Where to buy leopard and nurse?

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Noonan

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2007
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New Jersey
Hey Guys, I am new to the forums but I am not new to the marine hobby. I am actually doing very well for myself by running a small business on the side of my part time job. I setup and maintain saltwater tanks. Its great money, if you guys have alot of knowledge you should look into doing it.

I work for my LFS as well.. and I get my boss alot of sales. I worked out a deal with him where I get equipment and livestock for cost, and mark it up so I generate money that way as well.

I just got a new client. We ordered him a 500 gallon acrylic tank, good filtration system, metal halide lighting, moon lighting, around 400 lbs of sand, and about 200 lbs of live rock. There is a room in his basement and we cut a hole in it so the tank will be visible in his basement. The room is like a walk in closet so the tank will have it own room for filtration and such- but the display part of the tank is still visible from the basement.

The tank hasn't been delivered yet, but I am really concerned about finding a leopard shark and nurse shark for him. Thats basicially all he wants, and the only reason he had me setup the tank.There will only be those 2 sharks, a small school of yellow tang, and a clown trigger.

My boss can't get the sharks in because his distributor doesn't carry them for some reason. He is looking around at other distributors..

Anyone know where I can purchase a leopard and nurse shark over the internet? You help you be greatly appreciated.
 
Noonan - You will not be able to legally aquire a Leopard shark under 36" as it is illegal. And a Leopard over 36" will not work in a 500 gallon tank. Leopards get very big and need systems of atleast 9,000 gallons. Same goes for the Nurse, Nurse need tanks around 100,000 gallons as they get extremely big. However there are a few species of sharks which would work in your customers tank. These species are:

Brown Banded Bamboo
White Spotted Bamboo

Coral Cat Shark
Marbeled Cat Shark

Eppaulette

Those are the only Sharks which will work long term. Also the Clown Trigger will not work, Sharks cannot be kept with Triggers, Puffers, Angels, or Butterflies. Keep this in mind when adding tankmates. So to sum it up, you will need to find a new species of shark to inhabit your customers tank. As 500 gallons is way to small for either of the species you discussed.
 
yep

(he tends to sum up things pretty good :D)
 
Agreed - No to the trigger, No to the Leopard, And NO to the Nurse.

Not to say a 500 couldn't make for a very nice shark tank.

But it's really not suited for any swimming shark - even a smoothound (long term).

Still there are quite a few sharks that could be kept in that tank their entire lives- depending on the exact dimensions of the tank.

Alternatives to the nurse -

Brown banded Bamboo (Chiloscyllium punctatum)
White-spotted Bamboo (Chiloscyllium plagiosum)
Gray Bamboo (Chiloscyllium griseum)

Also other potental sharks for the tank

Epaulette (Hemiscyllium ocellatum)
Horn Shark (Heterodotus francisci)
Coral Catshark (Atelomycterus marmoratus)
Marbled Catshark (Atelomycterus macleayi)
 
chrisdef15;949040; said:
Yeah agree and i would of thought someone with alot of knowledge and doing very well for themself would of known that.
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I have a ton of experiance with all kinds of marine life, except sharks. I maintain aquariums for very wealthy people. I make about $5k a month from just maintaining tanks. To be honest, I should be paying them. They give me the money and I buy all of the equipment and livestock, and I only get the best of the best. They basicially pay me for me to keep a fishtank at their house. They dont want any part of it, except to be able to watch the fish.

I dont have much experiance with sharks besides the bamboo and nurse shark that we have at the lfs I manage.. Its a suken rubbermaid pond, with glass blocks all around it so the water level is actually about 4' higher than the pond itself. Sharks are hard to find here, hence why I dont have much experiance with them..

As far as coldwater, there really is no budget. Why couldn't I get a chiller?

I can easily catch dogfish near my shore house. Seeing as most of them don't get larger than 4', would it be better to setup a coldwater tank for a dogfish?
 
I would give anything for a baby leopard or true zebra but one is illegal, and i'll obey the laws in this case and the other is too much $$$
 
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