Just bought my first house and just bought my first shark tank. The current setup I have is a 200 gallon pentagon corner tank from tenicor with a sized overflow box for all the extra waste my little guy might make, Orca 250 protein skimmer/fractionators or equivalent and a 40 gallon sump. I plan on having some live rock for hiding spaces with few hardy coral, and live sand. I have two metal halides in the center of the tank with blue actinics all the way around the perimeter of the tank. I've read about 3 books on aquarium setups, one book on corals, and the most hated/loved Shark and Ray Book. I'm pretty set on getting a coral catshark because they only get to about 24" the footprint of the tank is 16sqft and I could use anymore advice on completing my project. My LFS is really good at helping me set stuff up, but the owner in no way is a shark expert. What are your guys thoughts and input? The tank is about 4-5 weeks out so I have some time to plan
Plans for 200 gallon Tenicor tank with Q's?
- Thread starter amoahkuc
- Start date
ok what's the exact dimensions to this tank - very important for considering a shark.
Also I would suggesting going with a good de-nitrification system - which means Live Sand, Live rock, Macro-algea(Cheato), possible Miracle Mudd for a refugium. And of course a good Protein Skimmer.
As for the tank - even with a Coral catshark your going to need as much swimming room as possible. So while a few hiding places is good - don't go over board. And IMO - I wouldn't suggest keeping corals in the tank with a shark. It's usually not the best to kept these two together
Also I would suggesting going with a good de-nitrification system - which means Live Sand, Live rock, Macro-algea(Cheato), possible Miracle Mudd for a refugium. And of course a good Protein Skimmer.
As for the tank - even with a Coral catshark your going to need as much swimming room as possible. So while a few hiding places is good - don't go over board. And IMO - I wouldn't suggest keeping corals in the tank with a shark. It's usually not the best to kept these two together
The perimiter of the tank is as follows 48"X48"X10"X53"X10", your standard pentagon corner tank that is 30" tall. The inside corners consist of three 90 degree corners and two 135 degree corners. I was planing on using 1.5" of live sand as a substrate, with some live rock, and have a 36" sump and will probably use an RPS 3000 protien skimmer and modify the needle wheel to a mesh wheel, I was planing on just using bio balls in the sump to grow algae and were thinking of maybe having some tangs in the tank to mitigate some of the algae groth in the tank. The coral idea was just to try and mimick the sharks natural habitat and I would only do soft hardy coral so that I don't need to have as intense lighting and very few, but I can do without it if it will hurt the shark. As for the tangs I was planing on aclimating them to the tank first so that they can find all the good hiding places before I introduced the shark.
l would suggest ditch the Bio balls - not good for a shark tank. Actually could add nitrates to you system instead of removing them.
If you want to mimic the coral catshark's natural habitat - think tidal pool -instead of coral reef.
If you want to mimic the coral catshark's natural habitat - think tidal pool -instead of coral reef.
Would I just use more live rock in my sump in place of the bio balls to help in the biological filtration? Thanks everyone for all the good input as soon as I get my tank up I will post some pics of the progress
Instead of Sump go with a Refugium - basically use Miracle Mudd, and Macro-algea(Chaeto) to help break down nitrogen waste. Also you could possible add smaller pieces of Live Rock in place of bio balls - if you keep the Sump idea. In tank use -Large pieces of Live Rock (for a couple of hiding places) & live sand (as substrate).
Also you could use a small Sand filter to help filter your home aquarium. Although these tend to best with shark ponds or lagoons.
Also you could use a small Sand filter to help filter your home aquarium. Although these tend to best with shark ponds or lagoons.
Yeah, I'm having a hard enough time convincing the girlfriend to let me take over the dinning room for wy tank. If I show up with a concrete mixer, I think she might blow a fuse. I will just stick with the pvc idea. I went to home depot and made the base structure of what I was going for with 1/2" pipe and 90 degree bends. Now I only have two more questions? What kind of "putty" do you guys use to hide the pvc pipe between rocks and what type of drill bit do you guys use to drill your rock (masonry, wood)? Thanks for all the great advice. Another question for krj-1168 how big of a refugium would I need for my setup? The original sump idea was 36"X16"X16" with three chambers