# Keeping Sharks



## cracksolja

Hey all ive been intrigued since visiting Pets at home.!

they had on sale sharks only grow to like a few CM, but ive been youtubing it looking at peoples shark collections

What is smallest shark you can keep but is fairly bulky in size?

and what is the setup / requirments? 

REally interested im a beginner at this my dad knows fish though so I think hed help plus be a bonding experienceI think to ! ha

Anyone advise me on what I can get? I dont wanna spend hundreads on something either just something cheap but aslong as the sharks welfare will be good!

I already have a rep collection but looking into a shark hehe


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## Shoggy07

you can keep red tail sharks in a standard aquarium, i have previously kept red tail sharks at about 24 degrees and they grow to about 6 inches, there are rainbow sharks alo growing to about the same size with same conditions and i have also kept a few silver shraks which are probably the biggest out of the 3 and can reach about 40 cm. they can be kept at regular tropical temperatures too.


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## cracksolja

Cheers for quick reply, I want something exactly like you said grows big but not like ocean big ha! 40CM would be fab, what type of tank in regards to size?

Standard tank or reenforced? not by the gallon but by Width and all sorts would be easiar for me


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## Shoggy07

you dont need reinforced tank no. keep n standard awuaria conditions with plants etc, i kept them in a 3 foot by 2 foot by 1.5 foot thats length by width by height and that woked fine. not sure how many you could get in i suppose depends on type of shark. silver sharks can be kept with oher comunal fish of similar sizes which are not easy prey targets but stick a small fish in and expect it to be gone in the morning lol.


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## AshMashMash

You talking freshwater cyprinids, like these, which are sometimes called 'sharks'?



















If so, they are easy to keep. The first one grows quite big. But the second can be kept in normal sized freshwater aquariums. 

Or, are you talking about these?










These require very expensive and harder to keep marine tanks, and large too. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have some experience.


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## Shoggy07

top ones commonly referred to as the silver shark.


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## cracksolja

Are they quite a chunky type of shark? 

I may have a tank like that spare I have several - also my friend at work wants to no what fish can you keep that grows to roughly 6 inches?

He brought sharks up before and I said i was looking at them at pets at home by were I live they were only like £5.00 but hey

The animal is always cheaper than the setup I learnt that with my dragon! lol


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## AshMashMash

Shoggy07 said:


> top ones commonly referred to as the silver shark.


Haha, ta : victory:



cracksolja said:


> He brought sharks up before and I said i was looking at them at pets at home by were I live they were only like £5.00 but hey


Haha, well then, its certainly not the last type  Yes, you're wanting 'sharks' then, rather than sharks.


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## casperclone

could get a ruby shark, simular to red tailed black sharks jus grown like not even half a cm smaller


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## Xavier

Shall I assume you mean the "psuedo" sharks and not the actual shark species available for aquaria? The red-tails, silvers, etc. are not sharks, but are fairly easy to keep and fairly entertaining. If you wish to go the expensive, marine route i'd personally recommend _Chiloscyllium punctatum, _fairly easy to locate and if you do the research can make an excellent "small" shark. The Monster Fish Keepers forum should have loads of information if you truly want to start keeping sharks, however small, and many truly experienced keepers more than happy to help you along the way. There are also a number of rays that can make good aquarium fish [I say good, that depends on your perception and how much effort and research you're willing to put in] but they require tanks that are often fairly space consuming, but they can make most excellent display pieces if you wished.

I'm slow at replying. 6 inches? There's a fair few species that meet that requirement, would he prefer shoaling, peaceful fish that could do well in a community aquarium or a single species tank which can afford to have the more aggressive, territorial species? Fresh, marine, brackish? Any particular preference as to the type of fish apart from size?


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## Shoggy07

why on here does everyone have to out compete with each other to see who has the best knowledge, yes assume its not a specific shark and assume that a keeper brand new to sharks or 'sharks' will not be keeping a great white in a reinforced tank in his room. surely its obvious.


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## Xavier

It's not outcompeting, merely seeing if the right end of the stick has been gotten so appropriate advice, which was asked for, can be given. As you can see I did not mention any large sharks, a small, commonly purchased as a beginners shark species, was mentioned, that is fairly easy to look after and grows to around 40ish inches in length, making it fairly manageable if someone actually wants to keep a small shark. When I read the title I assumed actual sharks as that's what I am familiar with, unfortunately it took me several minutes to compose the message and by then several replies which had already noted what I asked had been made. 

Oh well. Next time I shall most definately give out advice on keeping a Great White, if only to incite yet another delightful bout of snarkism


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## cracksolja

AshMashMash said:


> You talking freshwater cyprinids, like these, which are sometimes called 'sharks'?
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> If so, they are easy to keep. The first one grows quite big. But the second can be kept in normal sized freshwater aquariums.
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> Or, are you talking about these?
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> These require very expensive and harder to keep marine tanks, and large too. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have some experience.


 
Hey sorry wasnt ignoring you I didnt see the post untill now ha! yeah the first one is the one in the shop I saw, how big can they grow and what are the requirments?


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## gazz

There are a lot of fish with the name of shark in them but they are no way near being related to shark other than being fish.

Iridescent shark catfish.But these get BIG so IMO don't go there.









All below don't exceed 2ft.But do avridge around 1ft give or take a little.

Columbian catfish.









Silver shark.









Black shark.









Red tail black shark.









Ruby shark.










There are as fair as i know two members of the shark family that can live in fresh water but would need a good size tank.Stergeon family but you would want speices sterlet.And freash water rays both can be tempermental in there needs so homework is a must for these speices.

