Shark Eggs

[Trigger Man]

I know Golds Aquariums said they were building a shark/stingray tank as they have been able to figure out how to keep them alive (it is the large tank along the floor). I always liked how some of the rays looked, so hopefully they are able to keep them alive as I may want to try keeping some one day when i build a bigger tank.

[brizzo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid%27s_purse

[Myka]

I agree the shark eggs are very cool, but most are doomed. They shouldn't be $80, they should be more like $20. They aren't normally very expensive, which inclines a lot of people to try hatching one with little intention of providing a suitable home for it. Most do hatch, and it is pretty cool to see the little baby sharks, but most of them grow very large.

[Pier Pressure]

Well they were seventy-something so I just rounded it up to eighty. I wanted one but doubted it would do very well in a 28 gallon. If most of them hatch and you can get them eating - why are they doomed? It is not like they would know what the ocean is. Or do you mean that they get so large none of us should be keeping them? Perhaps we should red list them...

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Pier Pressure

Well they were seventy-something so I just rounded it up to eighty. I wanted one but doubted it would do very well in a 28 gallon. If most of them hatch and you can get them eating - why are they doomed? It is not like they would know what the ocean is. Or do you mean that they get so large none of us should be keeping them? Perhaps we should red list them...

No its all relative. SOME species can reach almost 4' but most stay under 3'. So yes very big but not unreasonable. They are also not open water swimmers. They are bottom dwellers which are much better suited to captivity and don't need as large a tank as open water sharks would. Like comparing Tangs to Groupers. Sure groupers get larger but they really don't need as much space as a tang relatively speaking.

And no they don't belong on a "red list" because for one, these are captive bred and two, they are quite easy to keep. I would say there should be caution taken with the eggs as hatching them is easy but getting them to eat can be tricky. But once eating, these fish are easy enough to keep.

If you start to add every fish that is a possible finicky eater to a red list then half the ocean will end up on there

[reefy]

I have one, it looks like a chewed up mango seed, hehe, but its very interesting what is inside, you can actually see the embryo moving inside if you put it near the light. I will post a lil video once that I learn how to post video. here is a pic of it:

[Rbacchiega]

the main problem with purchasing a shark egg rather than an actual shark is that it is pretty hard to get them to eat. Once established they are great, but when they hatch they are usually already 6-8 even 10 inches long in some cases and uber picky.

But I agree, ultra neat idea, too bad it very rarely works out LOL

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by reefy

I have one, it looks like a chewed up mango seed, hehe, but its very interesting what is inside, you can actually see the embryo moving inside if you put it near the light. I will post a lil video once that I learn how to post video. here is a pic of it:

Ok...what are you going to do with that thing once it hatches??? LOL.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

And no they don't belong on a "red list" because for one, these are captive bred

Many are actually still wild caught.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Sharks require very large tanks (100s of gallons usually) to swim around in when they approach 2' or 3'. They may be cool as babies, but that baby will eat a lot & you will need excellent filtration/skimming to keep up with their huge bioload. Just for myself, I wouldn't have a shark, even the smallest one, in less than 300g to handle their adult size. My friend got one in, not his decision but another person ordered & couldn't keep it, and it looks out of place even in his lightly stocked 300g.

Anthony