Banded Cat Shark in a reef tank??

[Imzadi]

Originally posted by chort55
I never said anyone was an idiot, but here I will say it... your an idiot. Do yourself a favor and just stop posting in this thread lol Their way more experienced then me? In what?? Most of them have never had a shark tank either, there have only been a few that have said anything that actually have any experience with sharks. I should just get a goldfish bowl and get 5 eggs and cram em in there, that'd really tick you off huh?? LOL

You are very aggressive and abrassive with your responses. You're (not your) going to do what you are going to do. I think its cool to talk about it, and dream about it, but are you actually going to do it? I doubt it. You fuel the ignorant comments with your ignorant rebutal. Just when I think you are actually making advances in the logic behind this idea, you go off on a hateful tangent again. I am sure you will give out another 'Do yourself a favor' zinger to this post as well, and it will prove my point. You have said you are going to wait, then wait... why turn this into a wasted thread of slings and arrows? Stick to the topic and ignore the fodder.

[Tadashi]

I agree, don't feed the trolls. You get nothing from it. If you find anything interesting from the book please post it as I find the information interesting. I am curious as to what is myth and what is SME advice (not sure there are hard facts when it comes to animal behavior - there is always one out there that is different).

[LionfishFinatic]

Have you ever seen a full grown brown banded bamboo shark? They do not stay the cute, small shark that you hatch from an egg. As they grow older, they lose their bands and look somewhat like a nurse shark and get to around 42 inches in length or greater. Yes some of these tank sizes are not feasible for most, and that is why I plan on staying out of sharks. The large water volume (as i have and others have stated) is mainly for the amount of waste that these sharks produce. They are bottom dwellers, but do you think it is good for the shark to sit around all day and not move around? I know you PLAN on upgrading, but will you? Plans change and the best way to avoid this is to get the largest tank that you can afford and the appropriate sized animals for the tank. You may even think about giving the shark to your friend as stated, but 5 years down the road will he still take it? Would I get a Vlamingii tang for my 125 gallon tank and PLAN on upgrading later on? NO, WHY? Because I probably will not for a long time even if I do dream on it. Do I love how Vlamingii's look and their personality? Yes, but I have to think of the animal. I do see why you may be getting frustrated, but there is no reason to start arguments behind a computer screen. Listen to the advice given to you......REALLY think hard about it......and think logically, "Can i keep this animal LONG TERM".

[DamnPepShrimp]

I guess I will waste my time and give my 2 cents for this thread. I have to first say that it is good you are doing research, but just take a second to read everyone's advice (whether it be good, bad, negative or postive, you can never have too much info on this subject). The best place for research on sharks is sharkraycentral.com they have a great tank size and requirements for almost every shark you could keep in their captive care threads.
So now, if your still set on keeping a shark, what will be the biggest tank size you can go? 240g? If that is the case, no shark will be able to comfortably live in their for its life. Therefore, I would either scratch the idea or see if you could find a bigger/better home for it when it outgrows the 240g BEFORE you buy the shark, since most places don't take sharks/large fish.
Next, I would look into the coral catshark as a few people recommended. They are more active and aggressive then a banded, but they are almost half the size! Bare minimum would be a 6x2.5 footprint, I mean bare minimum! an 8ft length for a 240 is great, but the width of 2ft is tight. Round ponds work great too, better then your traditional tank.
As far as I know, a true coral catshark is not captive bred or hatched, I have never seen eggs for them, only banded. Getting a shark that is already eating and healthy is your best bet. Your water parms are going to have to be perfect (like SPS perfect) for a shark, they are very sensitive to bad water quality, even the slightest bit of nitrates can make a shark not eat and then doom it.
Chose tankmates wisely, no triggers (unless Xanthichthys), no angels (unless genicanthus), no puffers or small fish that would be eaten, especially other bottom dwellers.
Bottom line is think about the sharks well being, if you can't give it a proper home (most can't, no shame in that) then don't get one. Don't just try it out because it would look cool or to impress your friends. I have always wanted to keep a shark, but just don't have the right tank for one yet. Sure I could keep a baby for awhile, but you have to think long term. Maybe someday. Goodluck with everything, hopefully you make the right decisions wisely.

