complete noob

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
M

M.I.C.

Feeder Fish
Jan 11, 2012
4
0
0
LA
sup, i originally wanted to buy a shark(s) to scare my roommates but I actually started looking into it and have been researching it for a few days, and I honestly am really into it now and think I want a coral catshark. My questions are

1. Is this a good choice? Or is maybe a bamboo or banded better? Or possibly cheaper?
2. What size aquarium should I be getting for it.
3. Where should I be looking to get one, I don't want to get one shipped.

Any other suggestions on what kinds to get, especially more cost efficient ones starting off would be great. Thanks.
 
do some research on the internet, a shark isn't something you get to scare your roommates, we are talking about a really big tank here (200 gallons+)! The smallest aquarium shark would be the coralcat shark. If it is your first attempt in salt water, then i HIGHLY doubt starting with a shark is a good idea.
 
If your main motivation for getting a shark is to scare your roommates, you don't sound like someone who should own a shark
 
Well, saltwater isn't more complicated. More expensive though. I would recommend you a 50g~~ FOWLR tank to start off and you can eventually go reef if you want to
 
I have no personal experience with sharks, but have always wanted to own one...

Before you go too far into research, some things you may want to consider is;

1) can you feed the fish? sharks eat a lot of food and their bills can add up very quickly

2) Do you have the space for a very large tank... i think most smaller sharks do best in a round tank that is about 8 feet across minimum or around 500G+ tank... so not exactly taking up just a small area of floor space in a house / apartment...

3) Have you considered all the costs of keeping a shark? not including setup, running a tank this size can start to add up very quickly, between water changes, salt, electricity, and everything else thats needed, sharks are not the cheapest wet pets to own, plus if you ever want to re-home the fish, trying to move a 3ft+ fish isn't easy, especially when it has sharp teeth...

So i would say, if you could deal with all the above + more, then you should start doing a lot of research and talk to actual owners of sharks here to get some solid advice... but if you've never really seriously kept fish before, then going with Max412's idea of maybe trying your hands on a smaller 50G tank would be a good introduction into how to deal with a salt water tank first...
 
I agree getting a Shark - just because you want to scared your roommates - isn't a good reason to consider keeping a Shark.

Also there's the question of experience with saltwater tanks. Sharks are the wrong species to attempt to learn the basic of saltwater aquariums on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom