How would a proper nurseshark tank be?

[fredl]

I've searched and read all the previous threads about keeping sharks and get that the consencus is that you shouldn't if you cant't do it properly. Well if you would want to do it right what would it take to keep a couple of nursesharks and maybe a ray. Since I plan to design my next home from a blank canvas I would like to get a feel for what it would take. The tank would be a three solidwalls and one glassed wall place in the sublevel of the house so weight is not an issue. I ordered that keeping shark book from Amazon but I don't think it will factor in nursesharks.

If I can't do it proper I won't do it at all but I would like to explore this a bit further before getting an estimate from the contractor.

If anyone else has tips on good reads about shark keeping in general and nursesharks in particular please bring them forward.

[acrophoria]

How does 10,000 gallons sound,sweet if you got the loot!:)

[fredl]

For us metric impaired peeps, is that the equivalent of ~4 cubic meters?

[Skipper]

I am moving this to the Fish Only forum. There are more people there that could advise you properly on this.

[moved]

[dave_b]

hmm my experiance is very limited, but a aquarium for a nurse shark.. how about fkin huge!! hehe, well they grow up to about 12ft as far as i know, which imo should be left in the ocean. but id agree that 10k+ gallons is about right ;-)

bamboo, epelautte sharks which grow to 4ft would be more suitable to home aquariums.

if you really want nurse sharks id get in contact with your local sea life centre/ public aquarium and ask them ;-)

[Peabody]

You should do a tank like the ray/shark tank at the National Aquarium in Baltimore! That's one of the most beautiful things! That kind of sounds like what you want.

It's nice living 10 minutes from that place :)

[Ovrclckd]

Well, i've been wanting to keep a nurse shark for a decade, and i'm right about to jump into it. I have experience taking care of other peoples nurses... now I want one for myself :)

I'm building two tanks, a 2500 gallon, and a 7000 gallon. The 2500 will be 180" x 72" x 44", and the 7000 will be 288" x 120" x 48". The 2500 will come first, and the nurse and its tank mates will be raised in it while the 7000 is built, then the 2500 will become a fowlr or reef.

With shallow water species such as nurses, the tank should be built fairly shallow, to maximize surface area for both gas exchange and the shark. Adding to the height doesn't do much for the animal, 4 -6 ft is fine in my opinion. The animal is benthic, and usually doesn't surpass a length of 10 ft. The tank i'm building will be 24 feet long, by 10 feet wide, which is an good size, any you may want to look at something like that.

I should warn you of the costs though... The family business is glass/acrylic, so I will be able to get the expensive materials at a reduced cost. If I were to go all out, and wasn't able to get the materials at a greatly reduced cost, the tank could easily cost as much as a nice new BMW

;)

[SouthFla]

Hey there...

Well, here's a thought or four ;) ...I'd did shark research for quite a few years for the University of Miami back when I was in college, and we frequently caught female nurse sharks in the waters of Florida and the Bahamas. It was not uncommon for a caught female to "pup out" a few eggs due to the stress of being temporarily restrained. When this happened, we would raise the pups until they were large enough to release back into the wild.

One one hand, they are extremely easy to keep. They acclimate and feed well in captivity. Unlike most other sharks, especially those unfortunately sold in the pet trade, they have sufficient gill musculature to allow respiration w/out moving. This makes them "somewhat" more suitable for aquariums, as they don't need to swim enormous laps to properly oxygenate their blood.

At birth, they are generally around 8-12" long. I had one in my 150 gallon aquarium (it was the only thing in it besides a small local ray), and he went from about 8" to 30" in around 18 months. He (actually, it was a she hehe) was clearly too big for a 150 after the first 10 or so months, and was only kept longer to "fatten her up" and to teach her to eat buried and hidden shellfish like they typically do in the wild.

I can't IMAGINE keeping one "long term" without a tank in the thousands and thousands of gallons. Additionally, it is not uncommon for these sharks to live past 50 years in the wild or captivity, and more likely they approach life spans similar to us.

If you live in an area close to their natural habitat (for potential release) and have a tank large enough to keep one several years, go for it. Just remember, then are long-lived, horribly intelligent creatures that can reach 7-9' long in as few as 7-9 or so years.

HTH,

ja
http://andersenfamily.homestead.com/files/nurseshark.jpg

[JohnL]

Aquarium Sharks & Rays : An Essential Guide to Their Selection, Keeping, and Natural History
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1890087572.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1890087572/reeflink)

[Ovrclckd]

I think he said he ordered the book from Amazon.com in his first post :)

But... Scott Michael recommends a tank size of 4,800 gallons, which would be a bit too small once the shark has grown :sad2:

[CGBEXEC]

I am not an expert but if you must keep a shark in a small tank (125 to 300) there have got to be more suitable species than Nurse sharks. If I was building a tank for a Nurse shark I would be thinking 30 ft. long 10 to 15ft. wide and 4 to 6ft. deep. By my caculations that's 15000 to 20000 gallons. What are some smaller growing species (2 to 3ft. at full grown)?

[fredl]

I see and agree that length and width is key. Water cost and electricity cost is not an issue (it's dirt cheap here). I like the setup Overclkd is planning (for me I would go with the larger tank since I'm building in place / from scratch). What other equipment are you looking for this kind of setup, the pumps must be huge to cycle all that water!

And I did order the book from Amazon, it'll be here in a week or so.

This forum is great!

[Ovrclckd]

Circulation is rather easy... many manufacturers make large pool pumps suitable for fresh and saltwater use. For example, a simple 3 hp hayward super pump can push over 10,000 gallons an hour, probably closer to 12,000 at least at the head I'll be using it at. In a tank that size, a turnover rate of 4-5 times per hour is great, so I'm probably looking at three pumps for circulation for the large tank.

I live in Canada, and as the tanks will be in the basement, temps follow what the house temperature is set at pretty much. No chiller is needed, and I'm looking at Aquanetics range of Ticore Inline Heaters, probably looking at something like a 2000 - 3000w unit.

As for a skimmer, I'm looking at doing a local built custom skimmer from a company I've dealt with in the past. A company called Rk2 makes some nice large skimmers, but they are rather costly, and from what I've seen, a suitable one would be too large (physical dimensions) for my application, so I'm looking at smaller multiple (dual or quad unit) skimmers.

As for biological filtration, I'll be going with a large tower wetdry into a reasonable size sump. Might even play around with an ecosystem type setup in the sump (akin to mr.4000).

I'm not sure as to how I will light the tanks yet... I really would like to get them in and play with the lighting a bit before deciding on anything.

Hope that just gives you some ideas :)

[mst_RoadRash]

A proper shark tank will cost more than you can afford. Blanket statement, I have no idea how much money you have. But a shark tank almost assuredly costs more than you have.

[dave_b]

there is a guy in uk, with an all glass 4000 gallon reef tank fully stocked with fish corels acros etc (which would be alot dearer than a shark tank), he owns a bentley and has a huge house. lets not assume someone on this board doesnt have enough money :-) i dont, maybe you dont but others do :-)

[Peabody]

I saw that tank in a recent issue of Practical Fishkeeping. It was stunning to say the least!

[fredl]

That sure was a nice setup!