[jjk_reef00]

I would not do it even a 240 is to small. I have a california sting ray in my 280 (8'x30"x24") and it only gets 10". He eats a ton, and the waste is killing my water quality. I couldn't imagine a 4' shark!
I'm upgrading my skimmer from an ETSS 1500 to a ETSS 5000. If you want to keep that kind of animal in a reef you had better be ready to buy a $2000 skimmer at the very least.

[ludnix]

Originally posted by jjk_reef00
I would not do it even a 240 is to small. I have a california sting ray in my 280 (8'x30"x24") and it only gets 10". He eats a ton, and the waste is killing my water quality. I couldn't imagine a 4' shark!
I'm upgrading my skimmer from an ETSS 1500 to a ETSS 5000. If you want to keep that kind of animal in a reef you had better be ready to buy a $2000 skimmer at the very least.

Sound advice from someone with experience!

What are you plans for filtration chort55?

[chort55]

Originally posted by LionfishFinatic
Have you ever seen a full grown brown banded bamboo shark? They do not stay the cute, small shark that you hatch from an egg. As they grow older, they lose their bands and look somewhat like a nurse shark and get to around 42 inches in length or greater. Yes some of these tank sizes are not feasible for most, and that is why I plan on staying out of sharks. The large water volume (as i have and others have stated) is mainly for the amount of waste that these sharks produce. They are bottom dwellers, but do you think it is good for the shark to sit around all day and not move around? I know you PLAN on upgrading, but will you? Plans change and the best way to avoid this is to get the largest tank that you can afford and the appropriate sized animals for the tank. You may even think about giving the shark to your friend as stated, but 5 years down the road will he still take it? Would I get a Vlamingii tang for my 125 gallon tank and PLAN on upgrading later on? NO, WHY? Because I probably will not for a long time even if I do dream on it. Do I love how Vlamingii's look and their personality? Yes, but I have to think of the animal. I do see why you may be getting frustrated, but there is no reason to start arguments behind a computer screen. Listen to the advice given to you......REALLY think hard about it......and think logically, "Can i keep this animal LONG TERM".

Yes, I have seen them in adult coloration. Honestly IF I had the room to build a 34209234984 gallon tank I would and get a real nurse shark anyways.... so their adult colors do not bother me. Also, had you read the entire thread you would have noticed I have said several times I plan to wait until I have the bigger tank before getting one IF I even get one.... I don't plan on getting one and then having to upgrade, I like to do things right the 1st time. Also, as I have said their messy eating habits do not bother me either as I have already stated due to my large filtration plans.

[chort55]

Originally posted by DamnPepShrimp
I guess I will waste my time and give my 2 cents for this thread. I have to first say that it is good you are doing research, but just take a second to read everyone's advice (whether it be good, bad, negative or postive, you can never have too much info on this subject). The best place for research on sharks is sharkraycentral.com they have a great tank size and requirements for almost every shark you could keep in their captive care threads.
So now, if your still set on keeping a shark, what will be the biggest tank size you can go? 240g? If that is the case, no shark will be able to comfortably live in their for its life. Therefore, I would either scratch the idea or see if you could find a bigger/better home for it when it outgrows the 240g BEFORE you buy the shark, since most places don't take sharks/large fish.
Next, I would look into the coral catshark as a few people recommended. They are more active and aggressive then a banded, but they are almost half the size! Bare minimum would be a 6x2.5 footprint, I mean bare minimum! an 8ft length for a 240 is great, but the width of 2ft is tight. Round ponds work great too, better then your traditional tank.
As far as I know, a true coral catshark is not captive bred or hatched, I have never seen eggs for them, only banded. Getting a shark that is already eating and healthy is your best bet. Your water parms are going to have to be perfect (like SPS perfect) for a shark, they are very sensitive to bad water quality, even the slightest bit of nitrates can make a shark not eat and then doom it.
Chose tankmates wisely, no triggers (unless Xanthichthys), no angels (unless genicanthus), no puffers or small fish that would be eaten, especially other bottom dwellers.
Bottom line is think about the sharks well being, if you can't give it a proper home (most can't, no shame in that) then don't get one. Don't just try it out because it would look cool or to impress your friends. I have always wanted to keep a shark, but just don't have the right tank for one yet. Sure I could keep a baby for awhile, but you have to think long term. Maybe someday. Goodluck with everything, hopefully you make the right decisions wisely.

