Are coral catsharks jumpers?

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I have seen mid sized coral cats clear over 6" when spooked. A surge in power restarting aquarium equipment or a nip from another shark can be enough to send your shark jumping out of its tank.

Bottom dwelling or not, it is not worth the risk and I would suggest either build a fence or tight lid. Coral catshark are actually pretty quick when they want to be.

I would say jumping is probably #1 killer in home aquariums. I know I had a couple of jumpers over the years.
 
sharkmember said:
Usually they jump not out of their tank.
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Sharkmember, that is a little counter productive. Isn't it? :(

I have lost a couple of shark from jumping including one bali catshark, same genus as a coral cat.

I need both hands to count the number of sharks that have jumped from local fish shops that that I know of over the years. Some of my pups included after I had given warning! Even public aquariums with pools of over 8000 gallons had their casualties from jumpers from bottom dwelling sharks that usually will not jump.

I have found fences to be of little use unless they are tightly secured to the side of the tank. That being said, one needs to take all of the necessary precautions to keep our sharks alive. Preventing jumping is a necessary aspect of husbandry.

People may not want to step up and be honest about their casualties but it is the only way for other to learn.
 
I think any fish have the potential to jump out of the tank, a member TheCanuck, great guy. He use to keep his moray along with some sharks in a tank with no top.

It depends on the fish basically, if you notice him creeping up towards the surface of the water numerous times throughout the day I advise on a top.
 
Pazzoman said:
I think any fish have the potential to jump out of the tank, a member TheCanuck, great guy. He use to keep his moray along with some sharks in a tank with no top.

It depends on the fish basically, if you notice him creeping up towards the surface of the water numerous times throughout the day I advise on a top.
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Prazzoman, it has nothing to do with that at all and you are missing the point entirely! It has to do with biotic and abiotic alterations such as a pump cutting out or turning on from a failure or from an electrical outage causing an electrical surge or low O2, a new introduction to the tank, a change in water quality, a nip from an other fish catching the shark off guard, shark outgrowing it tank... so on and so forth. Factors that can not be anticipated and usually happen when you are not home.

I am not here to waits anyone's time including my own or to start ranting. I am speaking from multiple personal experiences and am making this post for one purpose only- to save sharks lives! I know people that have not had their shark for 4 hours because it jumped from while in acclimation in an uncovered box while dripping and died! That is how fast it happens!

If you are planning to keep your shark long term take the necessary precautions- if you plan to keep a shark short term find another hobby! I am not pointing fingers at anyone, I am just saying take the necessary precautions and don't mislead people that are new to the hobby!
 
whoever had a fish jump and die during acclimation doesn't deserve fish if they can't pay attention to them for even that long. if a shark wants to jump it will find a way to jump it has nothing to do with the owner "making" it jump through something out of his(or her) control it all has to do with the shark.
 
Crumbs said:
I have seen mid sized coral cats clear over 6" when spooked. A surge in power restarting aquarium equipment or a nip from another shark can be enough to send your shark jumping out of its tank.

Bottom dwelling or not, it is not worth the risk and I would suggest either build a fence or tight lid. Coral catshark are actually pretty quick when they want to be.

I would say jumping is probably #1 killer in home aquariums. I know I had a couple of jumpers over the years.
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exactly what happened to me a few years ago. tried to add a male coral cat into a tub and the female didnt like him much. i had just about six inches of wall above waterlevel plus a 3" rim around the sides and thought that'd be enough security. luckily he survived.
 
Basically it best to remember most sharks have the capability to be a jumper - if they are stressed enough, and given the chance.

So as an aquatist - it's best to remember Murphy's Law - anythig that can go wrong, will go wrong. And then plan ahead.
 
Hi! I have one and the answer for most aquarium sharks is yes, it can happen. I came downstairs one morning and found one of my bamboo sharks hanging out on my living room floor hiding in a snuggie. Luckily I found her and put her back in the tank right away and she was totally fine but you want to keep something over the tank so that they cannot escape.
 
Thanks for not leaving me out to dry on this one guys and gals. Hopefully it will make a difference :)
 
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