Shark and ray tank

[reefkeeperfrodo]

Ive got a 240g acrylic tank 8'x2'x2' with a 55g glass tank as a sump, im planing on having 2 blue spot stingrays and 2 bamboo cat sharks. The sand bed is about 1 1/2" inches deep of sugar fine sand. Im using a lion and a red snapper to cycle the tank. Its been going for six months, nitrite and ammonia are zero, nitrate is 15-20ppm ph is 8.4 sg is 1.026 alk is 10dkh temp is 75. Im planning on getting a pair of the corallive not5 48" strip lights, no skimmer as of yet, ive never used them and i dont see a need for them. Any ideas what i might need to finish it off??

[AMD30]

youre going to need a huge efficient skimmer. rays and sharks and your lion and snapper are going to be producing alot of waste! and youre 20ppm of nitrate isnt going to be able to keep your shaks and rays very happy for long. make sure the rocks are secure and that the sharks cant dig under em cuz they will try to dig and will crush them to death if the rocks fall. also i would get rid of the lion and snapper, they arent good companions for the elasmobranches.

[Bradly88]

i would say your tank is too small for rays and sharks?! unless they are quite small?! they need lots of nice swiming space! :) but thats just me! im no shark expert! :)

[johno4]

What type of shark are you talking about? Bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium punctatum) or a cat shark (Atelomycterus marmoratus)? A bamboo gets to large (36in) for your tank at only 2' wide; one of the cat shark species which only get 2' will fit better in your tank. Also out of the 2 blue spot rays, one of them does very poorly in aquria so dont get that one. There was a thread a little while back you should try and find it I cant think of them at the moment.

[Charger21_SD]

Your sharks and rays will outgrow the tank. The smallest bamboo are whitespot(or marbled) and arabian and they need atleast a 3' wide tank. Get rid of your sharks and rays unless you plan on building a small pond for them soon and just make the 240g a FOWLR.

[TheSaltwaterGuy]

I agree with Charger. That tank will be too small for any of the shark or ray species. You <b>may</b> be able to slide with either the Coral Cat, or Marbled Catshark. But even those I wouldn't risk.

[Charger21_SD]

I wouldn't even go with a marbled or coral catshark unless you plan on upgrading soon.

[Ranzan]

farrr to small and blue spotted rays almost NEVER survive in home aquariums we just cant supply the swimming space. those rays swim almost 100 miles a day foraging for food.. But there are 2 species that share the same name the blue spotted ribbin tail is the true name for the one that does not do well while the blue spotted masked ray does much better but also gets 2 times the size of his cousin.. as for sharks your tank is to small for any species of shark or ray IMO.

[reefkeeperfrodo]

sorry i cant supply any more info, but i found a species of cat shark that gets about 20" long in captivity. Right now the tank has a sand bottom with no decorations for max swimming space. As of right now i dont have a skimmer for it, because in a "just fish" tank, ive seen them nearly useless. I know so many people dont like the idea, but its the look im going for. The lion and the snapper are there to cycle the tank. In a couple of months im moving my 6' 125g into a 4' 120g dual overflow, the snapper and lion into the 125g, along with some other fish. Another option for the 240g might be a small school of reef catfish. Everything I've read says they get 18" long, are fairly hardy, and do well long term in the home aquarium. Not to mention it'll be really cool to see half a dozen foot long saltwater catfish tear up whatever i feed them.

[Charger21_SD]

The 120g is too small for snapper and if a v. lion then it's to small for that too. The shark, even if it's a marbled catshark(smallest commonly avaible shark in North America) it need's a 6'x2.5'x2' tank minimual.

[johno4]

Some of you are nuts. Either of the coral cat sharks will be fine in that tank. The tank is wider than their full grown size and they are pretty inactive.

I do agree that none of the bamboo species will work long term in the tank.

Rays are probably not a good idea unless he went with a cortez ray which stays pretty small.

[Ploppers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10805014#post10805014 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by johno4
Some of you are nuts.

lol, no kidding.

A good skimmer would be a good idea though.

Have you looked at sharkraycentral?

[Ranzan]

i dont even recomend cortez they need lots of swimming space my 365 gallon is 6ft by 6ft with maybe a small patch of live rock the rest is going in fuge and sump and im only going to be able to keep 2 in it.

[TheSaltwaterGuy]

Definitely go look at/join sharkraycentral.com I love it there!

Honestly, John, namecalling isn't very appropriate here. We're just expressing our opinions. Don't post if you're going to insult people of their viewpoints.

[Charger21_SD]

Most people on src would agree that no shark can fit in a 120g. I feel the same, but it's your money, and the shark can live in one, doesn't mean it'll be comfortable though.

[johno4]

Saltwaterguy, I didnt call anyone any names so relax!

Charger, it would be going into a 240 not a 120.

[billsreef]

Keep in mind those salt water catfish are quite venomous, more so than lionfish. Not to the lethal point, but bad enough to be wary ;)

[TheSaltwaterGuy]

Well, you said that some of us were nuts....so, I guess I took it the way it sounded.

All I'm saying is that I don't think a shark should go into a 240g tank. It very well could, but I wouldn't do it.

[Charger21_SD]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10809347#post10809347 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TheSaltwaterGuy
Well, you said that some of us were nuts....so, I guess I took it the way it sounded.

All I'm saying is that I don't think a shark should go into a 240g tank. It very well could, but I wouldn't do it.

I wouldn't do it either, but if you do, I'd limit to one shark either marbled catshark or coral catshark in a 240g.

[reefkeeperfrodo]

Thank you all for the imput, but sadly, I'm forced to disagree with
some of you. At work, we have a store use shark and ray book that states the minimum size of tank required for many sharks, and most rays is anything with a foot print of 8'x2', or larger. My 240g is 8'x2'x2', so according to this book, thats okay. Also, I personaly have never been able to keep anything alive long enough for it to get "full grown", case in point the red snapper. Specimens in the wild get 30" long, the largest one ive seen in an aquarium was about a foot, so a 125g would work for it. Im not saying im going to put 6 sharks in my tank, only one or two, and one or two small rays at most. Most of the common aquarium species grow really slow, so getting smaller fish and watching them grow is another option.

Being said, no responsible fishkeeper will ever be worse then the guy who put a bamboo cat shark in a 55g.

NUFF SAID

[Crumbs]

If you continually kill all your fish before they can reach adulthood I suggest you find a different hobby. I also hope you dont give anyone fish advice at your shop as well.

[TheSaltwaterGuy]

Do what you want. But like Crumbs said, if you keep killing off your fish before they get even close to adulthood, this is not the hobby for you.

[Charger21_SD]

Aquarium Sharks and Rays by Scott W. Michael is commonly known to have bad minimual tank sizes.

[DaMonkey]

I agree with Crumbs and SaltwaterGuy - do what you want, but the minium in anything is never good! Sure a book will say that the min size is this, but if i had a buck for everytime for someone did the min instead of doing it right from the beginning i would be a rich man. The rays will be ok in that tank, I just don't think your sharks will make it.