Coral banded shark in a reef tank?

[gsiegel]

i have a 300g mixed reef with several fish, inverts, a few xtra large shrimp. I saw a baby coral banded shark only a few inches long. Has anyone had one in a mixed reef? Thoughts?

[Deinonych]

They get pretty big - over a meter long.

[Spork3245]

BlueHippo/Midas&bicolorBenny Snacks/2FlameHawks Brunch/CoralBeautyBreakfast/MagFoxFace/spotted rabbit/BlondNaso/2clownsDinner/PurpleTang/chevron tang/2lyretailsAfter Brunch Snack/wrasses-pintailMidnight Snack,2flameSecond Breakfast,lineatus Desert,radiant After Lunch Snack,pink margin Second Lunch ,

Oh and whatever cleaner shrimp you have will also be eaten.

[jraker]

On is in a large FOWLR in my LFS (probable 400-500 gallons). All the fish are over 8 inches long, and it hasn't eaten anything yet. Your current fish will probably not survive of you put the shark in there.

[CHSUB]

a friend has one in a mixed reef, 180g, and after 18 months it is quickly outgrowing his tank; however, it has never eaten anything.

[TNTtropical]

Should be ok in a 300 gal for quite a while. What are the dimensions of the tank tho

[slay]

I've had one in my predator tank for the last fifteen years. First of all they can be difficult to get eating - often it takes a week or so to get them feeding, and the method used is generally targeted feeding of small pieces of various seafoods - I used a wooden skewer to present the food to my shark. Finding the little guy to feed him alone could be quite the problem, whilst fending off attempts by your other fish to steal the food could be another. Another sad truth is that sometimes recently hatched juveniles never feed in captivity and waste away. Feeding might be difficult in a 300g reef for multiple reasons, including that it's in these guys nature to hide during the day and not swim (they swim at night).

The truth is if you are expecting a fantastic display animal you'll more than likely be disappointed, asonce you are past the "cool it's a shark" factor you'll probably find it to be very boring, unless you have a lasting fascination with sharks. They literally spend the entire time the tank lights on doing as close to nothing as possible.

As they grow you'll have some other problems. Most fish we own weigh in the range of a few to several ounces, an adult of this species weighs between 6-10 pounds. That's a massive bioload for a reef tank. They are powerful animals that swim all night, and they'll knock around anything that isn't really heavy or heavily attached. Also as it grows it will eat your inverts that don't have a really tough shell (they won't eat snails, but shrimp and crabs aren't going to survive) and your smaller fish are likely snacks too (I've kept small fish with my sharks by keeping my sharks well fed, but that's rather an exception to the rule than the norm).

With so many issues that will occur, as someone experienced with this species, I simply feel it's not an appropriate fit for your tank.