coral cat

[homestar]

if you remember me i posted about the brownbanded shark. i must agree that my tank is too small for this shark. you replied saying that i should get a coral cat instead. the book i have "aquarium sharks & rays" by Scott W. Michael states that the coral cat only needs 110 gals which is good. fishsupply also has the marbled catshark that is even smaller than the coral cat. does any one have this shark. which would be a better choice?

[NaClH20NMYVEIN]

I still think a 110 is too small, JMO

[Sk8r]

Do I remember correctly that sharks have to keep moving in order to breathe? Seems to me they might have a higher oxy requirement than some fish. Check that out when you're considering.

[homestar]

i've heard this too, but it was for the great white. but i've seen great white's takinf rests in shallower waters where the movement of the waves keep the water moving over thier gills. this is what needs to hapen, water must pass through the gills for the shark to breath. sharks that are not free swimmers actualy pump the water over thier gills by reducing and increasing the size of thier oral cavity. good bit of information to know, and a good question to ask. i've been doing as much research as i can.

[White Tiger]

There is no golden rule for the tank requirements of a cat shark. In fact, some people even say 100 gallons is enough. While others say that you need at least a 600 gallon tank for a cat shark. Still, others say that you can fit cat sharks in a 180 gallon tank. The size requirements for a cat shark is somewhat a mystery.

[stykthyn]

it's no mystery at all. you need a tank long and wide enough so that it may comfortably turn around and maneuver when it needs to. If your coral cat stays on the south side of 2 feet then you need a tank that it minimum 2ft wide. True benthic sharks such as the cat sharks have the ability to push water over their gills and remain motionless for extended periods of time, but this does not mean that they do not need swimming room. Ask anybody who has one what they do at night or around feeding time. Scott Micheals book is full of great info, but it is still lacking. he vastly underrates minimum tank sizes. sure a juvi coral cat can live in a 110 for quite some time, but eventually it is going to need a bigger home, a 220 at least for a full grown animal.

[mitzel]

I would sugest nothing less than a 300 for long term cat shark keeping of any kind . it just a matter of humanity. it can live in a small tank but be humane and give it the biggest tank you can .

[bob saget]

My friend has a coral cat shark that has moved 6 inches in 15 days. It is completely healthy just not active at all. Considering the less active nature of this shark I would say a 125 is good almost for life. Catsharks on the whole though get large 3.5-4 foot and I would suggest 300 gallon tank aswell. It is a great rule of thumb for the shark to be able to turn around comfortably. Just to clear up some myths not all sharks need to swim to breath. Most large active sharks are RAM ventilators meaning they need to swim for the respritory system to work properly. Also reffered as requim sharks. The cat sharks and bottom dwellers have special musscles called spiricles that allows them to breath well not moving. Now of course the sharks can stop swimming for a minute, its kinda like holding your breath. But, it is not normal for that behavior and typically a large shark that may stop swimming is not healthy. The crazy thing is the RAM ventilators cruise at night and allow one side of their brain to sleep at a time.

[DragonMorayEels]

Sk8r, There be no cat sharks that needs to swim in order not to drown/sink for it is actually the other way around, they often do no swimming during the day and hunt at night but can be taught to be feed during reg feeding time.

They do however require a hiding place for cat sharks like the coral shark will hide all day and swims all night.

If this 110 is 4' long and 30" high, this tank is not suited for any cat shark forever for it be swimming in a tight circle before it reaches its adult size.

[bob saget]

Honestly though the coral cat is not very active at night either, the shark truly is boring.

[DragonMorayEels]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7475936#post7475936 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bob saget
Honestly though the coral cat is not very active at night either, the shark truly is boring.

Honestly bob saget, the coral cat shark does swim all night for if you own one you can set up some toothpicks all over the gravel bed sticking straight up and in the morning most them be knock over.

Besides that bob, I had a coral shark with a few fish and I use to feed it by hand at dusk when I had little light to see.

[NaClH20NMYVEIN]

That toothpick idea sounds very bad. The shark or fish could easily hurt themselves on them

[mitzel]

there are exceptions to everything in this hobby some coral cats might lay around and do nothing while others might actively hunt all the time . There are so many variables to care of the animals that anything is posible. temp of tank , lighting , shedule of lighting, feeding shedule , type of food fed, tank size , specific gravity. trace elements. the way you feed them can contribute to their activity. If you stick feed them and put the food right by them of course they wont move far to get fed . if you feed live foods that they would naturaly feed on such as shrimp and small fish then once they become hungry they will go and activly seek food . There are so many variables that it's hard to say why DME's shark swam alot and bobs didn't .

Cat sharks of any kind should be given the biggest tank posible. It's my opinion that a 300 is the best minimum for any of the speicies. If your seriously willing to skimp on tank size you should rethink about getting a large preditory fish .
Open water free swimming sharks should be left in the ocean but if you must have one you need to think really big when it comes to tank size . Thousands of gallons minimum.

[MRBONNETHEAD]

I agree with Mitzel, DME, and Bob on this one because you never know with these animals. Just because they have the same species doesnt mean every single animal will act the same. Every Shark is different.
I recently went through something similiar to this dilemma. I was wanting to put 2 Epaulette Sharks in a 300. While they probably would have survived, would they be happy? If you locked your dog in its cage that it sleeps in at night and fed it and gave it water it could survive but do you think that dog would be happy?
These fish dont get to decide where they go they only get to live and eat and be happy. And if you take that away from them then they might as well have been left in the ocean.
So just for the animals sake if it doesnt have at least 5 or 6 inches extra of empty space when it turns around then get a bigger tank or let the fish go to another aquarist with a bigger tank.