Nurse Shark

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One of my guys had two in a 180 for at least six months. Unfortunate. They were picked up by a private owner, but the employees are so off putting I never tried to follow up.
The real benefit I've seen with most of the stores out here is they never order anything more than a freshly hatched, or still in the egg coral banded. At least three local smokies in town have very large tanks just in case someone brings very large specialty critters that they are no longer able to maintain.

You should ask Capo, he's very passionate about the care of these guys and sharks in general.
 
Big sharks should absolutely be a special order. It's deceiving that they can be born so tiny but max out at 10 plus feet.

Where I work a lemon shark was requested by a gentleman with a 60,000 gallon tank. It's in my pool right now being treated with prazi and batrol(spelling). Not a very common shark but a monster none the less. Pictures and a walk through of the setup were required to get the shark.
 
Nurse sharks are definitely too cheap and too easy to get. I've seen some priced at only $100-150 for small juvies.

It remains of the horror stories that I heard a few years ago - about people being able to buy Tiger or Lion cubs for $500-600. Which is why they end up in the hands of people who aren't qualified to keep them. The same is true with Nurse sharks.

I'm not say it should be illegal to keep Nurse sharks. But at least they shouldn't be sold in LFS or priced so any 1st time shark owner can get one. While I would consider the Nurse Shark to be a better alternative to attempting to keep a Blacktip Reef or White Reef. They are still a worse choice than any of the small benthic species (Bamboos, Eppies, Horns, catsharks or small wobbies), because of the adult size and the amount of room that they require. Keeping a Nurse for life requires a tank/pool/lagoon larger than is needed to keep most smoothhounds, or small requiems(4-5' long).
 
Reminds me of the boardwalk giftshops where they sell these clear cylinders that are about a foot long and contain dead baby sharks.
 
saw one in my lfs today.
but more power too yay if you can keep one because you converted your swimming pool.
 
I've seen public aquariums and private aquarists that use swimming pools for Nurse Sharks.

Personally - the Nurse Shark is a species that I would consider to only be suitable for the most hardcore of private shark aquarists. Others being Bonnetheads, Atlantic Sharpnose, Blacktip Reefs & Whitetip Reefs.

Notice I didn't include Lemon Sharks - which IMPO is just insane for a private aquarist to attempt to keep. Since the only way for a private aquarist to be able to keep one for life would be for them to be a Multi-Millionaire. A Lemon Shark would require a tank the size of small Public Aquarium - at minimum.
 
in australia it is illigal to own a nurseshark this could be with a few more
and it aint so easy to get sharks here neither and plenty of sharks around the coast
there was 1 eppie for sale around 45cm for $220 owner told me a 6x2x2 is big enough for a shark that gets 107cm long
didn't get it tho thought it was to big for me and know he was bull****tin about the tanksize already or was he cause in the shark and ray book they had for sale there a 900/1000 litre tank would be enough for them this true?
to be honest if i was able to buy a lionpup i would

krj-1168;3483824; said:
Nurse sharks are definitely too cheap and too easy to get. I've seen some priced at only $100-150 for small juvies.

It remains of the horror stories that I heard a few years ago - about people being able to buy Tiger or Lion cubs for $500-600. Which is why they end up in the hands of people who aren't qualified to keep them. The same is true with Nurse sharks.

I'm not say it should be illegal to keep Nurse sharks. But at least they shouldn't be sold in LFS or priced so any 1st time shark owner can get one. While I would consider the Nurse Shark to be a better alternative to attempting to keep a Blacktip Reef or White Reef. They are still a worse choice than any of the small benthic species (Bamboos, Eppies, Horns, catsharks or small wobbies), because of the adult size and the amount of room that they require. Keeping a Nurse for life requires a tank/pool/lagoon larger than is needed to keep most smoothhounds, or small requiems(4-5' long).
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