Is it safe?

[turbo21]

i believe brenden is making the statement about a mature tank, because sharks are very sensitive to flucuations in water quality, if your tank has not completely cycled and matured, you can cause alot of undue stress to the shark, which can lead to death. you also have to watch your salinity, a fast drop or rise can lead to instant death. when performing water changes and top offs you have to monitor the salinity very carefully


guny and i have talked in a few other threads, he is very aware that shark will outgrow this tank very quickly. his mind is set on getting this shark, and no one is gonna talk him out of it, so i feel that we should give him as much help and info as we can, he has already gotten the criticizm . i am against him buying this shark, but his contigency plan (bigger tank, or back to the lfs) has been thought through. yes it will cause ALOT of stress to the shark. but he has at least thought out a plan that will work

his lfs has a 40,000 gal tank, and they have already agreed to take it


just a note for everyone: most sharks that can be kept in a home aquarium, are extremely boring, they are mostly noctournal, and do nothing but sleep all day. there are many other fish from the ocean that are more active and interesting to watch

bob

 

[gunny03]

I know that the shark is going to be extremely boring, but I want it because I have always been fascinated by sharks and the way they look. My house is 2 years old, how much weight do you think the second story can hold. In a few months im going to get a new tank ( 180- 250) gallons for the shark once it outgrows the tank. I'm also giong to wait a while until i get the tank established a little better. Will the shark better lighting then 1 48in. flourescent bulb? And does the skimmer slow down the cycling process?

 

[Zygaena]

I have been cycling my tank for about a week and my temp. is good, my salinity is good, my ammonia is 0, my ph is good, my nitrate is good, and my damsels havent died except one that crawled into the power head. So do you think that I will be able to put fish in now?, also what fish can be kept with a coral cat shark?

IMO, it should take between 2-3 weeks to grow an adequate-sized colony of nitrifying bacteria in your sump and live rock. I normally cycle a tank with progressively stronger solutions of ammonium chloride. That way, I can avoid ammonia spikes and hydrogen sulfide buildups in the substrate. I've also tried letting shrimp meat decompose in the tank and it works okay. Just takes a bit longer for cycling purposes--maybe a month or so.

Anyway, I start checking for nitrites (not nitrates) at the end of the second week. After that, I will usually see a marked daily decrease in nitrites 'til my tests read close to zero ppm. That's when I know the bacteria are somewhat established. Then, the next day, at the same time I usually add ammonium chloride, I instead do a 20% water change and add my entire fish load all at once--roughly 1 inch of fish livestock per gallon of water.

Checked for nitrates daily, the tank stays spike-free for ammonia or nitrites.

As for your coral cat shark... I'm guessing similar-sized predators should be okay. It'll quickly outgrow your tank tho. Good luck.

 

[Zygaena]

I know that the shark is going to be extremely boring, but I want it because I have always been fascinated by sharks and the way they look. My house is 2 years old, how much weight do you think the second story can hold. In a few months im going to get a new tank ( 180- 250) gallons for the shark once it outgrows the tank. I'm also giong to wait a while until i get the tank established a little better. Will the shark better lighting then 1 48in. flourescent bulb? And does the skimmer slow down the cycling process?

Yeh! Sharks rule!

Hey, Gunny:

- Avoid setting up large tanks on wooden floors (if that's what your second floor has) Keep in mind saltwater weighs in excess of 8 lbs per gallon--and that doesn't yet include the live rock, tank, and hardware. So a 200 gallon tank could end up weighing about 1800 lbs in all. That's like standing a Camry on its frontend in your living room!

- Lighting isn't something you need to worry too much about for a shark tank. Any light you'll need will just be to show off your monster to the uppity SOB who likes to drop in just to brag. So, pick one for max effect.

- Yeah. skimmers slow down cycling somewhat. Keep 'em off til you're done cycling.

 

[gunny03]

WOW turbo I was reading one of your threads and you said that you had a port jacksons shark, how big was it? Those are so cool

 

[turbo21]

he was about 16" when the tank broke, he is probably my most favorite fish i have ever kept, he was very active, and was hand fed. when i would put my arm in the water, he would swim up and land on it, was very sad when we lost him. Once we get the big tank built, we might bet another. they are very pricey. i paid $400.00 for ours

bob

 

[BIGgourami]

o man i would love PJ! max size for them is around 5' right? so i guess you'd be doing a pond or some REALLY big tank (which would be just as cool)

 

[turbo21]

yes max size is around five foot


we are in the design stages of a 1200 gal or larger tank,
i have already located the 1" thick acrylic front window for $500.00 (not bad huh)

we have to make the decision of plywood or concrete


bob

 

[BIGgourami]

if you decide on concrete, i would go a little bigger, maybe like 1500 or 2000. it would be easier than the ply for that.

 

[turbo21]

plywood tank would be about 1200 gal, for the space i have, concrete would put us at 2000 gal


the choice has its options
either way it will go in the same spot as our 240

if we go plywood, i can build it in the gameroom then move the 240 and put the ply tank in place


concrete- move the 240 and let it run out in the open til the concrete tank is done


either way i can't wait. but the pros and cons are driving us nuts


the biggest pro i see, is with the concrete tank, having a lot less chance for leaking, wood is not as forgiving with a leak


bob