don't wprry lupin, i doubt he's asking for the sake of doing.... just asking. a bull shark would need thousands and thousands of gallons too
keeping bull sharks in freshwater?
- Thread starter biboybaka
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I used to "wish" I could get a Nicaragua bull for my tanks. However, I found that their mere birth size is over 2.5ft with a birth weight of up to 20 lbs. Then, they grow to over 600 lbs. They're such a voracious species that they must be kept alone. They'll eat any and all tankmates. That's the number one reason they're not found in public aquaria. No one wants to furnish the tank size needed to keep a bull shark content without being able to add even dither fish to pull the interest of the average aquarium guest.
Hmmm ... Actually there are a couple of Public Aquariums in the United States that display Bull Sharks. And like all sharks - Bulls won't bother the other fish in the tank so long as they are well-fed.
krj-1168;3256612; said:
Yes, but the public Aquariums do not keep the Bull Sharks in freshwater. Makes a huge difference. Nice try....
There's also a huge difference in the Public Aquariums of today - and those of 25 years ago.
25 yrs ago - no one had ever kept a Whale Shark. And no one had kept a Great White for more than a couple of weeks.
Today - there are a couple of Aquariums around the World that have had Whale Sharks for years. And the current record for keeping a Great White is just over 6 months.
While there isn't a public aquarium that has kept bull sharks in freshwater. There are public aquariums that have kept Bull Sharks. But like all sharks they are kept in a SW setting. BTW nothing wrong with keeping Bulls in SW - since they are found more often in Saltwater than in fresh.
25 yrs ago - no one had ever kept a Whale Shark. And no one had kept a Great White for more than a couple of weeks.
Today - there are a couple of Aquariums around the World that have had Whale Sharks for years. And the current record for keeping a Great White is just over 6 months.
While there isn't a public aquarium that has kept bull sharks in freshwater. There are public aquariums that have kept Bull Sharks. But like all sharks they are kept in a SW setting. BTW nothing wrong with keeping Bulls in SW - since they are found more often in Saltwater than in fresh.
Bulls have not been kept long term in captivity until a few years ago. Even now, only two places in the US do it well, with a third possibly stepping up to the plate later this year. They've been seen longer than 12 feet in a study in the Carribbean this past year. A shark with a bulky body like the bulls have at that length are a HUGE biological load for a system to deal with. That being said, the more water the better to offset such a large load.
ALL bulls have the ability to move in and out of freshwater. And yes, some are acclimated to 100% freshwater lives. Keeping them in freshwater doesn't work in captivity for the same reason you can't keep Atlantic stingrays in FW in captivity (even though they can be found there in the wild). It has to do with how their bodies deal with waste production and osmoregulation. When moved to freshwater, their bodies produce waste exponentially compared to the amount produced while living in saltwater. So if you figure you need 400,000 to 500,000 minimum for a bull shark in saltwater, take that times 5 or 10 to offset the waste production / biological load in freshwater.
It just doesn't make sense to do financially. It's also been shown that the longer bulls spend in FW, the shorter the over all average lifespan. Hopefully, we learn more over the next few years after two more current bull shark studies wrap up.
I wanted to touch on the gator gar comment: Yes, you could keep them with bulls. Gator gar do very well as full marine animals. In fact they were the #1 bycatch I ran into when doing bull shark work in the Gulf of Mexico a few years back - showing that they are indeed swimming side by side in the wild.
ALL bulls have the ability to move in and out of freshwater. And yes, some are acclimated to 100% freshwater lives. Keeping them in freshwater doesn't work in captivity for the same reason you can't keep Atlantic stingrays in FW in captivity (even though they can be found there in the wild). It has to do with how their bodies deal with waste production and osmoregulation. When moved to freshwater, their bodies produce waste exponentially compared to the amount produced while living in saltwater. So if you figure you need 400,000 to 500,000 minimum for a bull shark in saltwater, take that times 5 or 10 to offset the waste production / biological load in freshwater.
It just doesn't make sense to do financially. It's also been shown that the longer bulls spend in FW, the shorter the over all average lifespan. Hopefully, we learn more over the next few years after two more current bull shark studies wrap up.
I wanted to touch on the gator gar comment: Yes, you could keep them with bulls. Gator gar do very well as full marine animals. In fact they were the #1 bycatch I ran into when doing bull shark work in the Gulf of Mexico a few years back - showing that they are indeed swimming side by side in the wild.
You would need a really big tank for that one, but keeping bulls in FW or SW would be most awesome.
Man... that would be a dream... second after winning powerball. I think you wuold need that kind of money for set up... not to mention hiring zoodiver to come do the maint. 
