That may sound like a good idea. Except that most public Aquariums are already stocked with Nurse Sharks - so they are usually unwilling or unable to adopt anymore from private individuals or LFS.
Nurse Shark at LFS
- Thread starter LBathory
- Start date
I'm gonna second what Ken said. Aquarium's hate it when people try to pawn off their mistakes of a shark purchase on them.
I actually had a guy get mad with me when I wouldn't buy a bonnethead from him for $1500 plus he wanted to charge me to transport it b/c he was so sure I couldn't move it. Ironically, the day he yelled at me on the phone was the day I left on a cross country trip to move several bonnets back to the aquarium..... bonnets I got for FREE.
Nurse sharks are even worse. They are pigs and will eat a food budget and come back for more, all the while not really add much to a display but a over weight shark on the bottom of the tank.
I actually had a guy get mad with me when I wouldn't buy a bonnethead from him for $1500 plus he wanted to charge me to transport it b/c he was so sure I couldn't move it. Ironically, the day he yelled at me on the phone was the day I left on a cross country trip to move several bonnets back to the aquarium..... bonnets I got for FREE.
Nurse sharks are even worse. They are pigs and will eat a food budget and come back for more, all the while not really add much to a display but a over weight shark on the bottom of the tank.
I have heard that some people will abandoned their nurses, blacktips, etc on the front entrance of aquariums. It just sickens me. I also know of a person that found a full grown fire eel on their front door step in a bucket because people knew they are the fish guys.
Yeah - I did some rough calculations on food requirements for an adult Nurse shark vs. 3 requiem sharks.
For the Nurse - I figured a mature Nurse - weighing 300 lbs - roughly 8-9 ft long) eating only about 2.5% of it's body weight per week. This comes out to about 390 lbs of Seafood per year for a single adult Nurse.
For the Requiem sharks - I figured they would eat about 5% of their body weight per week.
The Weight of the adult Blacktip Reef - at about 100 lbs.
The Weight of the Bonnethead - about 30 lbs.
The weight of the Atlantic Sharpnose - about 20 lbs.
The result - a Single Adult Nurse requires enough food per year to feed either of the following
- 1.5 Blacktip Reefs
- 5 Bonnetheads
- 7.5 Atlantic Sharpnose Shark.
And that's without over feeding a Nurse. Giving the way they eat - a Nurse could easily eat about 5% or more of Body weight per week.
For the Nurse - I figured a mature Nurse - weighing 300 lbs - roughly 8-9 ft long) eating only about 2.5% of it's body weight per week. This comes out to about 390 lbs of Seafood per year for a single adult Nurse.
For the Requiem sharks - I figured they would eat about 5% of their body weight per week.
The Weight of the adult Blacktip Reef - at about 100 lbs.
The Weight of the Bonnethead - about 30 lbs.
The weight of the Atlantic Sharpnose - about 20 lbs.
The result - a Single Adult Nurse requires enough food per year to feed either of the following
- 1.5 Blacktip Reefs
- 5 Bonnetheads
- 7.5 Atlantic Sharpnose Shark.
And that's without over feeding a Nurse. Giving the way they eat - a Nurse could easily eat about 5% or more of Body weight per week.
That number is right on the money if you are lucky enought to keep a single species tank of nurses.
The other part to think about is nurse sharks steal food from others, and will also eat off a broadcast feed along with being specifically target fed (assuming they are in a mixed fish display).
I figured the pushy nurses at (well, let's not name the aquarium
) got 3 lbs per feed, three feeds a week, 52 weeks a year. 468 lbs over a 12 month period. Yes that is high, and yes those nurses were/are so over weight that it is unhealthy. Even guest commented about the weight issues.
The other part to think about is nurse sharks steal food from others, and will also eat off a broadcast feed along with being specifically target fed (assuming they are in a mixed fish display).
I figured the pushy nurses at (well, let's not name the aquarium
) got 3 lbs per feed, three feeds a week, 52 weeks a year. 468 lbs over a 12 month period. Yes that is high, and yes those nurses were/are so over weight that it is unhealthy. Even guest commented about the weight issues.Yeah - that pretty much explains why anyone considering on keeping a Nurse should take great care not to over feed it. Be they a Public Aquarium or private individual.
It's at Baitles (sp?) aquariums in Pearl River NY. I really dislike the place. The guy is a real jerk and over prices everything. Plus, the store is a mess and half the fish are dying or dead. He's got some really huge stuff though.
