Brenden;616209; said:
The aquarium I have ordered is a 330 gallon system. Flatback Hexagon with the dimensions 84x24x10x64 at a 30" height. No I do not have the Brown Bandeds right now, but am looking for a more active open water shark. And the only I can think of for my tank is a Brown Smoothound but even so I would need to upgrade within a year with not earlier to properly suit the animal. And Justin_James has one in his 220gallon it is I believe if not please correct me, so I was wondering maybe I could house one to give my tank a more active "shark". Anyways please let me know if it would be at all possible.
Thanks, Brenden
Ok, before we go further, let me just say that I noticed in your sig, where you listed your "future inhabitants", that you had 2 Brown Banded Bamboo's listed for the 330gal... -K-, one problem with that - - 2 of them in a tank that size won't work. Sure you might get away with it while they are pups (that's to say you get them that little), but they grow at a pretty decent rate, and with two of them, space would run out pretty quick - especially if you intended on adding the other fish you listed. One thing to remember when dealing with sharks is that they aren't like your every day fish. For the majority of species, they won't tolerate moderate water qualities - it needs to be impeccable. They cannot handle the up's and down's associated with cycling and stablization, so adding them should only be done so in a well established tank, which is stable and has the right tank mates. Smoothounds can also (from what I have encountered, as well as observations from others) easily reach around 3 feet give or take a few inches, so comparatively, they range about the same as BBS', and they too require more room. Smoothhounds are less commonly encountered in home aquaria simply because they aren't as easily located as others, and don't receive as much public attention - plus they have more subtle colorations, so some aquarists prefer Bamboos. Personally, I always advise against keeping sharks, especially beginners, and those working on limited budgets. It's not that I think you would mean to harm them, or what not, it's simply that they require contant maintenance, top notch housing and care, as well as lots and lots of fresh, high quality foods, which can get expensive. Take this for example, looking at food alone, each week we go through thousands and thousands of pounds of sea food for our animals. Having two sharks at home, you might feed them twice, maybe 3 times a week, depending on activity, tank mates, species, blaa blaa.... moving on, feeding proper amounts (and within consideration that diet will need to be varied, and that some foods weigh more than others), and that you will need to buy your foods commercially - unless you have great hook ups for wholesale through private distributors...unlikely though. Anyways, with those factors, you are looking at anywhere between 60-80 dollars per week. That includes variety such as salmon, squid, shrimp, etc., bought by the pound, fresh caught. And no you couldn't just go behind the building and bag the scraps.... you'll get yourself a dead shark that way, LOL sorry. Seafood is not cheap, well, at least not if you are actually smart enough to buy good quality seafood. A simple bag of fresh squid, weighing a couple pounds could easily cost you over 30 bucks, depending on the type and location. Then you need to focus on supplements.... how do you intend to balance the diet? Do you even know which types are available, which types to use for what animal? And water paramiters, are you familiar with the ranges for the species you are looking to invest in? And before I forget, a hex tank is well, not the best for sharks. Sure it's better that a rectangular tank because the angles aren't as sharp, and circulation can reach higher rates, but corners + sharks always = problems. They just cannot navigate angles like that, and it can stress them out and cause injury. Have you considered an oval shaped tank prehaps, with a wide girth, and shallow ends? (shallow referring to the angle of the arches on either side of the oval) for example, you dont want <__> you want (__)... got it? LOL. Anyways, I am not trying to freak you out, or come down on you for wanting a shark. I meet people every day who express their desire to own one - or more, and sure it would be great if people could just go out, buy one, and do great. But most of the time, it's not that easy. My goal is to get you to the point where you feel overwhelmed..... why you ask - because only then do you realise how much you still need to learn about them, and only then do you take a serious venture into researching every aspect of not only the general husbandry involved with shark keeping, but also species specific requirements. Only then do you become less of an over eager nin-com-poop, and more of a keeper in training shall we say. My goal is never to talk down to anyone, and if you ever think I am - speak up and let me know. All I want to do is push you to expand you knowledge BEFORE taking the plunge. There is so much to know, so much to be prepared for, and you can't do that by reading a few articles online, you need to get the proper texts, visit aquariums - drive them nuts and ask a million questions, watch as many videos as you can - NO jaws doesn't count, I mean nationally recognized educational documentaries, LOL. And so on and so on. Plus you can ask me as many questions as you want, and I will hunt my other shark keepers down and bring them on board here too if you want (they are already members, I just mean bring them into this thread). Point is, before any buying is done, you need to know A LOT more about what you are dealing with. I am willing to help, but just note that my main concern, priority, and responsibility is the animal,so if at any point I feel like you are just going to go crazy, cram an animal in a tank not suitable, and disregard what everyone else may have to say, well then, I just won't waste my time. I am not mad at you or anything, just a few others on the site before have expressed rediculous wishes regarding shark keeping, led some of us on with false information, and wasted our time for nothing, so you can see how it is frustrating sometimes when you want to give someone who needs it, your advice, and share with them your knowledge, and then have that wasted on some idiot playing games, pretending to be a millionaire. SO, LOL, as long as you are realistic, and honestly want to do this right, I am sure plenty of us will be willing to help out.
