Sharks and Metal

Zoodiver said:

Two quick things to add:
Clearly, you never want metal in the water. But sharks also react to metal around the tanks as well (it can mess with their ability to navigate).
Take into account is amout of metal and it's proximity to the water. On largerer builds, I've seen rebar (metal rods) in the concrete walls have a very negative impact on the sharks ability to navigate the display. You'll see them swimming all over, running into things and having a host of issues. I'd always suggest using the least amount while still being safe. The more space or material you can put between the shark and the metal, the better off you'll be. Small screws and backets shouldn't be an issue at all.
Various sharks are impacted differently by metal. ORV sharks tend to be more sensative to it and it will show negative effects with species like black tip reefs and other swimming sharks a lot faster than with benthic sharks like bamboos and catsharks.

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Zoodiver said:

Two quick things to add:
Clearly, you never want metal in the water. But sharks also react to metal around the tanks as well (it can mess with their ability to navigate).
Take into account is amout of metal and it's proximity to the water. On largerer builds, I've seen rebar (metal rods) in the concrete walls have a very negative impact on the sharks ability to navigate the display. You'll see them swimming all over, running into things and having a host of issues. I'd always suggest using the least amount while still being safe. The more space or material you can put between the shark and the metal, the better off you'll be. Small screws and backets shouldn't be an issue at all.
Various sharks are impacted differently by metal. ORV sharks tend to be more sensative to it and it will show negative effects with species like black tip reefs and other swimming sharks a lot faster than with benthic sharks like bamboos and catsharks.

Click to expand...

Zoodiver said:

Magentic fields / electric fields are just one aspect of sharks that is leaps and bound beyond most other animals.

One thing we observed years ago in the Gulf of Mexico was their ability to understand weather patterns. We were doing a project off the Texas coast. There was a tropical storm turned hurricane on the way in - but several days out. The area we were in was shallow and very heavy with multiple shark species. We were seeing a shark every 10-15 minutes. Almost exactly a day prior to the storm hitting the area, the sharks all vanished without a trace. We couldn't have found one to save our lives. Day after the storm passed, the population returned to the area. We talked with a team just outside the storm path. They reported the shark populations they were watching didn't change at all. I'd love to investigate further to see if sharks have the ability to understand storm paths based on changes they experience but we don't.

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