Shark Pond Question

[Ali]

I'm a little confused. You are selling your place, but you want to put a shark pool on it. What happens when you decide to move? Are you planning on moving the shark with it? Just trying to get the story straight.

I expect my residence to be sold within the next couple months. In the mean time I am going to cycle the system. Once the house is sold, I will move the system (water, Filtration, pond) to my new residence and continue the cycle until the system is ready for the sharks. It may seem boring to stare at an empty tank but I have to wait anyway since it is not shark season.

So I will not even get a shark until my system (water chemistry) is perfect for the species I want.

I hope that cleared up any misconceptions about my situation.

 

[sharkdealer]

Don't panic about the pumps. Check the specs and see what kind of shaft seals they have. If they aren't non-corrosive you can either return the pumps or use them anyway. When the seals fail you can replace them for about $10.00. You'll notice the seals failing when small drips of water show up under the front of the pump. Don't worry, they won't fail all at once and drain your pond. I've used Intex pools before, but no matter what the manufacturer says they were not designed for saltwater. A pond liner is the smartest way to go. The padding they suggest is to prevent sharp objects in the ground from puncturing the liner. One of your biggest issues will be the folds that will take shape in the pool liner no matter what you do to smooth them out. With the pond liner underneath it will be next to impossible to have a smooth, flat liner. The danger here is that a shark may go after a piece of food in one of the folds and promptly chew through both liners. Even a 45 and 30 mil liner is no match for the teeth that a Bull has. "Tong feeding" is a term you should become familiar with. You haven't mentioned how you're going to heat the pool. The winter low temps in the Valley get quite cold. What have you got planned?

 

[Ali]

Don't panic about the pumps. Check the specs and see what kind of shaft seals they have. If they aren't non-corrosive you can either return the pumps or use them anyway. When the seals fail you can replace them for about $10.00. You'll notice the seals failing when small drips of water show up under the front of the pump. Don't worry, they won't fail all at once and drain your pond. I've used Intex pools before, but no matter what the manufacturer says they were not designed for saltwater. A pond liner is the smartest way to go. The padding they suggest is to prevent sharp objects in the ground from puncturing the liner. One of your biggest issues will be the folds that will take shape in the pool liner no matter what you do to smooth them out. With the pond liner underneath it will be next to impossible to have a smooth, flat liner. The danger here is that a shark may go after a piece of food in one of the folds and promptly chew through both liners. Even a 45 and 30 mil liner is no match for the teeth that a Bull has. "Tong feeding" is a term you should become familiar with. You haven't mentioned how you're going to heat the pool. The winter low temps in the Valley get quite cold. What have you got planned?

Maybe I could use the plastic crate like material to cover the bottom of the pond to avoid that. I am not to worried about the heating. I will use a couple 1000 watt titanium heaters and run a hose from the sump into a sump with the heaters in it. This way I can prevent adding any electrical currents to the water. Temperatures never go below 60 in my curent garage. I need to insulate the garage and run a dehumidifier.

I just hope that the impellers don't burn out or something like that. Btw, where is a good place for sand filters? The best price I have for a Triton II TR100 (4.91sq ft.) is $511. Are their any places in LA that might have better prices?

 

[sharkdealer]

I'll check with my supplier on the current price for the Triton. I could probably get you one for $450.00. You should consider a bead filter instead. It's the same thing as a sand filter but uses special plastic beads instead of sand. The advantage being that the beads don't ever have to be changed and never have to be stirred. It's much more maintenance friendly but of course costs a little more. By the way, if you go with the sand filter don't use the type nor grade of sand the manufacturer suggests. These filters are made for pools and the manufacturers didn't think about using them for fish, so the grade of sand they recommend is far too fine and will clog very fast in a fish system. I would use #3 grade coral sand.

 

[Ali]

I'll check with my supplier on the current price for the Triton. I could probably get you one for $450.00. You should consider a bead filter instead. It's the same thing as a sand filter but uses special plastic beads instead of sand. The advantage being that the beads don't ever have to be changed and never have to be stirred. It's much more maintenance friendly but of course costs a little more. By the way, if you go with the sand filter don't use the type nor grade of sand the manufacturer suggests. These filters are made for pools and the manufacturers didn't think about using them for fish, so the grade of sand they recommend is far too fine and will clog very fast in a fish system. I would use #3 grade coral sand.

If you could get a Triton II TR100 for $450 that would be great. I was going to run my 3/4hp StaRite pump with it btw.

