# keeping sharks?



## damien1010 (Feb 16, 2009)

does / has anyone ever owned a shark? not tropical fish , but legit sharks if you get me, i remember when i was younger my dad took me to a fish shop (he keeps alot of fish) and in the centre of the display tanks was a roughly 3 foot shark in a huuuuge tank, be intrested to see picks if people have any ? -for the record- i am or never will be intrested in keeping a shark, i have neither the intrest,experience,money nor space to ever own one :notworthy:


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

I kept a Bamboo Shark for quite a while, grew bloody quickly too!


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

I hatched and kept a bamboo shark for a while at work.


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## Devi (Jan 9, 2011)

I worked at an aquarium for a while that had very large sharks, it's strange how scary it is just to see that fin appear out of the water when you're walking past the top of the tank. Despite logically knowing they were happier in the water I always had the idea in the back of my mind that they could dive out and get me.


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## damien1010 (Feb 16, 2009)

bamboo sharks? do you have any pictures of there setups and the critters them selves, sound pretty awesome


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## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

I kept a small nurse shark for a while and californian leopard sharks and had a couple of wobbegongs for a few months .


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## REPTILEDAN88 (Sep 23, 2011)

Heres one hatched out by a friend.


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## nsn89 (Jun 11, 2011)

Interesting...Sharks are by far my favourite animal.

Are they DWA? Or can anyone have one? :whistling2:


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## Devi (Jan 9, 2011)

nsn89 said:


> Interesting...Sharks are by far my favourite animal.
> 
> Are they DWA? Or can anyone have one? :whistling2:


Fish can't be DWA for some reason. You can get very deadly fish and aquatic inverts much too easily. Sharks are one of the less dangerous.


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

I wouldn't be too concerned about being attacked by a bamboo shark. Or a nurse shark.

It seems a lot of effort to keep sharks, huge tanks, pristine water quality, lots of food etc etc. I hate seeing them on MFK in tiny tanks.


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Devi said:


> Fish can't be DWA for some reason. You can get very deadly fish and aquatic inverts much too easily. Sharks are one of the less dangerous.


Yeah, I'm sure someone on here picked up a stone fish and the shop told him "it could sting a bit" or something.


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## nsn89 (Jun 11, 2011)

Morgan Freeman said:


> I wouldn't be too concerned about being attacked by a bamboo shark. Or a nurse shark.
> 
> It seems a lot of effort to keep sharks, huge tanks, pristine water quality, lots of food etc etc. I hate seeing them on MFK in tiny tanks.


Yeah if i was ever to get one i wouldn't put it in some sh** set up, i'd definitely go the whole 9 yards to get a massive tank built for it etc.


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## Devi (Jan 9, 2011)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Yeah, I'm sure someone on here picked up a stone fish and the shop told him "it could sting a bit" or something.


Yup, that was earlier this year if I remember right. I'm on an octopus forum and inexperienced people often pick up blue rings which can kill in hours and have no antivenom, it's really scary to think what could happen!


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

nsn89 said:


> Yeah if i was ever to get one i wouldn't put it in some sh** set up, i'd definitely go the whole 9 yards to get a massive tank built for it etc.


I couldn't handle the stress!

Is he swimming okay? *checks parameters again* *Checks salinity*

Is he spending too much time near the bottom? OMG OMG.

Why didn't he eat that fish faster? HE'S DYING NOOOOOO.

Repeat 10 times a day.

That's me anyway.


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Devi said:


> Yup, that was earlier this year if I remember right. I'm on an octopus forum and inexperienced people often pick up blue rings which can kill in hours and have no antivenom, it's really scary to think what could happen!


Yeah definitely. Kinda related, I thought I saw a stone fish in the Caribbean when snorkelling and told everyone not to put their feet down. Turns out it was some sort of frog fish. Ooops.


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## nsn89 (Jun 11, 2011)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Yeah definitely. Kinda related, I thought I saw a stone fish in the Caribbean when snorkelling and told everyone not to put their feet down. Turns out it was some sort of frog fish. Ooops.


Most venomous fish in the world right?


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## Devi (Jan 9, 2011)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Yeah definitely. Kinda related, I thought I saw a stone fish in the Caribbean when snorkelling and told everyone not to put their feet down. Turns out it was some sort of frog fish. Ooops.


I'd rather take the chance of not putting my feet on a frog fish than risk death at the spines of a stone fish!


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

I think so, has antivenom though.


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## _emmie_x_ (Aug 7, 2010)

Devi said:


> Fish can't be DWA for some reason. You can get very deadly fish and aquatic inverts much too easily. Sharks are one of the less dangerous.


_The DWAA is just put in place to protect the public and not the keeper, So because fish are unlikely to pose a threat to the public there isn't a need to put them on the DWAA unlike snakes, inverts and mammals : victory:_


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## steve111 (Jun 7, 2009)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Yeah, I'm sure someone on here picked up a stone fish and the shop told him "it could sting a bit" or something.


ye me:lol2:


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## caribe (Mar 21, 2010)

Had some bamboo sharks that i sold through the shop, couple of others that were special orders but nothing fantastically exciting.

Would love a nice big reef shark tank, but dont fancy turning my house into a giant fish tank...

When I win the lottery though :flrt:


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## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

We had a black tip reef shark in a shop i used to work weekends for ,used to cut fish in half like it had used scissors !!


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

caribe said:


> Had some bamboo sharks that i sold through the shop, couple of others that were special orders but nothing fantastically exciting.
> 
> Would love a nice big reef shark tank, but dont fancy turning my house into a giant fish tank...
> 
> When I win the lottery though :flrt:


It'd still have to be a pretty big lottery win IMO!

