requiem shark- what is the smallest or most suitable for captivity in a pond.

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billbobthegreat

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 20, 2008
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Eastbourne uk
lets forget tanks as i know you need a huge tank to house one of these active swimmers but in opinion of anyone who has experience in this field i would really like to know wich species is the best to keep. obviously nothing stupid big but something managable (in shark terms anyways) thanks.
 
As for the Smallest requiem sharks - are you wanting to know the small species of Requiem sharks or the Smallest species that is currently available to private aquarists?

Also the most suitable species of requiems - generally aren't the smallest species.

The Smallest species of Requiem Sharks - is generally about 30" or less -usually such species as the Brazilian Sharpnose & Australian Sharpnose. But these species aren't available to aquarists.

The Smallest species of Requiem Shsrks that is available to aquarists - is the Atlantic Sharpnose at about 3.5-4 ft long.

The most suitable - in terms of hardiness & care would likely be either the Blacktip Reef or the Whitetip Reef.
 
the atlantic for say a group of three, are these hardu sharks? and what size pond would you say diamater and depth wise please (will be a round pond) heard its better for requim sharks.
 
The Atlantic Sharpnose is considered generally to be less hardy that Blacktip Reef sharks - but roughly about the same as Bonnetheads.

The problem seems to be related to good acclimation & because the species is fairly high strung. As a result - if stressed - sharpnose are known to sometimes suddenly ram into the walls of the pond - which leads to "sudden death". For this reason it's best to keep small juveniles in very large ponds or even inflatable pools until acclimated ot captivity.

For keeping a small group(3-4 sharks) of Atlantic Sharpnose - absolute minimum should be at least 490-500 sq.ft (25ft diameter) with a water depth of 4ft. But a larger pond/lagoon of 600-700 sq.ft (27 -30 ft diameter) would be better.
 
Well - Atlantic Sharpies tend to live in groups (schools) in the wild. And they seem to do best when kept in small groups in captivity.

So I would say small groups are pretty much necessary for this species.
 
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