So I have minimal hands on experience with salt water. Medium level fish keeping. I live in a small town and rarely see any kind of decent tanks, but today I ran across what I believe to be a 300 ish gallon tank. It was listed as 450 gallons but it's 8 long, 3 feet wide and 21 inches high in a hexagon. I immediate thought of a shark (yes I know it's on the small side) and IF I was to do this were talking a single most likely a cat shark. Also I know that budget and shark do not go together realistically, but what's the most efficient way of filtration/setup? I'm assuming nothing to near nothing in the tank. Run a sand filter, very good protein skimmer and that's where I trail off. If I was to add a 55gallon drum or other large structure with a dsb and rock would that help with nitrates? Ideally I'd like to MINIMIZE water changes and save on salt (yes I know sharks are messy and I know water changes are inevitable). Also what kind of water movement do benthic sharks prefer?
Possible shark tank?
- Thread starter savannah_az
- Start date
Sand/Bead filter, good protein skimmer and frequent water changes. The extra 55 gallon is not needed for nitrates. You could run a Algae Turf Scrubber though which could help and fairly easy DIY project. You really can't skip water changes. and I'd recommend you step up to automated water change with something like Apex DOS,Litre Meter or Genesis Renew.
You do need a solid knowledge of tank before tackling sharks so that you don't hurt the animals with human error. Get the tank up and running for 6 months with some damsels/chromis and feed them daily. I'm confused on the tank dimensions with the hexagon statement, but 8ft x 3ft foot print will house a smaller cat shark for awhile, but make plans for going larger in the future.
You do need a solid knowledge of tank before tackling sharks so that you don't hurt the animals with human error. Get the tank up and running for 6 months with some damsels/chromis and feed them daily. I'm confused on the tank dimensions with the hexagon statement, but 8ft x 3ft foot print will house a smaller cat shark for awhile, but make plans for going larger in the future.
The dimensions are strange. It was a turtle tank in a local pet store here in town, it's a hexagon but the front/back panel is over 6.5 ft so for discussion sake the foot print is right about 8x3. Like I said somewhere around 300 gallons. I know I need a WELL established bio filtration before adding a shark, it to mention if it is why are nitrates even present at that point? I know water changes are a must but I'm just curious if there's any way to cut them down to say, 20-25% a month with multiple barrels of rock or dsb (plus added volume), algae scrubber or whatever have you.
20-25% monthly could be doable, but the bead/sand filters clog fairly quickly and need flushing. With an ATS to help combat Nitrates.
Start planning your filtration room/sump layout etc. Starting thinking ahead now cuz it will save you alot of time and headaches in the future!
Start planning your filtration room/sump layout etc. Starting thinking ahead now cuz it will save you alot of time and headaches in the future!
Ive learned this the hard way already. I did a short stint with salt with a 240 then a 315 ended up with a 210 frontosa which I actually planned and its a world of difference. I'm not necessarily ready to pull the trigger but i figured if i end up grabbing this tank because the indivual cant sell before he has to move id at least like to have somewhat of a plan in place if i decide to go this route.
Hoping to see it in person end of the week/weekend. I haven't seen it since it was set up in the pet store. This is all i have access to right now.
