrite fixing bacteria have reached stable levels, then you can bring your new pet shark home.
There aren't many places to buy an actual shark. Shark Supply and Fresh Marine are two reputable websites that offer several sharks for sale. In addition, Sharks for Sale has listings from both local and international dealers. If you are a novice, stick with the varieties mentioned above. There will be several others to choose from, but they are best left to those who already have shark-keeping experience.
Purchasing from an exotic pet shop that carries sharks near you will be much better than going for the online buy. The shop owner will likely know quite a bit about the particular shark and may even be able to put you in contact with the breeder. Having these kinds of connections is invaluable when you are starting out with a new shark. Keep in mind, most of the top breeders are located along the Florida and Georgia coastline.
The Florida Tropical Fish Farm Association keeps an up-to-date listing of all authorized shark breeders in the area. If your local dealer has a shark available to purchase, look for the following in the shark tank:. Once you buy your shark, it will be shipped in a box that will allow the shark to swim around. Most shippable sharks are pups because they can be shipped in smaller boxes.
The minimum shipping size of the box will be at least one and a half times as wide and three to four times as long as the shark. Shipping can be quite expensive once the size of the box and the weight of the shark and water is considered. Sometimes shipping costs more than the shark itself. The bamboo shark, horn shark, coralcat, or wobbie pup, are often shipped in tiny 5-gallon containers and are by far the best value. If you are looking for a freshwater aquarium shark for your existing home tank, you'll want to look at some of the "fake" sharks common to freshwater fish keeping.
These sharks are actually members of the Cyprinidae family related to carp and include red-tailed and rainbow sharks. Red-tails usually grow to about 6 inches in length on average but can reach up to 9. However, these guys are larger and have a bit more elongated body shape. This shark pet is not the most outstanding one as there are others that would immediately catch your eye with their vibrant colors. These guys enjoy a current and some rocks, branches, and soft gravel so that the surrounding environment reassembles the bed of a flowing river.
The Violet Blushing Shark is a bottom feeder — it will happily feed on dried fish food and frozen bloodworm. The only rule is not to house it with other species with a similar shape, especially other members of their Labeo genus, as they will become territorial and aggressive among each other.
Anything in-between may result in territory disputes. I often see the Columbian shark listed as a freshwater tank fish. This is, however, misleading at the least because this is actually a species of catfish that prefers living in brackish water.
I can clearly see why the Black Fin shark another name for a Columbian shark is used as a clickbait — it has a really impressive appearance — at least in my opinion. In terms of size the Columbian Shark can reach up to 20 inches 51 cm and if treated well they can grow even bigger.
They do enjoy current based on my observations so if you want to make them happy do a setup properly. This implies that they should not be housed with fish that are less than twice of their size. Also, be sure there are suitable tank mates that do not include any small saltwater fish species.
Other fish with similar water condition needs and still big enough to not be considered as prey — like large mollies or scats are a good tank mate option for the Columbian shark. Anyway, the Columbian sharks should be fed with various foods — meat and plants that have the vitamins and minerals needed to maintain a strong immune system.
That includes but is not limited to catfish pellets, shrimp pellets, frozen worm, high-quality flakes, an occasional feeder fish, small life crustaceans, cucumbers, etc. They are scavenging bottom feeders in nature, but may also roam the water column for food. Its final maximum size will depend on the environment, but a common measurement states over 4 feet. It will quickly turn into a single-species aquarium, unless you provide it with a really large tank or, perhaps, a pond.
Later, when they get bigger a relocation to a koi pond would be a good idea, because of the behavioral similarities they and the koi fish share. Supplying your high-fin banded shark with bottom-dwelling invertebrates and crustaceans is also a good way to diversify its menu.
Larger species of freshwater sharks as any other fish will experience stunted growth in an aquarium environment. This is mainly due to the build-up of nitrates, and the lower levels of oxygenation in a home fish tank.
In the wild, a vast body of water will instantly dissolve most impurities. In a home fish tank where space is confined and the only way of removing toxins from the water is human intervention, this is not possible. Colder water naturally has more oxygen in it. This, in turn, leads to stunted growth. However, a larger species will experience stunted growth to a degree in a home aquarium. As you can see the first step towards picking a vicious-looking predator as a home pet is choosing the right setting and the right tank mates.
