Cali Horn Shark VS Brown Banded Cat Shark

[Pazzoman]

Hey all, I'm looking into boosting my level in experience of fish keeping. I've kept many kinds of fish and help others out in my family. I was thinking about purchasing a brown banded cat shark, I chose this because it looked more like a "shark" and didn't need a 1000gallon tank, would have been nice though...Through a private message, I don't know if the person who messeged me this would remain anomanyous (cant spell for my life). I was told that the cali horn shark will be better then the cat shark due to the fact that they are easier to feed then the cat sharks. Please help m, if any other sharks come to mind please suggest. This "Face Off" will be listed like tank size for cat shark is ?? and for horn shark ??.....If you don't mind....Thanks a Million!

The Thread Should Have Read Cali Horn Shark VS Black Banded Cat Shark

 

[SickNazty]

Horn shark needs much bigger tank and low temperatures. 250 gal min for adults, 55-70 degrees.

Blackbanded bamboo shark needs at least a standard 180 gallon with temps from 72-82 degrees.

Your best choice would probably be to stick with the bamboo sharks and catsharks, as they are more popular and require less space.

 

[krj-1168]

Horn shark needs much bigger tank and low temperatures. 250 gal min for adults, 55-70 degrees.

Blackbanded bamboo shark needs at least a standard 180 gallon with temps from 72-82 degrees.

Your best choice would probably be to stick with the bamboo sharks and catsharks, as they are more popular and require less space.

Why do people continue to quote inaccurate sources without doing detailed research or talk to fellow aquarists whom have actually kept sharks.

As someone who done both - I can tell you that both the figure for minumum tank size for both species, and the water temps for the Horn Shark are wrong.

According to scientific research data - California Horn Shark (Heterodontus francisci) seems to prefer water temps of 64-77F. This is back up by many private aquarists that I've talked with whom keep their Horns at the 69-75F.

While it's true that a full grown Horn will eventually need a larger tank than a Brown-banded Bamboo. Which has to do more with activity levels than the maximum adult size of the shark in question. Still the difference is fairly slight since both species have a maximum size which is about the same.

The minimum tank size of a single adult Brown-banded Bamboo is approximately 55 sq.ft with a volume of 800+ gallons. And for a single adult California Horn Shark it requires a tank that is at least 64 sq.ft with a volume of at least 960 gallons.

 

[turbo253]

krj is right. when the are pushing 40" or so they will need a good size tank and as someone who has also kept both, it is true they can live in the mid 70s. My horn currently lives at about 75F. Let me tell you as babies go getting the horn to eat was a cake walk compared to the banned. I know the banned looks a little more shark like but I feel that the horns are more active and and fun to watch too.

 

[SickNazty]

Why do people continue to quote inaccurate sources without doing detailed research or talk to fellow aquarists whom have actually kept sharks.

As someone who done both - I can tell you that both the figure for minumum tank size for both species, and the water temps for the Horn Shark are wrong.

According to scientific research data - California Horn Shark (Heterodontus francisci) seems to prefer water temps of 64-77F. This is back up by many private aquarists that I've talked with whom keep their Horns at the 69-75F.

While it's true that a full grown Horn will eventually need a larger tank than a Brown-banded Bamboo. Which has to do more with activity levels than the maximum adult size of the shark in question. Still the difference is fairly slight since both species have a maximum size which is about the same.

The minimum tank size of a single adult Brown-banded Bamboo is approximately 55 sq.ft with a volume of 800+ gallons. And for a single adult California Horn Shark it requires a tank that is at least 64 sq.ft with a volume of at least 960 gallons.

My Info was straight from Scott W Michael. Since when was he inaccurate?

 

[turbo253]

Most of his tank sizes are on the small side.

 

[krj-1168]

My Info was straight from Scott W Michael. Since when was he inaccurate?

When, How about since the day that "Aquarium Sharks & Rays" went into print. His minimum tank sizes are at best only suited for juveniles of these species. And in a few cases the info on various species is a bit off as well - especially true for the water temps that Horn Shark (Heterodontus francisci) need.

This is one of the reasons that I don't just trust one single source, or a single author. But I tend to trust sources that have proven to be reliable, and trust worthy.

Here's a couple of sources I tend use reguarding the Horn's Water Temp preferrences.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/HornShark/HornShark.html
http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/39333/0

Most other sources seem to say the same as these do

 

[krj-1168]

In fact I've seen magazine articles that Scott Michael has written on sharks, which contain information that contradicted some of the statements he made in that book.

And that's pretty bad.

 

[Zoodiver]

My Info was straight from Scott W Michael. Since when was he inaccurate?

Put his name up in the 'search' feature and see what comes up.

 

[Jabba954]

My Cali horns are thriving in their big tank at 74 degrees. Personally, I prefer them to banded cat sharks based purely on looks and behavior. But I definitely would NOT keep them in anything less than 1000 gallons, and they'll be going into a MUCH bigger tank this year.