requiem sharks question???

[turbo253]

I have done a lot of diving. I have seen a lot of blacktip sharks. I dont think that I have EVER seen one even come close to six feet.

Please show me the resource that suggests that it is "very capable" for them to break six feet in the wild.

I think that 6000g is too small. But a tank in the 9000g range I think would be bare minimum. That is a little bigger than 20'x15'x4'.

Now for a pool I would probably go something like 25'x25'x5'...and that is a 19000g pool.

Better plan on keeping other fish, because that is a lot of wasted space.

The blacktip (limbatus) we have in the united states is usually less than 5' in length, HOWEVER, the record limbatus was 9' and weighed over 200#. This is not the rule, it is the exception.

The tropical one (melanopterus) is significantly smaller, with a max recorded size of a little over 6 feet.

Either one I think could be kept in a tank outlined above, and in the rare case of one that is obviously going to get too large needs to be re-homed or euthanized.

Well I guess I throw my 2 cents into this (probably all my opinion is really worth) Anyway as far as adult size goes, I know for a fact that C.melanopterus can grow to 5 feet pretty easily. I know of a group here in NY that is 5 feet and I am pretty sure mattiej's blacktips are 5 feet or so. Now you can also do a couple of quick YOU TUBE searches and see tons of C. limbatus sharks caught in Fl that are 6 foot plus.

Now as far as pool size goes I think Fleshy might be off a little bit. I have kept both of these species and have found C. melanopterus to be quite easy to keep( as far ORV sharks go) They really have a short swim glide pattern and don't seem to be bothered by physical obstructions. A BTR could probably hang in a 20x15 for a long time and live for life without many problems in a 25x25. So I think thats an ok size for C. melanopterus (not the best) but is by no means large enough for C. limbatus.

There are many huge obstacles to overcome when trying to keep C. limbatus for life. First off C. limbatus is a super high strung fish needs a tremendous amount of D.O. 2nd they have a very long swim glide pattern. From my experience this fish, it never really seems to rest in a round pool always running the edge and continually making turning adjustments. I also found they seem to have some odd behaviors like making very tight circles in the middle of the tank. No matter what the square footage. I have seen this with my own black tip and also with the ones at the NJ aquarium. The 3rd factor that I think makes a big difference to these sharks is to have a group of three or more.

Basically what I am getting at is neither a 20x15 or 25x25 would ever sustain C.limbatus for life. I believe to keep one your going to need something like a 33x18 to start with for a 2 foot shark(my pool is wasn't big enough and I won't try another one till my big oval is up) and move up form there. Form what I saw with my shark, the oval is best because the shark really needs the long run to rest and the large surface area to keep up with the oxygen demand of the shark. All in all I am pretty sure that you would need a lagoon around 70x40 to keep a 6.5 plus blacktip. Although I have yet to care for a large limbatus I am basing this off first hand experience with a 2 foot one. Trust me its probably one of the hardest sharks to keep cause there are tons of issues with them that I don't even have time to get into (I am sure Matt can back me up on this).

 

[eizenjin91]

for what its worth...i just got back from diving in the bahamas yesterday and i saw a 5-5.5 foot BTR at jeep reef in the exumas....

 

[krj-1168]

for what its worth...i just got back from diving in the bahamas yesterday and i saw a 5-5.5 foot BTR at jeep reef in the exumas....

That's very odd - since BTR aren't native to the Bahamas. Blacktip Reefs are only found in the pacific and eastern indian oceans.

Are sure it's wasn't a Blacktip Shark. Blacktip Sharks(C.limbatus) are found in the Atlantic, Pacific & Indian oceans. And they are quite common in the bahamas and along the southeastern & gulf coasts.

 

[Zoodiver]

Haha, yeah it was probably a black tip.

Oh, and x2 to everything Josh posted about them.

 

[nativeshark]

Great thread I am in Cali laws here suck. I am doing a shark lagoon. I am going to re read this thread later.

 

[Zoodiver]

Thread from 2011.
Closing.