 

[sharkdealer]

Ali,
I noticed your postings on another site and the concerns you have about buying sharks from dealers. You're right to be concerned as there are many shady characters out there. My suggestion is to go with somebody who will give you references. If you're interested in buying from me I'll be more than happy to provide references. If you have someone else in mind to buy from just make sure they can deliver and are collecting lawfully. California has no restrictions on the import of ornamental fish except those on the restricted species list. The Bull you want to obtain is on that list and you have not told us how you intend to deal with that. Any collector/dealer who agrees to sell you a Bull and/or deliver one here in CA is also breaking the law. One can only possess and/or transfer ownership of that shark to another permitted person. All of the other sharks you are thinking about are just fine and would require no permit for you to keep them. Also, Zoodiver made some good points about laws in other states. While he may have misquoted a few, the basic gist is that if you obtain a shark that was collected unlawfully you can be held accountable even though you have not broken any CA law by importing it into the state. In your quest to find nursery areas for the Scalloped Hammer please don't even bother with collecting in Mexico. Someone on water-wolves suggested that and you're asking for a world of financial hurt and possibly time in a Mexican jail. Even if Mexico issued a permit to you it wouldn't be honored by any officials along the way unless you paid them off. They are the biggest thieves in the world down there. Many public aquariums have had bad experiences dealing with them. But if you're a masochist you can try to collect in La Paz. That is the only Scalloped nursery I know of in Mexico that is the closest to CA.

 

[krj-1168]

Better - still just completely scrub the idea of getting a Scalloped Hammerhead.

These sharks are ill-suited to be kept in small private shark ponds. They tend to be hard to keep unless - your a well funded Large Public Aquariums - like MBA.

As I've and others have suggested before - stick with Blacktip Reef, Bonnetheads or Sharpnoses.

 

[UnderwaterGirl]

I expect my residence to be sold within the next couple months. In the mean time I am going to cycle the system. Once the house is sold, I will move the system (water, Filtration, pond) to my new residence and continue the cycle until the system is ready for the sharks. It may seem boring to stare at an empty tank but I have to wait anyway since it is not shark season.

So I will not even get a shark until my system (water chemistry) is perfect for the species I want.

I hope that cleared up any misconceptions about my situation.

Hmm seems a little weird...why not wait til you go to your new place. It seems like it would be pretty hard to move a 12' pool with all of the water in it.

 

[Ali]

Hmm seems a little weird...why not wait til you go to your new place. It seems like it would be pretty hard to move a 12' pool with all of the water in it.

That might be what I will do since the house will probably be sold with a month and escrow will close in two. My dad is now talking about setting up an actual aquarium to house sharks but I don't think he will be commited once he figures out the total cost of such an aquarium. He thinks that the tank will cost somewhere between 5-10k More like 20-30k. I will probably set up a pond similar to the one I have posted but maybe 18' or 24' in diameter.

 

[Ali]

Ali,
I noticed your postings on another site and the concerns you have about buying sharks from dealers. You're right to be concerned as there are many shady characters out there. My suggestion is to go with somebody who will give you references. If you're interested in buying from me I'll be more than happy to provide references. If you have someone else in mind to buy from just make sure they can deliver and are collecting lawfully. California has no restrictions on the import of ornamental fish except those on the restricted species list. The Bull you want to obtain is on that list and you have not told us how you intend to deal with that. Any collector/dealer who agrees to sell you a Bull and/or deliver one here in CA is also breaking the law. One can only possess and/or transfer ownership of that shark to another permitted person. All of the other sharks you are thinking about are just fine and would require no permit for you to keep them. Also, Zoodiver made some good points about laws in other states. While he may have misquoted a few, the basic gist is that if you obtain a shark that was collected unlawfully you can be held accountable even though you have not broken any CA law by importing it into the state. In your quest to find nursery areas for the Scalloped Hammer please don't even bother with collecting in Mexico. Someone on water-wolves suggested that and you're asking for a world of financial hurt and possibly time in a Mexican jail. Even if Mexico issued a permit to you it wouldn't be honored by any officials along the way unless you paid them off. They are the biggest thieves in the world down there. Many public aquariums have had bad experiences dealing with them. But if you're a masochist you can try to collect in La Paz. That is the only Scalloped nursery I know of in Mexico that is the closest to CA.

I see how difficult it is to actually acquire them from the wild myslef. Their is no way that I will spend 6-8k on my first requiem shark though. Maybe with time I will purchase one but no way will a bull or a scalloped be my first purchase in the requiem shark world.