# sharks and tanks



## MPF (Aug 12, 2007)

i read some thing on yahoo were some guy was complaining about his pet shark which was 3 ft and getting to big for its tank but some guy replied saying "
A fish can not grow too big for a talk. Growth stops if the tank is too small. Stop trying to have us on."

is that statement true?
soz for going on lol


----------



## WeThePeople (Jul 8, 2007)

There is some truth to it, when a fish gets big enough to be too big to be in a tank he produces enough waste to cause ill health stunting growth.

What type of shark is it? Chance are unless its a bamboo shark or similar,its only a fish with a shark in its name anyway.


----------



## MPF (Aug 12, 2007)

no idea the guy just said pet shark


----------



## talltom69 (Dec 8, 2006)

The only tank shark that you can buy from what I have been told is a bamboo shark as they dont grow too big.


----------



## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

I really get angry when i hear this statement, my old neighbour gave us a fish tank it was 3ft long by 18" by 15" terribly small and it had in it a fully grown golden severum, a fully grown plec as well as three very tin foil barbs i think they are called and two fully grown gouramis.

This tank was obviously too small to keep all those fish in and i don't believe they had stopped growing to accommodate the size of the tank, they had been in it all their lives and nearly all had been bought as babies.

As far as i can see it is not true and is ridiculous, i have heard some people say the same of snakes that a snake will not outgrow its enclosure we all know that to be total tosh as well!!

Marina


----------



## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

fish keep growing that is a crap statement fish do not grow to the size of there tank its like saying put a muman baby in a box and it will stay that size most people think o wee goldfish al get it it will stay like that wroung the 12 inch on in the tank next to it is what it will grow up to be


----------



## WeThePeople (Jul 8, 2007)

talltom69 said:


> The only tank shark that you can buy from what I have been told is a bamboo shark as they dont grow too big.


You can also buy reef sharks pretty easy, both white tip and black tip :no1:


----------



## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

You would not believe how many customers I get in the shop who say - well if I buy a 2 foot tank for it, it won't grow any bigger right?

The whole fish "won't grow bigger than it's tank" reflects terribly on reptiles. I don't know if it's true for fish or not... but a lot of people are stupid enough to think it's true for reptiles too.


----------



## Jinx (May 31, 2005)

Athravan said:


> You would not believe how many customers I get in the shop who say - well if I buy a 2 foot tank for it, it won't grow any bigger right?
> 
> The whole fish "won't grow bigger than it's tank" reflects terribly on reptiles. I don't know if it's true for fish or not... but a lot of people are stupid enough to think it's true for reptiles too.


Yeh i know, ive had alot of people ask me if snakes only grow to the szie tank/home they are kept in.
:roll:


----------



## pinko (Jul 5, 2007)

From what i know fish will not grow to the size of their tank,they will die prematurely if kept in too small a tank for their full grown size.


----------



## talltom69 (Dec 8, 2006)

WeThePeople said:


> You can also buy reef sharks pretty easy, both white tip and black tip :no1:


You having a bubble, these are huge, where would someone keep one of these, let alone accomodate it.

I can just picture a numpty with one in their bath tub or pool.


----------



## Tops (Apr 26, 2007)

Athravan said:


> You would not believe how many customers I get in the shop who say - well if I buy a 2 foot tank for it, it won't grow any bigger right?
> 
> The whole fish "won't grow bigger than it's tank" reflects terribly on reptiles. I don't know if it's true for fish or not... but a lot of people are stupid enough to think it's true for reptiles too.


 
You mean my royal wont be able to live in my lunchbox forever?


----------



## corvid2e1 (Jan 21, 2007)

talltom69 said:


> You having a bubble, these are huge, where would someone keep one of these, let alone accomodate it.
> 
> I can just picture a numpty with one in their bath tub or pool.


there is a big aquatics shop near me and I have seen nurse sharks, leopard sharks and some species of cat shark, I can't remember which one, all for sale and on display just like any other fish. they also had lion fish, several species of moray eel and stonefish.


----------



## WeThePeople (Jul 8, 2007)

talltom69 said:


> You having a bubble, these are huge, where would someone keep one of these, let alone accomodate it.
> 
> I can just picture a numpty with one in their bath tub or pool.