Reinforcing floor, filtration, water costs, food, possible vet treatment, plank for ex girlfriends.

I mean you'd want a tank like this *PLUGS OWN VIDEO*

Sharks at London Aquarium - YouTube


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## nsn89 (Jun 11, 2011)

Morgan Freeman said:


> It'd still have to be a pretty big lottery win IMO!
> 
> Reinforcing floor, filtration, water costs, food, possible vet treatment, plank for ex girlfriends.
> 
> ...


How much do you actually think it would cost? £40k?


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

nsn89 said:


> How much do you actually think it would cost? £40k?


I dunno, some people spend close to that on reef tanks. Depends how big you'd want it!

I'll take one of these...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7deClndzQw


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## nsn89 (Jun 11, 2011)

Morgan Freeman said:


> I dunno, some people spend close to that on reef tanks. Depends how big you'd want it!
> 
> I'll take one of these...
> 
> Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) - YouTube


Let's go halves?:whistling2:


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## damien1010 (Feb 16, 2009)

wow sorry didnt check in for abit, thats a pretty good looking shark (the bamboo) so with in reason you could get pretty much any shark you wanted if you had the funds ? thats crazy , the one i remember seeing was a grey colour , im sure it was a black tip reef shark only small ,was in a cracking tank with other marines , i thote octopus where extreme escape artists , can fit thro minute holes, would fancy risking it


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## Devi (Jan 9, 2011)

damien1010 said:


> i thote octopus where extreme escape artists , can fit thro minute holes, would fancy risking it


Octopus can fit though anything that their beak can, so a lot of things! I had one for a month or so though and it didn't get out with just a standard well fitted lid. Definitely wouldn't have risked it on the blue ring though, one slip and it's climbing round the living room floor looking for pets to kill.


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## kattes (Jun 8, 2011)

Keeping sharks is actually quite easy if you got the funds and the space required. There are several bottom dwelling species that would do fine for their whole life in a 9x5 feet tank. Of course they can be kept in a smaller setups, but to my eyes it wouldn't work; if a tank looks too small it brings me no joy watching it even if the fish are fine. 

It's a good idea to quarantine them well and to be extra vigilant when looking for parasites. The downside is that if problems arise, treating is a bit difficult as sharks can't tolerate many of the medicines available so in many cases freshwater dips and hyposalinity treatment are the only available options for private keepers. But once established sharks are very hardy and easy to keep. For long term sustainability, it's a good idea to add iodine and calcium tablets to their foor. They can be kept in pairs, but it's good to remember that sharks like bamboos and epaulettes do breed readily and that when they do, the males chomp on the fins of the females which naturally increases the possibility of infections.

Setup wise, a backwashable sand filter is pure brilliance with the amount of poo sharks produce. Then add a bio-tower and skim the living hell out of the water and be prepared to keep plenty of salt available.


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## wayne g (Mar 4, 2008)

i there's one species that should be left in the ocean then it's sharks.
not for home aquaria imo.


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## steve111 (Jun 7, 2009)

my local shop got a nice coral shark in


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## fishboy (Aug 7, 2007)

Any sort of pelagic shark should be left in the sea.

Bamboo sharks are the only type i'd even consider, if I was very rich.


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## fishboy (Aug 7, 2007)

wayne g said:


> i there's one species that should be left in the ocean then it's sharks.
> not for home aquaria imo.



The term shark refers to a superorder Selachimorpha, representing approx. 440 species. So which one are you talking about?


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

fishboy said:


> Any sort of pelagic shark should be left in the sea.
> 
> Bamboo sharks are the only type i'd even consider, if I was very rich.


They're kinda lame though, It's like the shark equivalent of a chihuahua.


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## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

A shop near me had a nice black tip reef shark in a few years back as it turned up on an order unexpectedly! They ended up giving it to an aquarium and was filmed on a programme but cant remember which one! it was up for 5k at one point and looked amazing but the 3 ft coral tank it was in wasnt exactly spacious. 

Also spoke to another shop and they said years ago they had two blck reefs for a few years but someone came in baged on the glass and one jumped out and the other went crazy smashing into the glass. The one that jumped out died pretty quickly and the other died a while later from the injuries it suffered!


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## nsn89 (Jun 11, 2011)

Morgan Freeman said:


> They're kinda lame though, It's like the shark equivalent of a chihuahua.


Haha! Yeah they are boring, a nice tiger shark or great white will suffice I think...........


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## steve111 (Jun 7, 2009)

i bought a tiger shark about 3 years ago £600 had for around a year


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## kattes (Jun 8, 2011)

Morgan Freeman said:


> They're kinda lame though, It's like the shark equivalent of a chihuahua.


No way! Chihuahua's are creepy and kind of scary with their alien eyes, bamboos are cuddly and funny. But epaulettes are probably even more fun, even though they do look pretty silly. 

Black tip reefs are probably the most boring shark I've ever encountered in an aquarium. I admit that that it's a joy to watch the swim around so elegantly, but that's about it. When fed, they speed up a little and hopefully make it to the food before the nurse sharks have eaten everything. And if anything happens they get really scared, where as epaulettes and nurse sharks are the curious ones always sticking their nose to everywhere.

Besides, nurses might look soppy, but I'd much rather stick my hand inside a mouth of a black tip than a large nurse.


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## steve111 (Jun 7, 2009)

my mate been catching dog fish lately look exsactly like a corol shark iv seen in my local shop but much cheeper:lol2:


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## lillevenn (Apr 24, 2010)

There was a mention in the PFK this month of some aquarium somewhere having just caught a great white shark and putting it in a tank, something like a million gallons. That's got to be the bullmastiff of sharks!


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