Tank Size Recommendations

[krj-1168]

BTR's or real blacktips?

Well according to Matt's last post - both species.

And although they are both ORV swimming sharks - they have very different swim-glide patterns, and prefer very different habitats. Also BTR and Blacktips tend to have very different temperments. All of which greatly affects their suggested tank sizes. And mean ways the Blacktip & BTR are almost polar oppposites. BTR are native to rocky & coral reefs(as their name suggests) and found in fairly shallow water. Blacktips (C. limbatus) are sharks which seem to prefer deeper open waters. BTR are adapt well to captivity, given enough space. While Blacktips are very difficult to acclimate to captivity - even in a good size pulic aquarium.

Basically for an adult BTR for life - I would suggest something like this as an absolute bare minimum - oval pond - 45 ft long x 18 ft wide x 5-6 ft deep(average depth).

On the other hand an adult Blacktip - would likely need at least a tank -like this
(75ft long x 34 ft wide x 9 ft deep) as a bare minimum. And in truth - it really should be even larger than this.

 

[FLESHY]

Well according to Matt's last post - both species.

And although they are both ORV swimming sharks - they have very different swim-glide patterns, and prefer very different habitats. Also BTR and Blacktips tend to have very different temperments. All of which greatly affects their suggested tank sizes. And mean ways the Blacktip & BTR are almost polar oppposites. BTR are native to rocky & coral reefs(as their name suggests) and found in fairly shallow water. Blacktips (C. limbatus) are sharks which seem to prefer deeper open waters. BTR are adapt well to captivity, given enough space. While Blacktips are very difficult to acclimate to captivity - even in a good size pulic aquarium.

Basically for an adult BTR for life - I would suggest something like this as an absolute bare minimum - oval pond - 45 ft long x 18 ft wide x 5-6 ft deep(average depth).

On the other hand an adult Blacktip - would likely need at least a tank -like this
(75ft long x 34 ft wide x 9 ft deep) as a bare minimum. And in truth - it really should be even larger than this.

I really have to disagree. L(l)imbatus could easily be kept in a much smaller tank. (Glide pattern excluded, as I know very little about this) This shark on average is most likely smaller than five feet in length. They ARE however very thick when full grown and powerful swimmers.

I also have to disagree about their choice of habitat. I would say that they are mostly found in shallow water (<30m) and although capable of going deeper, would mainly be found in estuaries, lagoons etc...structure and dropoffs in the middle of this depth range. I cant tell you how many times I have seen these things right off the mangrove swamps...5-8ft in depth in FL.

 

[krj-1168]

I really have to disagree. L(l)imbatus could easily be kept in a much smaller tank. (Glide pattern excluded, as I know very little about this) This shark on average is most likely smaller than five feet in length. They ARE however very thick when full grown and powerful swimmers.

Blacktips (C. limbatus) doesn't reach maturity until about 4.5-5.2ft in the Northwestern Atlantic, Caribbean & Gulf of Mexico. In other parts of the world they mature at about 5.5-6 ft range. They max out at about 8-8.4ft in the Northwestern Atlantic and nearly 8.5-9ft in other parts of the world.

And remember the swim - glide pattern for Blacktips is published in the Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual. In which states a 4ft Blacktip needs at least 72ft. I'm suggesting 75ft for a 7-8 ft Blacktip. So if anything - my figures are a bit low.

 

[FLESHY]

Blacktips (C. limbatus) doesn't reach maturity until about 4.5-5.2ft in the Northwestern Atlantic, Caribbean & Gulf of Mexico. In other parts of the world they mature at about 5.5-6 ft range. They max out at about 8-8.4ft in the Northwestern Atlantic and nearly 8.5-9ft in other parts of the world.

Where are these numbers coming from?

And remember the swim - glide pattern for Blacktips is published in the Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual. In which states a 4ft Blacktip needs at least 72ft. I'm suggesting 75ft for a 7-8 ft Blacktip. So if anything - my figures are a bit low.

I have just seen a lot of blacktips in the gulf FL area, and highly doubt that they need that much space.

That might just be me though, and I look forward to seeing what others have to say.

 

[turbo253]

I am going to sit back and let you guys argue it out on this one for a bit. I am no expert on these guys but have very successfully kept a BTR and didn't do to bad with the atlantic. I learned a great deal from that shark and do have some pretty strong opinions about them.

 

[krj-1168]

Actually - when you look at the glide & recovery part of a Blacktip (C.limbatus) it's much longer than larger(near adult) Bull Sharks or Lemon Sharks. And also longer than a similar sized Sandbar shark.

 

[krj-1168]

I look forward to seeing Matt's(Zoodiver) comments about Blacktips & Blacktip Reefs.

 

[FLESHY]

I am going to sit back and let you guys argue it out on this one for a bit. I am no expert on these guys but have very successfully kept a BTR and didn't do to bad with the atlantic. I learned a great deal from that shark and do have some pretty strong opinions about them.

Lets hear your experience...we know you didnt have it in a 75ft long tank/pool.

 

[turbo253]

Lets hear your experience...we know you didnt have it in a 75ft long tank/pool.

I'll put some stuff up later. I have some running around to do right now

I did post something about this on another thread about a month ago and I am pretty sure Matt was on board with everything I said. Anyway I will give you guys the realistic low down on what I think it takes to keep these sharks at home and I also will upload some videos of the to sharks swimming next to each other, So you can see the vast difference between the two.

I will tell you this much now though. I am more in the ball park with Ken on the foot print but I am more on your side Fleshy on depth and how they can navigate around decor.

 

[Zoodiver]

I think we need to keep in mind we are talking about the size space we need to provide as ADULTS. Obviously pups are a different story and don't need the space.

I'm going to say Ken's numbers are about right on for full size adults.
BTR do very well in captive settings, even breeding. Most public aquariums display them over black tips.

Black tips are fussy, and tend to freak out a lot. They are also very sensative until they settle into a closed system. The black tips I see around here as adults are open water along the reef or around grass flats. Pups I see in closer to mangroves and things of that nature.

All that being said, I've kept black tip pups in a 26' round (4' deep), and they did very well. However, those same sharks didn't fair well when introduced to a display with lots of other animals. They stopped eating and showed signs of navigation issues when they stopped eating. We had to pull them and slowly introduce obsticles into the pool to allow them to adapt to the change. (Same method works great for bonnets, and I've posted pics somewhere of that.)

Similar sized black tip reefs on the other hand did very well coming out of that same holding into a display housing other animals. Most grew to 5' or so.