No not at all, id imagine their main clients are public aquariums and the like, but id also imagine there are private keepers, i know of one guy in the north west who has a 17,000l marine tank, i had to go out of the room its kept in and poke my camera through the door to take a full tank picture of it - its that big!!

Just Marine: Sharks & Rays


----------



## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

But still nurse sharks and reef sharks grow over 6ft long and 3ft wide!!

Marina


----------



## talltom69 (Dec 8, 2006)

I've just looked at that link and I'll eat my own words as there as sharks listed for sale, £350 for a shark that has come from the over side of the world, that is cheap.

I wonder how they get these, let alone deliver them.

Also the Lion fish are dirt cheap, one of my local shops charge hundreds for one of them and they have them for £25.00


----------



## WeThePeople (Jul 8, 2007)

£25 is about right for a lionfish mate.

Sharks need to move to be able to breath so they are put in a small tank that has powerheads pushing water into their mouths and over their gills so they can breath, they are thrown immediatly on a plane, its 24 hours from the sea to the shop. When in captivity they dont tend to eat either, so they are kept for a few months on a crap diet then shipped back to the wild.


----------



## Captive Herps (Aug 13, 2007)

i didin't read anythin above but you can get blue/black tip reef sharkes here for some coin i know somone that is gettin 2 in a custum tank is his base ment!


----------



## njp (Mar 4, 2007)

You can get just about anything one want with enough cash, I know a couple of people who keep large sharks.

I don't think a basement will be big enough for a black tip


----------



## Captive Herps (Aug 13, 2007)

well his tank expands out side!it's pritty cool you can see it in his back yard it's not open out side his deck if the tank so you look down you see sharks!


----------



## WeThePeople (Jul 8, 2007)

njp said:


> You can get just about anything one want with enough cash, I know a couple of people who keep large sharks.
> 
> I don't think a basement will be big enough for a black tip


How big is the basement? Without knowing how can you tell? Acopora House in Warrington has enough space in its basement for sharks, it certainly has a lot of big tanks already in it


----------



## njp (Mar 4, 2007)

True, but i don't think they should be kept in captivity any way, Black tips get to 6' and move around alot in the wild.

And also acro house will probally have more space than your average house


----------



## WeThePeople (Jul 8, 2007)

Yeah not agreeing with them in captivity is one thing but saying a basement is too small without actually knowing what size it is, is rediculous imo :no1:

Acro house dont have any, but they have some very impressive marine stuff hidden away in the basement, some of the best in the UK in fact.


----------



## Robbie (Dec 4, 2006)

I see Banded sharks for sale quite often. I'd have one if it was not for their adult size and the aquarium it demands.


----------



## njp (Mar 4, 2007)

Can't really find much about them in captivity, But the reconmended min size for a black tip pup is 20'x10'


----------



## sami (Oct 23, 2006)

Fish will continue to grow regardless of tank size unless they become ill and/or die. A small tank does not keep fish small.

It is 100% not true.


----------



## Captive Herps (Aug 13, 2007)

the tank is huge! it's a fully custume tank! it's like 30.000g tank i think that is what size it is!


----------



## fundo (Feb 7, 2007)

Tropical and marine fish will outgrow anything. Most coldwater fish will not - excluding things like sturgeon


----------



## SSamm (Mar 9, 2006)

i have a 12 foot pool in my garden.... 4 foot deep.... what can i keep n it?

hehe, lol. anyways... real world, would be intresting keeping one... doubt i ever would!


----------



## Mez (Feb 19, 2007)

most common shark in the NW for sale is definatly the leopard shark.
Always have em in at oasis aquarium in salford...
6fts not that big. i know people keeping shoe-faces!! aka arapiama...


----------



## Phaedra (Sep 12, 2007)

I guess if people keep gators it's not much harder to keep a shark. Gators I think get the worse treatment of any herp, a lot of people deliberately underfeed them to stunt their growth. I read about a guy who'd done this and his six year old gater was only 3 feet long. It makes me so angry when I hear about things like this, why buy a pet that you can't look after porperly?