Freshwater stingray.Size depends on the speices and there a fair amount of speices to choose from.Biggist i think around 4ft in leght mainly tail by 3ft across this is the dics size.I think there maybe a bigger speices but they ant that common and they would cost bucket loads.









Sterlet.Can max out at around 4-5ft but rarly exceed 1meter.


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## Andy53

I've kept silver sharks for quite a while now - they prefer being kept in shoals, and are quite active, so it's probably best not to keep them with other timid fish. I recommend keeping them in a 3ft minimum tank (ie. 90L) as they need plenty of swimming room. They aren't aggressive, but as one of the above posts suggested, its best not to keep them with small fish, just in case. They don't require too much decor, but some vallis plants should go down quite well. 

Hope that helps.
cheers
Andy


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## leo19

hi at mylocal fish shop, aquascope they have a display tank with 2 black tipped reef sharks in i wondered does anywhere else have them? and does anyone keep them as pets?


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## DaveM

sharks can be very territorial


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## AshMashMash

Shoggy07 said:


> why on here does everyone have to out compete with each other to see who has the best knowledge,


I honestly dont know. Whats the point, its clear who's won already:



DaveM said:


> sharks can be very territorial


:no1:

:lol2::lol2::lol2:


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## Esfa

silver sharks (also known as bala sharks) grow upto 14" and like to be in groups of 6+. for this, they need a 6ft long tank, with a volume of about 150gallons.

Ruby sharks and RTBS get about 6" and can live in a tank of 30gallons. However, they are prone to being very territorial, so the recommended minimum tank size is 50gal. Never keep more then one shark in a tank except for silver sharks.


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## ishotthesherifswife

dont 4get to attach lasers to their heads


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## mints

silver sharks are nice but they are a scholling fish and do better with others, red tails sharks, rainbows and albino red tails, all them types of shark are more therritiorial and its best to keep them on there own or in groups of at least six.
black sharks get big and ill need a very big tank, coz they are quite bulky fish, 

then these sharks like the bamboo and epulette, but these are saltwater, (marine) and require more care, and you have to be carful coz you cant use copper when u av got these fish.
but these are the closest thing youll get to reall shark other then black tips or white and even nurse sharks, if you got a big enough tank you can keep these fish....
i know of several people who have got a nurse and a couple of black tips myself..., very nice fish, but very messy. lol..


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## luke123

i had a red tailed black shark for 6 years and it grew to about 5 inches, looked absoloutly geourgeous but then he died ide reccomend about 5 of them in a tank and they will look fab


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## mike515

Silver sharks are not a small fish. Upwards of 12" so a big tank is needed as they have to be kept in groups. Something like a 6x2x2 would be ok for a small shoal but bigger is better as they are really active fish.

If you want an actual shark, the best (very loosely used here as all of them aren't the best animals in captivity) ones are usually catsharks. There's a few the most common is the bamboo shark, grows around 40" but can get bigger than that. I believe six foot is not unheard of. Epaulette (check spelling lol) sharks are also cool but again fairly large.


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## gazz

Just wondering if you had a suitable size tank.Is there any legal reason why you couldn't set up a cold water marine tank and catch your self a pair of young Small spotted catshark-(Scyliorhinus canicula) from the UK coast ???.Coz as true sharks go they are tiny maxing out at 1meter but there common avridge is around 2ft and there on are doorstep.People take them to eat them.But can you take them to keep them ???.

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=845


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## Esfa

I don't think it is legal to take anything from coastal areas to keep, i might be wrong though.


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## cazzie

gazz said:


> Just wondering if you had a suitable size tank.Is there any legal reason why you couldn't set up a cold water marine tank and catch your self a pair of young Small spotted catshark-(Scyliorhinus canicula) from the UK coast ???.Coz as true sharks go they are tiny maxing out at 1meter but there common avridge is around 2ft and there on are doorstep.People take them to eat them.But can you take them to keep them ???.
> 
> Scyliorhinus canicula, Small-spotted catshark: fisheries, aquarium


TBH its not fair taking a sea creature out of the sea, imagine the amount of space your taking it out of and putting it into, it simply isnt fair on the shark in question.

If you want any of the species mentioned, do try and make sure it was CB for then it hasnt known any better, and it hasnt had a good/bad life within the sea. i am completly sucky on fish, only keeping guppies xD but good luck on your quest of owning a shark


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## mike515

cazzie said:


> TBH its not fair taking a sea creature out of the sea, imagine the amount of space your taking it out of and putting it into, it simply isnt fair on the shark in question.
> 
> If you want any of the species mentioned, do try and make sure it was CB for then it hasnt known any better, and it hasnt had a good/bad life within the sea. i am completly sucky on fish, only keeping guppies xD but good luck on your quest of owning a shark


 
very few marine fish are captive bred at all. what the fact hardly any will breed in captivity. So saying it's unfair isn't an issue.

Yes CB is always a plus but it's not always possible. And without WC where would all the CB come from? gotta start somewhere


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## gazz

cazzie said:


> TBH its not fair taking a sea creature out of the sea, imagine the amount of space your taking it out of and putting it into, it simply isnt fair on the shark in question.


That's easy solved when the wheather is nice and warm.Just go scooper diving in and around kelp or have a spash in a large rock pool or two for fertile egg case's-AKA-mermaid's purse.And when it hatch it will know nothing more than tank life.


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## cazzie

mike515 said:


> very few marine fish are captive bred at all. what the fact hardly any will breed in captivity. So saying it's unfair isn't an issue.
> 
> Yes CB is always a plus but it's not always possible. And without WC where would all the CB come from? gotta start somewhere


 
Funnily enough i had my sister saying that to me aswell :whistling2:


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