nurse shark in reef

[Zoodiver]

Agreed.

Also if you look at shark tanks at Public Aquariums, you'll notice that you don't see real coral in shark tanks. For tanks with adult Nurse Sharks - most public aquariums either use live rock or some type of fake decor as part of the tank display.

Yep. We move nurse pups out of our big 250,000 reef at about 4' long b/c they start pushing around the rock and destroying the coral growing in it. They go to a shark/fish only exhibit where there is nothing to break or push over.

 

[Jabba954]

Yep. We move nurse pups out of our big 250,000 reef at about 4' long b/c they start pushing around the rock and destroying the coral growing in it. They go to a shark/fish only exhibit where there is nothing to break or push over.

What do you do for substrate in those tanks? Anything?

 

[Zoodiver]

Good question. Who told you

We've in the process of finding the right choice. LOL
It was pea sized rock, but it was holding onto too much sediment, and causing clouding issues when we walked on the bottom (a big issue as this Summer we are adding a public interactive aspect to the display working with Sea Trek). A few weeks ago we spent several days underwater vacuuming it all out. Right now it's bare bottom, but that won't stay. I'd like to go to a finer aragonite sand (like in our cownose pool). It doesn't have the gaps between grains like larger rock/gravel does, so there isn't physically room for it to hold the amount of sediment. The bottom of our big display is very low circulation around the edges, so it's easy for junk to collect down low.

I've used that substrate in most of my bigger exhibits, and it works great.

I'll post some pics of the reef tonight when I get home.

 

[Comatose]

It's a bummer that so many nurses make it into the hobby... they just aren't suited for aquariums... save for a few noted exceptions on this board o course

 

[stopsharkfinning]

sharks in reef tanks dont work nitrates and phosphates would balloon , corals require close to o depending on coral

 

[Zoodiver]

What do you do for substrate in those tanks? Anything?

Here's the only shot I could dig up that shows the 'old' substrate well. It's bare concrete now.

 

[Jabba954]

I should rephrase my question - what substrate do you use in shark only tanks? I notice at the MBA they have nothing.

 

[Zoodiver]

I like a aragonite bottom personally. Bare bottoms are a pain in the butt (pun intended) to clean unless you have minimal lighting going on. In tanks with a lot of light, the bare bottom turns into a carpet of algae very quickly.

 

[Zoodiver]

Here's a cell phone pic of the bare bottom with the nurse shark laying there. Can't really see that well, but it gives you an idea.

 

[longliveledzep]

i talked to the guy he won't sell it and i would never buy one unless i was saving it but would any other kind of shark work like a bamboo or cat