about bamboo sharks

[mochabear]

If you do end up getting a bamboo shark, be sure to show us a few photos - I'd love to see how your tank turns out. Haven't seen you post in a while Andy, hope everything's going well.

[fluteloop]

If you're serious about keeping marine sharks, I highly recommend getting Scott Michael's Aquarium Sharks and Rays book - it's like the bible for shark keepers. You can find it for around £20 or less, and it's written by an aquarist who's actually kept most of these fish, which makes the parts about force feeding even more eye-opening.

One thing to keep in mind is that the minimum tank sizes in the book should be taken as a rough guide - I think the author knows that the maximum sizes of a fish are just that, the maximum, so you can often get away with smaller tanks.

You're on the right track about the circular ponds - they're really for ram ventilated sharks that need to keep swimming to breathe. But bamboo sharks are different - they can get oxygen while resting, so they don't need to keep moving.

As for tank size, I'd say the bare minimum for an adult epaullette is 6x2x2, but 6x3x2 is better, and if you can swing it, 8x3x2 is even better.

Cheers, I'll be sure to check out that book. I think it'll be a great resource for me, especially since I'm really serious about keeping bamboo sharks.

To be honest, I've already got a tank size in mind that's bigger than what you mentioned. I'm thinking of something around 10ft by 6ft, by 2ft high. Of course, that might change as I get closer to actually setting it up, and I realize that I don't have as much money or space as I thought. But for now, that's the size I'm aiming for.

Watching videos of bamboo sharks has just made me want them even more. It's amazing how little space they need to turn around - I've seen them do it in as little as 6-8 inches. But to be honest, I don't want my tank to be just about swimming back and forth. I want to give them plenty of space to roam and thrive.