Aside from that, there are a couple of things you need to remember if you are to become the owner of a shark fish:. Not all aquarium sharks tend to be aggressive and not all will fit your tank setup. Give it a thought and make your pick wisely. Having a complete shark tank to flaunt with is where the fun begins. Would you, perhaps have sources for the information that states, black fin sharks are to be kept in brackish water conditions, then transitioned to full marine? Thank you! I took it from someone I know who is very knowledgable in Black Fin sharks.
He has 2 that are already 12 years old and he transitioned them to saltwater a very long time ago. For your comfort, any of the large and established fish info websites such as FishBase, Catfishplanet, and SeriouslyFish confirm this. I need more information. Can you clarify this? Nitrate build-up. Not doing regular water changes. Apart from removing some of the excess nitrates, you also remove growth-inhibiting hormones from the water, which in the wild are instantly dissolved.
In a confined space such as aquarium however, the only one who can remove them is you. The small ones listed in this article are ideal for home fish tanks. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.
Learn how your comment data is processed. Such species do exist but, inevitably, questions about size and diet arise. Before we proceed with the list, there are a couple of clarifications that I need to make:. Fun fact: This species of home-kept shark is used in the making of Glofish. Your pet shark especially the ones I will suggest here will definitely make use of the extra surface area.
Also, considering the species suggested on this page, I will suggest a tank of size not less than gallons. In fact, you should have in mind gallons, however, in case of considerable factors, never go below gallons. And like always, the bigger the better. Some aquarists may keep juveniles in smaller tanks, and later transfer it to a larger one. Certainly, this is possible, but do not be carried away. If you must start with a smaller tank, then make you are ready to start setting up a larger tank immediately.
It is unlikely that any aquarium will accept an overgrown shark from you. Hence, keep that thought aside while going for a pet shark. These sharks can grow larger faster than you imagine. These species also need space to swim and move around especially while hunting. Of course, these sharks would often dig at the bottom of rocks.
Introduce caves and other reef set-ups that will serve as hiding places and shelter for your pet shark at one end of the tank. The idea is to leave enough open space for your shark at the bottom to move around. Here are suggestions of true sharks that you can keep as aquarium pets. These sharks will do well in a home aquarium if all the necessary factors involved in setting up a tank for them are met. I also considered the safety of the aquarist keeping them before choosing.
Most other shark species not only grow large but can be dangerous to keep at home. Hence, this is a list of sharks mostly considered harmless to humans. They include:. The wobbegong shark is a name for a group of shark species listed under three genera Eucrossorhinus , Orectolobus , and Sutorectus.
These sharks belong to the family of Orectolobidae. They are otherwise known as carpet sharks. The wobbie is quite an occasional visitor to the aquarium trade. Although, not all species of wobbegongs are fit for aquarium life.
These species of wobbegongs do not usually grow beyond 3. Hence, their size is acceptable for a home aquarium. Wobbegong sharks in nature live in coral and rocky reefs across Australia. In case if you start looking for one know where to look. Considering their behavior, wobbegongs are generally slow and lethargic. They usually choose a preferred resting spot and always spend most of their time at that spot. Even if they leave for hunting at night, they are much likely to return to the same spot during the day.
This behavior of wobbegongs means they are not active and do not require a large swimming space. They are ambush predators which will hide camouflaging themselves against the seafloor waiting for an unsuspecting prey that will approach. Yeah, maybe you do not need a really large after all. While the wobbie may seem to be the perfect aquarium shark even with their attractive complex body patterns, these are voracious eaters. They do not do well with tank mates. In fact, they will turn even larger tank mates to food.
Ensure to keep a wobbegong in a separate tank and feed it as required. Note that this shark can eat till it regurgitates. So, be aware to feed it reasonably. Epaulette sharks should make the top in the list of aquarium sharks. There are about seven species of epaulettes with the most common being Hemiscyllium ocellatum.
These sharks rarely grow beyond 30 inches The epaulette shark will spend most of its daytime hiding in crevices. But, at night they emerge and hunt for food. Of course, they do not have legs, however, they use their muscular pectoral and pelvic fins to push themselves in a walking-like manner. Apart from attaining only a small length and being a bottom-dweller, the epaulette shark has a beautiful body pattern. These markings are quite attractive and will make you want to go home with this shark.
All these characteristics and their readiness to adapt to a confined space make the epaulette shark suitable for a home aquarium. At the moment you can only find one species of the epaulette in the aquarium trade. This is the common H. More species are likely to be available soon due to the expansion of the specimen collection.
Naturally, the epaulette shark inhabits coral reefs with their geographical distribution covering Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. They usually move to sandy flats, seagrass meadows, or rubble beds to find their food, especially at night.
0コメント