Bamboo shark assistance

[GillsGirl]

I recently purchased a 3-3 1/2 " long bamboo shark. He's pretty small right now when when I purchased him I asked if he would be ok in my 75 gallon salt tank for 2 months until I get the 180 I would like set up and established.
Normally my boyfriend and I do a lot of research on the fish that we put in our tanks prior to purchasing them to make sure it is something we really want to add, but this was a spur of the moment purchase.
I have wanted one from the day we started a tank but the timing was just never right.
We were told at the store: to make sure the rocks were moved away from the walls to provide plenty of room for him to move around the tank, to feed him krill approx 2-3 a week depending on his appetite when we get him home, and to remove any fish that stay on the ground which resulted in the loss of our yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair.
They really did not say anything more, I did ask if a rectangular tank would be ok (worried that like jellyfish they may need rounded edges) but I was assured it would be fine.
After getting him home we did some more research on our own but were getting very mixed opinions...
I would like to know from those of you on RC who have had one of these beautiful sharks, what have your own personal experiences been like with them? What are things you have found to work and not work?

-Chelsea

[andy2966]

Set up a saltwater tank with the minimum size of 160 gallons (608 liters). This is the hardest part of taking care of a bamboo shark. You will need to cycle your tank and have good, stable water quality before you put your shark in. Bamboo sharks get to a size of 37 inches (95 cm), and do require a large tank.
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2Place your rocks carefully! You might want to use a non-toxic fish tank glue to glue the rocks together. Bamboo sharks will push rocks over, and large rocks might fall and injure them. If you are going to keep the shark with tankmates, be sure that the tankmates won't get eaten by the shark, and visa versa. The shark will eat ornamental crustaceans such as cleaner shrimp and small fish, and it may topple corals not attached to the rockwork.
3Buy your shark. Be sure to buy from a reputable pet store. Your shark should look healthy, and should not have any wounds. It should not appear to be "panting", or be overly lethargic. Its eyes should not have any discolorations or white spots.
4Acclimate your shark by using a small tub/container and using drip line for about 1 hour. Over this time every 15 minutes depending on your drip, remove water from the tub, the goal here is to slowly replace all the store water with your own tank water. After this is done, use a small container to transfer your shark to the aquarium. Do not use a net as the shark can easily become entangled and stressed!!!
5After your shark has gotten over its initial fear of its new surroundings, try offering it meaty foods suck as fresh shrimp, scallop or marine fish flesh impaled on a feeding stick. Young sharks should get finely chopped food. Feed to saturation 3 times a week. If your shark does not feed for more than a week, you will need to seek help.
Found this on Google . Good luck also found this >>The Hasselt’s Bamboo Shark is known as a Cat Shark because the barbels at the mouth look like cat whiskers. It is also referred to as the Indonesian Bamboo Shark. Juveniles are black with dark grey/brown bands. Adult Hasselt’s Bamboo Sharks are more uniform in color with the bands being medium to dark brown; the black edges are the last to fade with maturity.
The Hasselt’s Shark is a bottom dwelling shark that is common in the home aquarium. It will eat any crustacean in the aquarium. It stays relatively small, but requires at least a 180 gallon or larger aquarium as an adult. It requires sand as the substrate as the abdomen is easily scratched by a coarser substrate, which may lead to an infection. It should never be exposed to copper-based medications.

Feeding may be difficult in the beginning. When first introduced into the aquarium, small pieces of cleaned squid or live saltwater feeder shrimp should be used to entice this fish to eat. Then it may be fed shrimp, scallops or pieces of fresh marine fish. Feeding these sharks quality foods such as whole cockle in the shell, fresh shrimp and squid, and frozen mussel are ideal.

[GillsGirl]

Do you know if there is a reccomended feeding stick to use with this shark?

[GillsGirl]

A few websites also mention that the food should be soaked in a vitamin to meet the sharks nutritional needs. Any vitamins anyone would recommend?

[Thunder32]

Those inexpensive wood/bamboo skewers you use on a BBQ grill for your food work nice. A pack of them works great.

[cadugauch]

I had a bamboo shark for about 1 year...i got him while he was around 6" long...very small...and had to remove him when he got to over 13" long after only 1 year. I was feeding my shark frozen silversides using a transparent feeding stick they sell at fish stores.

My tank is a 155 bowfront and that helps them a little because of the curved glass...they are not to found on the rectangular shape tank.

Besides that they are very docile and they don't really mind the rock as long as there is a long "runway" of sand for them to swim.

[sslak]

Edit: Nevermind. I wasn't adding anything helpful.

[GillsGirl]

When you were feeding the silversides were you soaking them in any form of vitamin supplement. I have read on a few sites that they reccomend them but I dont really know what supplement I would need to get... if any?
-Chelsea

[GillsGirl]

Ok. I thought about these but I was worried it might poke and harm him with how delicate they seem to be.
Thanks!

[benjaminspades]

Has anyone ever had a tank with a bare bottom with this shark?

[Hammond Tong]

I've had two white-spotted bamboo sharks that grew over thee feet which I sold back to the store. I fed them frozen shrimp meat and they loved it. Toughest fishes I've ever kept. Non-aggressive too.

[zachfishman]

Originally Posted by GillsGirl

A few websites also mention that the food should be soaked in a vitamin to meet the sharks nutritional needs. Any vitamins anyone would recommend?

Mazuri makes vitamin tabs that most public aquaria augment their shark diets with, although I don't think they're small enough for your animal. For now, concentrate on providing as varied a diet as possible, concentrating on molluscs and crustaceans.

You could occasionally soak food in Selcon, or preferably a similar product that contains iodine, which is very important for elasmobranchs.