Brand new project in mind

[bbenjamin21]

Well ive recently been through a situation that leaves me with rebuilding my house from ground up. One of the positive things about this is now i get to do what ive always dreamed of doing. Im a complete newb to marine sharks and rays, so please feel free to give me any ideas that would be awesome. Im thinking about doing a 300 gallon tank built into the wall. Maybe even having all the plumping down in the basement so it could be viewed from two different rooms? I want sharks, i searched through the stickys escpecially the tank reccomendations one but honestly ended up getting a lil confused. Trust me im not going to just jump into this not knowing anything, it will be towards the end of spring when its actually getting set up. So theres plenty of time for research. If i was to go with a 300 which that can change, what sharks can be housed for life in that size and what sharks get along. My lfs guy used to live down in florida and worked with rays and sharks for 10 years, hes trying to get me into wanting the blue spotted ray in there also. Yes im sure to everyone else they are sweet looking. But from what ive read from u guys, they are not an easy one to keep. I am not looking to get into something that is over my head. I love predator fish, eels sharks rays etc. Ive also read from u guys that rounded edges are a need for sharks if i understood correctly? ive seen a lot of shark tanks that are the typical rectancular style. ideas, reccomendations, opinions are all welcome!!

[bbenjamin21]

wow hard crowd

[brich999]

I'm no shark expert by any means, for accurate info id ask zoodiver (something like that) but i do know that the more active swimming sharks are always in rounded tanks due to their sensitive nose hitting flat wall constantly can cause problems. My friend has a bamboo shark in a rectangle tank for a long time, but it is always just sitting around.

[surfpalmsncycads]

may i ask how it is you have to rebuild your house from the ground up? and if your going for a 300 gal you can view for both sides why would you have to plumb to the basement? just do it inside the stand.

[bbenjamin21]

I lost my house to a house fire. And id rather everything in the basement so I dont have to crouch everytime I need to do something. Sounds prissy but really if u can have it any way u want y not do it they way u want right lol

[Wiggles92]

A 300 gallon is going to be too small for most sharks & rays; go with something with a bigger footprint than that.

[bbenjamin21]

I saw that australia marbled cats get to 2'. Ur saying I cant house those in a 300g tank??

[Wiggles92]

I saw that australia marbled cats get to 2'. Ur saying I cant house those in a 300g tank??

It all depends on the footprint of the aquarium.

The minimum recommended footprint for a single average-sized adult marbled catshark is 7' x 2.5' while the recommended footprint for a small breeding group (two or three of them) is 8' x 3'. Odds are that you'll have better luck finding their slightly larger & more common relative, the coral catshark; the recommended footprint for one of those is 8' x 3'.

I would go with a larger footprint that what you have in mind simply to have the space to house multiple sharks & rays like it sounds like you want to do; give these species care profiles a look & go from there.

[Zoodiver]

A custom build can be a very fun thing. Coral cats or marbled cats might be your best bet for what you have talked about. If you build a nice long tank, it will provide the swimming space the sharks need.

Plumbing doesn't HAVE to be in the basement to give you easy access. You could plumb the tank with a filter area next to it (in a closet or something similar).

[bbenjamin21]

Wow wiggles. Excellent read. Did u write that up yourself? Now correct me if I'm wrong guys but from what I gathered after skimming through that species profile that wiggles directed me to, it looks to me like if I up the tank size a lil bit I could house these sharks. Now I also understand they all can't go together due to temperature difference. But here's my list I came up with. Arabian and grey bamboo, marble, coral, Bali, chain, cloudy, and gulf cats, dark shyshark, puffadder, speckled and triton bay epaulette??