# anemone+shark?



## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

our clowns look extremely out of place without an anemone. we are thinking about getting a bubbletip our a long-tentacled, but we need to know if our banded cat shark might get stung, since he only keeps a little slit of eye open all the time. any info would be nice.


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## archer772 (Nov 8, 2008)

an anemone is NOT likely to survive with a shark do to the high bio load caused by a shark


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

is there some other invertabrate clowns would inhabit that would survive with a shark? frogspawn coral, maybe. oh-we have a dozen clams that act as biological protein skimmers, keeping the tank clean.


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## justin james (Nov 16, 2008)

Depending on what species your clowns are they might not even show any interest in an anemone. Anemones and sharks should never be kept together anyways and thats one of the many rules of keeping sharks. The anemone will sting the shark every time he swims past it and this will cause your shark to be stressed. 

It sounds like you have a banded bamboo shark to me. There is no such thing as a banded cat shark. This is a common mistake that started with stupid petstore employees and now the bamboo is commonly confused with the catshark family. The bamboos are not cat sharks what so ever. Cat sharks are smaller. The banded bamboo reaches a size of close to 4 feet and eventually will probably eat your clowns. I used to have a pair of banded bamboos that I hatched from eggs. I also studied sharks for quite some time and I recommend you purchase Scott Michaels book: Aquarium sharks and rays. 

Frogspawn have very sharp jagged edges around where the soft tissue grows out from the skelleton and it is possible for your shark to scratch himself badly while in a feeding frenzy and infection could set in. When dealing with the sharks never risk anything. Including no tangs, angels, triggers or any other fish that will pick at or damage the sharks body or most important, the eyes. 

Your shark will require a soft substrate such as fine sand or very small round smooth pebble like substrate. If you have a sharp jagged crushed coral your sharks belly will eventually become red and infected from sliding over it all the time since these sharks spend alot of time on their bellies.

I recommend nothing more than a nice smooth flowerpot for your clowns while being in with the shark until the day comes that they are eaten  yes it will happen.

You say you have 12 clams as your filtration on a 125 gallon shark tank housing a banded bamboo shark and other fish as well... I'm sorry but you are going to have HUGE problems with nitrates and probably loose your shark down the road as the shark grows. You need to get a big skimmer and do regular water changes with that kind of fish. 
For one thing you need no smaller than a 180 gallon for a banded bamboo or else the full grown shark wont be able to turn around in the narrow 125 and for another thing clams don't keep a fishtank clean no matter what you have been told. Clams will filter feed small particals from the water and possibly a tiny bit of small bits of uneaten food but they do not remove poop, most uneaten food, and disolving organics like a skimmer does. 

I'm sorry if I sound like the shark police and if it sounds like I am picking on you but I am only trying to help you and your shark. I have experience with sharks and I do know what i'm talking about and i'm sure you will take my advice and make your shark keeping experience successfull. 

Best of luck to you and your shark.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

we were about to get a 300 gal, but it cracked during transport. i'm gonna hopefully get my dad to read your post, since i'm just my dad's research kid for the tank. he does all the maintenance . we don't have just clams. we also have 2 corner filters, 104, 105, and 304 fluval canister filters, and 2 powerhead-filters. the reason we use clams as bio-protein skimmers is because we can't find a big enough protein skimmer. our shark is NOT a bamboo shark. i've seen bamboo sharks. our shark is alot more like a nurse shark in body shape.


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## justin james (Nov 16, 2008)

I'm very sorry to hear about the 300 Gallon getting cracked. Thats too bad. The name banded catshark is commonly used to mistakenly identify the banded bamboo therefor I assumed you were talking about a bamboo. 

After reading through a couple old books I had laying around from my shark keeping days I stumbled upon a species of catshark that might be the one you are keeping. It is commonly known as the Lined Catshark or Halaelurus lineatus but I also found that it is even sometimes refered to as a "banded catshark" so it is very possible that you have the lined catshark.

Thats good news since they don't get as big as a banded bamboo. They only get to be about 17" to 18" inches. 

I'm sorry but I could not find a photo of the shark I am describing on the internet other than this drawing BANDED SAND CATSHARK - Encyclopedia of Life
Every time I try to find a photo of a banded catshark all I get are photos of banded bamboo sharks (no surprise there). LOL. 

Anyways if you could post a photo of your shark I would love to see it.


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## archer772 (Nov 8, 2008)

Finding the proper sized skimmer shouldnt be that difficult, here are 2 pages with skimmers plenty big enough the only problem is digging deep enough for the cost of one.

Euro-Reef™ CS-RC (Recirculating) Series Protein Skimmers - SaltySupply.com

You can get this one as an external if you dont have a sump

Bubble King Protein Skimmers


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## saltydad (Jun 27, 2008)

Marine Technical Concepts (MTC) makes some excellent skimmers too.
index


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## justin james (Nov 16, 2008)

I have a Euro Reef RS 250 and it would run your shark system with no trouble at all. 

There are tons of skimmers that are easy to find for your system.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

i actually believe that our shark is a bamboo shark, but my dad says not. banded bamboo sharks colors fades with age, right? that is what happens to every shark we get. we also had a banded before who lived in a 75 gal. we realized that this was way too small for him and we got the 125 gal. while we were transporting the fish into a large garbage can to hold them in while we got the tank ready, this guy pete was taking the fish out and putting them in the can. he was using his bare hands! though a venomous eel seemed to readily coil around petes hand and be taken out of water, the shark thought not and was thrashing about madly. he died soon after transport into the 125 gal.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

here is the substrate:
url=http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1265]







[/url] here is the grand snoopy himself:


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

anyone around?


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## justin james (Nov 16, 2008)

The shark you have pictured is 100% a banded bamboo shark hands down without a doubt no matter what anyone tells you. Very nice pup by the way.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

thanks. we have had him for almost a year now and there are no signs of belly damage or snout damage. i mentioned in the emergency post that he was rubbing on the clams, but that has stopped.


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## justin james (Nov 16, 2008)

Well thats good. From looking at the photo I can't tell how smooth your substrate is but always keep an eye on your sharks belly for redness anyways.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

how long will it take for the shark to grow. my dad won't ever be able to get a bigger tank until he moves out of his parents house (which won't be until..like 3-4 years). its sad..my dad failed to do any research before getting a shark.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

anyone?


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## justin james (Nov 16, 2008)

The shark will be 1' foot in about 6 months from birth and it will keep getting bigger from there.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

well the shark kicked the bucket for none of the reasons said. he took the jump. the whole tank was covered except for a small 6inch area that we never thought her could get out through. i also thought that banded bamboos could survive 12 hours out of water.


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## Majorrush (Jan 21, 2013)

to bad. Look on the bright side. you wont need that big $ skimmer now. 
Dave


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