No wasted pennies lol I plan on doing alot of research before even deciding yes or no.... I researched for nearly a year before even setting up my 20 gallon. I am definitly in no rush at all, and plan on moving within the next year or 2 anyways, and don't want to have to move that as well so again no rush, plenty of time for research, weighing options and gathering a ton of info Thanks for the site I will definitly check that out as well.

If I went solid glass tank, yeah 240 is probably the most I could go for quite a while unless I found a killer deal. However, building a massive "plywood" tank isn't out of the question (I can build a house why not a tank right?? lol). I won't go the pond route because of looks, and I think they are semi-pointless because you can't really sit and watch the shark and see if from all sides kind of thing ya know. If I get one I want to be able to sit and watch it for long periods of time... even if it is doing nothing. I want to be able to watch it eat and all that too Also, I want to be able to put it in my living room so setting up a pond/ pool would look kinda dumb sitting in the living room LOL.

The tropicorum here in MI has captive bred cat sharks per their website, as well as a few others I have a rough idea of tank mate ideas but nothing set in stone or even highly considered/ well thought of yet. I plan to decide if I am even going to get the shark or not and then start planning the tank mates part. The reasoning behind that is simply, if I don't go with the shark my stocking list will be mostly smaller fish that wouldn't work with the shark anyways lol. Either way, I would like to have a trigger, but I am looking at the Blue Throats which I believe are Xanthichthys so should be good If it and the shark didn't get along I plan to still have my 125 as a full reef so it could just go in there.

I don't really think giving it a good home would be a problem, especially if I built a tank, because I would probably go 6-8'x3-4'x2-3' min. Since I would be building my own skimmer as well (link is in another post in here somewhere lol) quite cheaply (other then the pumps)... building a couple to keep things clean wouldn't be a problem either, could even build my own plywood sump/ refuge too, which would add to the water volume as well I think IF I decided to go this route, I could pull it off and the shark would be quite happy and safe in my care.

[jenglish]

I ws curious about that DIY skimmer, is it really effective or just big looking? It is a very intriguing idea based on the price of large skimmers.

[chort55]

Originally posted by jjk_reef00
I would not do it even a 240 is to small. I have a california sting ray in my 280 (8'x30"x24") and it only gets 10". He eats a ton, and the waste is killing my water quality. I couldn't imagine a 4' shark!
I'm upgrading my skimmer from an ETSS 1500 to a ETSS 5000. If you want to keep that kind of animal in a reef you had better be ready to buy a $2000 skimmer at the very least.

I know they are messy eaters, but from my reading they only eat 2 times a week lol But anyways I don't plan on buying a large expensive skimmer.... I plan on building 1 (or more) of those 5 gallon water jug skimmers, and having a large refuge filled w/ mangroves and other macros to help w/ nutrients, and a sump/ refuge combo with a smaller skimmer and a large ball of chaeto. I also plan to run several cabon filters, carbon/ phosban reactors, and an algea turf scrubber just to have a little extra helper As mentioned in the post above, building a large "plywood" tank if I decide to go with a shark isn't a problem. Basically because of my lack of DIY fear, and love to do tons of research when I want something, the sky is the limit really and almost anything is possible... without a ton of $$$$$ lol

[chort55]

Originally posted by jenglish
I ws curious about that DIY skimmer, is it really effective or just big looking? It is a very intriguing idea based on the price of large skimmers.