----------



## Captive Herps (Aug 13, 2007)

if he want's a croc at 3-4' then get a smoth front caimin! and you don't have to worrie about stunting it's groth!


----------



## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Phaedra said:


> I guess if people keep gators it's not much harder to keep a shark. Gators I think get the worse treatment of any herp, a lot of people deliberately underfeed them to stunt their growth. I read about a guy who'd done this and his six year old gater was only 3 feet long. It makes me so angry when I hear about things like this, why buy a pet that you can't look after porperly?


But what's to say that the "once a week" feeding regimes we put our animals onto - which grow them fast - aren't more dangerous? In the wild they certainly wouldn't get a weekly meal delivered to them with no fuss, muss or hurry. 

Makes me wonder how big a WILD six-year-old gator is.

As for sharks... I would dearly love to have a shark of some sort, but we just don't have the space to give even a Bamboo Catshark a suitably large tank. It's another one of those things (like cuttlefish and moray eels) that I'd love to have but just couldn't cope with in our present situation.


----------



## carisma02uk (Sep 14, 2006)

i have seen in the uk for sale:
banded cat shark,
wombeg's
peppered cat shark,
bamboo's

i am contemplating setting up an 8x3x2 shark set up but my g/f wants a reef tank boooooooooooooooooo!!!!


----------



## Phaedra (Sep 12, 2007)

Ssthisto said:


> Makes me wonder how big a WILD six-year-old gator is.


What do you think people base their "your x should be x big at x old" statemtns on? 

Anyway you can't really compare. In the wild the gator is searching for its own food and it's mother nature who's to blame if their growth is stunted. There's no excuse for doing it to them in captivity where they don't have the choice to hunt food when they're hungry.


----------



## Xiorell (Aug 15, 2007)

WOW

Next day off, I'm going out to buy me a shark, we can do without the bath tub


----------



## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Phaedra said:


> What do you think people base their "your x should be x big at x old" statemtns on?


Well, a quick search shows that a wild 'Gator in Louisiana might grow one foot per year. A wild 'gator in the northern limits of their range might grow half as fast. So a six-year-old gator might well be three feet long in the north... and six feet long down South. 



> Anyway you can't really compare. In the wild the gator is searching for its own food and it's mother nature who's to blame if their growth is stunted. There's no excuse for doing it to them in captivity where they don't have the choice to hunt food when they're hungry.


And there's no excuse for overfeeding an animal, straining its growing bones or organs either. Most reptiles will eat more than they need if they get the chance - they'll gorge because that gives them the leisure NOT to have to hunt in unfavourable conditions. They'll even eat enough that they wind up regurgitating the excess (or the whole meal, if they ate a single prey item). 

When a reptile gets more than they need for normal growth rates on a weekly basis, you will get an animal that's being "rushed" through its growth, and straining kidneys and livers and bones. Not to mention fat deposits and the overall effects of obesity. It's called "Powerfeeding" when breeders do it deliberately to get snakes and lizards up to breeding weight as quickly as possible - and it's known to significantly shorten their lifespans, too.

Keep in mind the reptile evolved to grow _the way they do in nature_... with feasts and famines... not to grow the way they do on three square meals a day (or on one square meal carefully calculated to be one-tenth the animal's weight on Sunday at 12PM sharp). 

I'm not condoning STARVING an animal... but I believe quite strongly that we as reptile keepers ARE prone to overfeeding our poikilothermic species - including fish and amphibians - because we don't quite "get" the way their metabolisms work. They're reptiles, not mammals, and they don't need to be fed like mammals.


----------



## WeThePeople (Jul 8, 2007)

carisma02uk said:


> i have seen in the uk for sale:
> banded cat shark,
> wombeg's
> peppered cat shark,
> ...


What sharks do you think you can get in a tank that size? I know it would be ample for bamboo's!


----------



## carisma02uk (Sep 14, 2006)

WeThePeople said:


> What sharks do you think you can get in a tank that size? I know it would be ample for bamboo's!


well peppered's and bandeds reach around 2.5ft max most catsharks would live happy in a 8x3x2 they are more lazy fish than sharks...
wombegs are way too large for that...


----------

