Banded Hound Shark Questions    11/7/12
Love your site.  Wish I knew about it before hand.   Well let me get to the questions.  I just recently purchased a 15inch Banded Hound Shark Male.
<Is this Triakis scyllium?>
 He was shipped to the east coast from the west coast and was boxed for 11 hours or so before I got him. Problem 1,  I noticed when I placed him in the tank that he had some red spots on him.
<Not uncommon w/ small shipped sharks>
  These tend to go away and come back off and on.  His breathing seems fine but........... Problem 2,  His swimming habits are funny he has gotten a little better but he tends to stay on the glass with his belly against it and noses at the top of the water.
<... this is a cold water animal... You do have it in a chilled system?>
   He eats fine from the first day on.  Know problems there.  
Problem 3, He tends to shake like he is twitching or has a nervous tick. What could this be?
<Damage to nothing>
 Please let me know if these activities are normal.   My system is as follows.  Size: 7ft x 7ft x 3ft - 1000 gallons or so.   800lbs of live Fiji pink sand.
<What grade? Should not be coarse>
 4 Coralife lights. Two large protein skimmers. 1 grounding probe.  2 very large little giant pumps turning about 8,000 gallons per hour.  Bio Ball tower.  1 UV Filter.   1 Aquaripure denitrator.     Tank Stats.   Ammonia 0   PH 8.2-8.4   Nitrites 0  Nitrates 20.      Steps I have taken.   I am going to test for electrical current in the water tonight.  I started placing vitamins into the aquarium not just the food.  I am doing a 25% Water Change tomorrow as well.    Inhabitants include all other fish that are perfectly healthy -  15inch white spotted Bamboo Shark Female,  10inch Lionfish, 6inch Lunar Wrasse, 12 inch Blue Dot Stingray,  2ft Zebra Eel,  6inch Yellow Tang, 12 inch Blonde Naso Tang,  6 inch African Red Starfish, 40 snails, 30 Hermit Crabs only about 60lbs of live rock.   Thanks for your help and please let me know if you need anymore info.
<Umm, the other livestock is tropical... the new shark needs to be elsewhere. Not tropical, and grows too large for this setting. Bob Fenner>
Re: Banded Hound Shark Questions    11/8/12
Yes u are correct on the breed.
<Not a breed, a species>
No chiller on the tank but water stays at around 73-76 all the time. I was told that this species can handle slightly warmer water than most hound sharks   Up to 79 degrees but prefer cooler. Is this correct?
<Mmm, not as far as I'm aware, no. See Fishbase.org re:  this is a subtropical species>
 I was planning on building a much bigger tank to house several large sharks but it sounds like I need to hurry that up. I was going to wait a year or so to set that up.  How long can this shark stay in a tank my size?
<... won't likely live>
 If never then it looks like I need to place him somewhere else. I was told that a male will reach 4ft.
<About this long>
   When I mentioned the swimming habits you stated "damage to nothing". What did u mean?
<The reddening... source>
  Thanks again for the help.   Thanks again. 
Shea Bailey
<Please read on WWM re coldwater sharks. B>

Grey Smooth Hound question: Shark Systems This isn't even close.: 6/29/2010
I was wandering if a 10 inch grey smooth hound would last in a 125 gallon tank?
<For a little while......>
The dimensions are 6 foot long by 18 inch wide and 2 foot tall.
<That, with the right equipment would keep the shark alive for the first year if you are lucky.>
The tank also has 20 lb of live rock and protein skimmer fit for a 125 gallon, a emperor 400 filter system and two 1200 gph water circulators.
<Inadequate to keep a shark alive. They need lots of circulation, and pristine water quality. They are also a temperate water species, so you would need a chiller to keep the water cool enough.>
My plan is to upgrade to a 240 gallon or 300 gallon in about 1 1/2 yrs or 2 yrs.
<....and it will need a 500 to 1000 gallon shortly after that.>
<Please, read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/coolh20sharks.htm and here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/sharkselfaq2.htm
 Also read "Sharks & Rays" by Scott W Michaels before even attempting something like this.>
<MikeV>

Housing Question, Mixing in a Dogfish w/ other (tropical) Sharks  10/16/09
Hello Mr. Fenner.
<Morning Steve>
I have been using your web site for a little over 2 years now with great success. I believe my last e-mail to you was 2/07, regarding Brown Banded and Marbled Cat Sharks. I purchased these as hatchlings and turned to you for advice on raising these beautiful creatures. I am happy to report they are healthy, thriving, and growing. I have both Sharks in the custom 475 gallon tank, in which I believe may be a little to narrow (36") across. I would like to move these sharks to a salt water pond I built in my basement. I will be plumbing the pond to the 475 gallon tank. The pond is 15'x8'x13" deep, my worry is the 13" depth, is this sufficient for these sharks?
<Mmm, yes... but I would make it/this deeper if you could... for a few
reasons>
I also do a lot surf fishing, this past weekend I caught a Smooth Dogfish approx 28" a little smaller then the Marbled and Brown Banded Sharks.
Dogfish have been a rare sight lately, mostly due to commercial fishing, since they see them as a nuisance to gear and commercially fished species.
I would love to catch another one of similar size and keep it. I would like your opinion on this, would it be compatible with the Marbled and Brown Banded Sharks?
<What species of Dogfish is this? The common name is applied to a few Elasmobranch? Do take a look at identifying it, then look on Fishbase.org re this animal's natural temperature range. Some are too cold-water to be kept with tropicals, others aren't and can be mixed with the others you list>
Once again Thank You for your time.
Steve..
<Welcome. Bob Fenner