From what I have read during my research on DIY skimmers, it actually works pretty good and pulls a good amount of skimmate, quite similar to "production" skimmers of similar sizes. Even if it isn't as good as the "production big $$$" skimmers I figure I can build a couple of them (sure might take more space but so what...) and still be waaaaaay cheaper then any of the big money skimmers that would typically be needed for something like this venture. The way I look at it, if absolutely nothing else... my biggest expense into it would be the pump, which I would need for the "production" skimmers anyways so I wouldn't have much of a loss if it didn't work out lol

The 5 gallon salt bucket skimmers look kind of appealing as well for their effectiveness, but I like the looks and clearness of the 5 gallon water jug better, seems like less to build it really, and design seems better. I may do some searching and try to find something with more of a cone shape too and attempt a diy cone skimmer, but for now the water jug is option #1

[chort55]

Originally posted by ludnix
Sound advice from someone with experience!

What are you plans for filtration chort55?

I have stated a rough idea of my filtration plans several times. Most recently just a few posts up. Filteration IMO will not be a problem. My plans aren't 100% yet, obviously I am not even 100% on the shark at this moment, but if anything I would add more filtration via several different routes so I really don't think that would be an issue.

Pretty much my only real concern (other than tank size which we have taken care of) was if I could keep the shark in a reef setting (which for bandeds is more like their natural habitat anyways), since they are listed as non- reef safe.... I am fine with losing snails, and extra cleaning. I have adjusted my thoughts to better suite the shark and for its saftey and will not have any sps or hard corals, only zoa's/ softies so it doesn't scratch itself on the acros or anything

[fishkid6692]

not to put you down but a project of the right size tank will still cost you around 5-6 grand.

[chort55]

Originally posted by fishkid6692
not to put you down but a project of the right size tank will still cost you around 5-6 grand.

Yeah if you buy overpriced production goods instead of doing alot of research and DIY as much as possible.... which is pretty much everything lol.

[Imzadi]

Some things you just can't DIY effectively on this scale.


Out of curiosity, how old of a guy are ya, Chort55?

[andrewk529]

Originally posted by chort55
Yeah if you buy overpriced production goods instead of doing alot of research and DIY as much as possible.... which is pretty much everything lol.

you can't DIY RO water,a large enough skimmer,pumps,salt etc...i spent around 2k for a 55 gal reef..even with constructing my own sump/fug it's still going to be a major investment

[chort55]

Originally posted by Imzadi
Some things you just can't DIY effectively on this scale.


Out of curiosity, how old of a guy are ya, Chort55?

I have built houses bigger then anything I am looking at doing with a fish tank shark or no shark. Also I have seen plywood tanks built larger then what I am considering also. So yeah not worried about it.

Don't see what age has to do with it sorry.

[chort55]

Originally posted by andrewk529
you can't DIY RO water,a large enough skimmer,pumps,salt etc...i spent around 2k for a 55 gal reef..even with constructing my own sump/fug it's still going to be a major investment

RO isn't that expensive, you can DIY quite large skimmers, pumps are probably going to be one of my biggest expenses, but I do have a few very large ones including a pond pump that I got for free lol. Also I can get 150g salt buckets for $40.

[jenglish]

I have to admit I am a bit skeptical about the water cooler bottle skimmer. I think 75% of the people I know that build their own skimmer end up spending more than if they bought one by the time they get it to perform well. I haven't seen one built so maybe they work very well. I just think of all the people I see building their own skimmers and the last thread I could find on RC on this build was from 2006. If it works I may have to build one of my own though.

[chort55]

Originally posted by jenglish
I have to admit I am a bit skeptical about the water cooler bottle skimmer. I think 75% of the people I know that build their own skimmer end up spending more than if they bought one by the time they get it to perform well. I haven't seen one built so maybe they work very well. I just think of all the people I see building their own skimmers and the last thread I could find on RC on this build was from 2006. If it works I may have to build one of my own though.

I am not really that concerned with it. If it works it works if it doesn't it doesn't. I will have alot of filtration in place so if it only pulls a little I wouldn't be that surprised anyways because alot will get filtered out elsewhere.

