grey smooth hound shark bobbing his head out of the water during the night???

joonkim1984

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 20, 2014
21
0
0
lacey, wa
Hi i have a smooth hound shark in my 180 and he is about 11 inches and once he is big enough he will into my 880 gallon tank with my full grown bamboos and rays. temp is at 72 cause i also have a blue spotted ray that is growing up with him. they eat every 3 to 4 days with out issues but the problem i am having is that during the night time he literally all night long swims up to th top of the tank and bobbing his head out and does that all night till lights come back on in the morning. i have lots of dissolved oxygen in the tank because people have told me he is coming up for oxygen. cooler temps so oxygen should stay in the tank better then in higher temps. i also have a ground probe for all the stray voltage cause i thought that maybe affecting him. i have raised 3 other sharks in this tank with no issues so i am wondering why he is doing this. water perimeters are perfect. nitrates are 15ppm and can max up to 25 before water change which my local lfs comes and does for me every two weeks and also cleans my sand. they are also baffled by why he is doing this with the setup i have.

anyone have any ideas why he is bobbing his head all night long? is that normal? ive never had a smooth hound. i have had all the bamboos, horn shark, coral cat shark, and 2 cali rays.
 

jaybayless

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 25, 2010
33
4
8
Indiana
The Indianapolis zoo has a large smoothhound exhibit theirs do this as well. They told me why a long time ago; I can't remember what they told me though. It wasn't something they were concerned with.

You are at the upper temperature range for smoothhounds. If you happen to have a brown smoothound, not a gray, you should really keep him below 65 or he will have a shorter, less healthy life.
 

joonkim1984

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 20, 2014
21
0
0
lacey, wa
from what i was told this is a captive bred grey smooth hound and has been living in temps of 74 at the wholesalers location sense it was born and they told me it would be fine to keep him at the temp he is in now. my chiller is set at 71 with 2 degrees play room and he is doing well. reason i dont really want to go lower due to my eels and new ray. not saying this temp is right for this species but thats what i was told. i will have to call that zoo and see if they can give me an answer. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction and i feel little better knowing that it isnt abnormal behavior. THANKS :)
 

alprazo

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 5, 2009
129
0
46
Pennsylvania
This is not uncommon behavior for them. I would say 50% of newly caught specimens exhibit this behavior with an hour of being placed in a holding pool. Some start after years in captivity. I have read reports of people solving the problems with vitamins and essential fatty acids or finding a stray current. This doesn't really make sense for those Newley caught sharks in a holding pool without a pump. I personally believe they are able to sense the walls of the aquarium being close. This is unfamiliar to them and the only place were there isn't an obstruction is up. This is only my observation, but makes sense to me as to why they bob their heads. When I let those sharks go, they instantly return to normal swimming. Never a single head bob.
 

Atumi

Exodon
MFK Member
Apr 19, 2014
58
16
23
Australia
i'm not familiar with smoothhounds so i cant help with the bobbing. i would love to see some pics tho.
 

Zoodiver

As seen on TV
MFK Member
Aug 22, 2005
6,872
42
1,005
South FL
As others have posted, it's a very typical behavior for that species. My last grey smooth hound did the same thing. It was a long term captive animal that exhibited the behavior in the original owners tank, in my quaratine pool and on display with other sharks.

Holding pool:



Four sharks in a row. Front to back : Smooth hound, brown banded bamboo, white tip reef and hidden in the shadow a juvie nurse shark.





To give you an idea of size, I'm about 5'7"....

 

joonkim1984

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 20, 2014
21
0
0
lacey, wa
thanks guys for all the info. i glad to know its not him going to death :) heres a video of him eating and a pic of the blue spotted ray. ive had him for a little under a week.
10307434_10204107765674956_3256298440236385470_n.jpg10390124_10204145272892613_8884038463864412563_n.jpg

[video=youtube_share;Vbk4y1ypSQ4]http://youtu.be/Vbk4y1ypSQ4[/video]

10307434_10204107765674956_3256298440236385470_n.jpg

10390124_10204145272892613_8884038463864412563_n.jpg
 
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