Where to buy leopard and nurse?

[krj-1168]

Here's the kicker - while people often state tank sizes in gallonage. It's not really the gallonage that's most important.

It's the tank's footprint (i.e. Length & Width). The depth is kind of secondary.

 

[BIGgourami]

true, the tank could be 10' deep but if it's only 1'x1' it doesn't do much good

 

[Noonan]

Here's the kicker - while people often state tank sizes in gallonage. It's not really the gallonage that's most important.

It's the tank's footprint (i.e. Length & Width). The depth is kind of secondary.

True, but I had already stated that the 1200 gallon ponds dept is about 3', so you should be able to assume that it has a diameter of something near 7'.

 

[krj-1168]

Which brings up a question that should have been asked to start with.

What are the dimensions of the 500 gallon tank - your customer ordered.

The sharks like the Bamboos, Eppie, Horn & Coral Cats that we recommended generally need a tank that about 8' Long x 4' wide x about 2' deep.

if the tank is about 2 ft wide but about 4 ft deep - your better off making it a FOWLR tank with no sharks or rays.

 

[krj-1168]

As for rubbermaid pond that about 7' in diameter.

Not really large enough to keep a Smoothhound (any species) in for more than about 2 years or till it gets to about 27" long. After that - need a bigger pond.

 

[alex656]

Dog fish or smoothhounds are your best bet. But....you will need a larger tank later. And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not get him a nurse shark. In a matter of months you will have a 2'+ shark and when it gets to big no one will take it. Trust me, I have people call me almost on a monthly basis with sharks that are two big. One time I got a zoo to take the shark, very very rarely will they help you. The only reason they took the 3' nurse was that I had a close friend caring for the shark tank and he helped me out. If at all possible, get him something else like a horn or port jackson.

 

[krj-1168]

Agreed - the Nurse is a really very bad choice. Smooth hounds and bullhead sharks(Horn & PJs) are much better choices.

Especially for anyone that doesn't know much about keeping sharks. And have to room and funds to set up a large swimming pool size lagoon for the adult Nurse.

While Nurses tend to be an incredible hardy species. They can also be quite piggish in captivity.

In the Wild, juvenile Nurses may average only about 4-6" per year, and take up to 15-20 years to reach maturity at about 7-7.5 feet long. But in captivity - inexperienced keepers tend to over feed sharks, especially juvenile Nurses. This means they usually grow faster(sometimes much faster) than they normally would in the wild. And in the case of a nurse, it can mean that they may grow more than 4 times their normal rate (up to 2" per month).

 

[Nabbig2]

Damn, I didn't know lepoards are illegal. Oh well.

 

[Scuba Kid]

They are only illegal under 36 inches in length. You can keep ones bigger than this, but obviously you would need a huge enclosure.

 

[Brenden]

You can keep Leopards under 36" if they were breed in Captivity and you can prove so. If someone was to breed them, it would be possible to aquire specimens under 36". Until then, its illegal.