Lets put it this way... I feed my 6 fish in my little 20 gallon tank 3-4 times a day, and corals every day-every other day.... and have 0 issues other then a ton of coraline growth.... and I am not even running a skimmer. You feed sharks from my research 2-3 times a WEEK. Sure they eat alot in that time, and are messy eaters, but I don't think I will have much of a problem keeping the water good.

[fishkid6692]

you can feed sharks everyday. and the skimmer is the best way to clean your water IMO. i'm not trying to just put you down and i shouldn't even be posting this thread because apparently i'm an idiot but i've hatched a baby banded cat shark out of an egg and it wasn't easy to take care of and eventually died. i really want a shark too but i just don't have the room ATM. so i know you think that your going to spend very little and it won't cost much to do but it will. no matter if you DIY everything or not. that will save you maybe a few hundred. your still looking at at LEAST. 5-6 grand. i spent close to 12 grand on my 180g and i know a shark tank will be at least close to the same price minus the lights, tank and CA rx because your building your own tank i guess. and how old are you if you don't mind me asking?

[jenglish]

Originally posted by chort55


Lets put it this way... I feed my 6 fish in my little 20 gallon tank 3-4 times a day, and corals every day-every other day.... and have 0 issues other then a ton of coraline growth.... and I am not even running a skimmer. You feed sharks from my research 2-3 times a WEEK. Sure they eat alot in that time, and are messy eaters, but I don't think I will have much of a problem keeping the water good.

6 fish fed 3-4 times a day in a skimmerless 20 gallon sounds like a pretty heavy bioload. From what I understand of them (having never kept sharks or rays myself) they require very nutrient poor water or they stop eating. I would look at testing the limits of a DIY filtration setup before you get to the stage of actually putting a shark in.


And since folks keep asking; according to his birthdate on his profile he is 26.

[Imzadi]

Originally posted by chort55
I have built houses bigger then anything I am looking at doing with a fish tank shark or no shark. Also I have seen plywood tanks built larger then what I am considering also. So yeah not worried about it.

Don't see what age has to do with it sorry.

I don't see what building a house has to do with it, sorry... and the age question comes in because of a response like that. And I read your signature, and I wonder. I never thought to look at the profile, if its correct... and a reluctance to answer.

What I am saying is somethings you can DIY, and some things you can not, effectively at least. I mean I could build a killer skimmer, for a modest bio-load tank, and I could save a fortune. It would be big and ugly but it would do the job. But a task of this size, I just don't see that happening. Like building a house, using your example... you BUY windows. You don't stick some glass in some frames, and call it a window. You buy a bathtub, instead of just hollowing out a portion of the basement floor, and filling it with bubbles. And the tank... again... is the LEAST of the worries. A big box full of water. Perfect. You're done. Its EVERYTHING else that will make or break this project, and the life of this wee fish.

[Imzadi]

Originally posted by fishkid6692
you can feed sharks everyday. and the skimmer is the best way to clean your water IMO. i'm not trying to just put you down and i shouldn't even be posting this thread because apparently i'm an idiot but i've hatched a baby banded cat shark out of an egg and it wasn't easy to take care of and eventually died. i really want a shark too but i just don't have the room ATM. so i know you think that your going to spend very little and it won't cost much to do but it will. no matter if you DIY everything or not. that will save you maybe a few hundred. your still looking at at LEAST. 5-6 grand. i spent close to 12 grand on my 180g and i know a shark tank will be at least close to the same price minus the lights, tank and CA rx because your building your own tank i guess. and how old are you if you don't mind me asking?

You're an idiot... you're 100% correct, but an idiot. So am I. lol

Experience speaks volumes. 12 grand! Whoa. But did you put a venturi in a garbage pail? You coulda saved a FORTUNE! This should be considered the most important post in this thread.

Ah, its all in good fun. It fun to daydream about it, Chort. Imagination is free, and nothing dies. I would be lost without mine.

[fishkid6692]

my post or yours? lol and were all idiots aren't we? lol