Shark Tank Build/Design

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A

AaronA

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 13, 2008
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Colorado
Hello, first a little background on myself: I currently have 30+ Freshwater fish tanks, 5 saltwater tanks (1 FOWLR and 4 Reef tanks), 30+ Reptile Vivariums/Terrariums: Some of my more interesting specimens include a Picasso Trigger, MANY Poison Dart Frogs, a few larger snakes, African Grey parrot... Really just a bunch of exotic and not so exotic animals. The plan right now is to build a public aquarium in my hometown in the next 5-7 years or so. ANYWAYS.

I want to build my first shark tank. And have been thinking of a few different designs, and of course reading many "monster" builds on here and other sw forums. I am thinking of building a 8'x4'x2.5' plywood tank. So roughly 600gal, will be using a 2" pvc drain pipe (not overflow box but pipe that comes through floor in which water overflows into) Dont know if a typical overflow box would be suficient for gph needed in shark tank?) Filter will be either a 55gal sump or 75gal sump PACKED with live rock, cheato, a good protein skimmer, and reactor....

I am not 100% sure on design or final shark that will be housed in it, but the coral banded sharks are attractive for a tank this size (I believe) I am thinking of having very limited amounts of live rock in the tank itself, A few pieces for shark seccurity emotions, but overall a large open swimming area. Not looking to do anything much larger than this right now as with the current amount of tanks I have takes up more than enough room (will wait on that tell i have the size of a public aquarium to play with.)

My years of experience only help me prepare to learn to keep sharks, any advice and help is more than welcome :)

Aaron
 
As far as tank design and filtration for a shark tank - you seem to be on the right track.

But I'm not sure what you mean by "Coral Banded Sharks"? There's Coral Catsharks and there's Banded Bamboo Sharks - but they aren't the same species or even the same family of sharks. Coral Catsharks are true(but tropical) catsharks - which are fairly closely related to smoothhounds & requiem sharks. While Bamboo sharks are true carpet sharks - so they are related to the Nurse sharks, & wobbegongs.

For a Coral Catshark - your tank size is fine. But for an adult Brown Banded Bamboo - it would be a bit small (even if you had no LR in the tank).
 
Thanks for the reply, sorry for the type-o I meant to say "coral/banded sharks" as those two different sharks were what I've seen commended most for first time shark owners.

I often see shark eggs for sale at one of my lfs, and I believe this is and egg of the banded bamboo, I could be wrong. As for finding a decent place to buy sharks I've seen them on LiveAquaria and vividaquariums.com any good suggestions on where to keep my eyes open if I go with a species other than the banded bamboo?
Will be quite a while tell I reach that stage, but research is research.
 
Actually the best "Aquarium" sharks are as follows

- Coral/Marbled Catsharks (Atelomycterus sp.) - which only grown to about 24-27" in length.

- Epaulettes (Hemiscyllium sp.) - grow from about 28-42".

- Bamboo Sharks (Chiloscyllium sp.) - grow from 24-42".

- Horn/Bullhead sharks (Heterodontus sp.) - grow from about 27-60". Also these sharks tend to be temperate to sub-tropical species.
 
I would also recommend staying away from shark eggs - often times there tends to be a high mortality rate. Especially among young that hatched under the care of fairly inexperienced shark keepers.

It's much better to start with a young shark that's at least a couple of months old - and already feeding on it's own.

BTW - "banded" Bamboo Shark can get to about 40-42" long. So a better choice may be either the Gray Bamboo (which get to about 30") or the White-spotted Bamboo (which grow to about 36").
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Feeding is my larger worry, water quality is the least of my worries. Having the right size tank for the shark is (as should be) the biggest priority right now.
 
Use a "t" fitting a the top of a stand pipe for a drain to prevent clogs and make sure it's in well, sharks tend to knock them down...... however, an overflow box will work just fine.
 
Zoodiver;2202422; said:
Use a "t" fitting a the top of a stand pipe for a drain to prevent clogs and make sure it's in well, sharks tend to knock them down...... however, an overflow box will work just fine.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm thinking I may do a large overflow box, the advantage I see of using PVC or properly placed bulkheads to the sump is that glassing inside of the overflow box would be difficult. How exactly does a tee help you? I see the whole if one side gets clogged, the other still works, but why would it get clogged anyways?
 
Ah yes, that would not be good... Perhaps I will have an overflow "section" not hang on box... Still use the direct drain pipe, but have it not in the open area of the tank... After a little reading, I think that 2x 2" drain pipes w/ tees (as suggested) should be enough flow rate for the sump. Also because I want the filtration to be excellent, I will probably have a 55 gal sump w/ LR, protein skimmer, cal reactor, and than plumb in a 20-30gal refugium on a much lower flow rate.

After reading some of the info out of "Aquatic Systems Engineering: Devices and how they function" Will probably go with a 3-4" PVC diy counter current skimmer w/ relitivly low rate using a small pump for the water, and seperate air pump for 2x4" air blocks.

Still not sure on the tanks final size, 8'x4' is easiest to construct... Though not quite large enough for an adult Epaulettes, or Coral Cat, or bamboo...
 
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