southpaw23

Another interesting article... http://www.acres.org.sg/campaigns_sharks.html

More info: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/blacktipshark.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/sharks.htm http://www.sheddaquarium.org/blacktipreefsharks.html I used to have more info from other forums but can't recall what those forums were. Anyways...googling around and checking out perhaps reefcentral and saltwaterfish forums will give you more info as well. hope this helps educate ya'll on these beautiful creatures of the sea. cheers.

Just because some stupid shot owner keeps a black tip shark in either a 6 or 10 feet tank doesnt mean that it's possible to keep one in those types of tanks. There are many factors to consider when looking into a black tip...first and foremost, it is highly not recommended as they are fast growers as well as fast swimmers, they even have a tendency to jump at times, when startled, which means a well secured hood is essential. Secondly, they shouldn't be housed in square tanks as they tend to injure their nose tips and that ends up causing an infection. The most ideal tank for these sharks should have rounded ends. Thirdly, the rule of thumb for tank size is approx 4 times it's "adult" size for the overall length, 1.5 times it's width, and roughly 4ft of height to the tank. For a black tip which generally grows to about 5 ft in captivity, that works out to about a 20x7x4 ft tank...just over 4000 gallons. Fourthly, tank inhabitants should be carefully selected for these sharks as well as they are succeptable to attacks from certain kinds of fishes (i know it sounds silly since it's a shark) but some smaller fishes have a tendency to nip at sharks and as a result cause unnecessary injuries to the fish. I can't quite recall the types of fishes that do tho... There's a lot more information out there if you just do a search for "black tip shark care" etc on google. But sad to say, the bottom line for these species is if you don't have loads of dough...and more importantly the commitment to rear these beautiful creatures...leave them in the sea where they belong...these animals are more complex a creature than ur tangs in ur tank and deserve more consideration in their care. Now i'm not saying that the other fishes we keep don't deserve our utmost care and consideration as well It shouldn't be treated like a fad...the sad thing about most LFS selling these black tips is that most if not all of these sharks end up in poor homes...and i'll bet my bottom dollar that more than 90 percent of them don't make it past a year or two. It's pretty sad. Go think up another interesting concept for your tank...not to sound condescending or anything but for now ur not ready for a shark tank...u either can't afford it, or are not ready to keep one (ie. level of commitment) No hard feelings Paul....that's my take on this sensitive topic....

Actually...for a single black tip....u'd need about a 20 x 7 x 4 tank...approximately 4000 gallons to sufficiently house the specimen for it's entire lifespan....and they get to a lil over 5 feet in length.... A compromise would probably be about no less than 14-15 feet.... Been dreamin of a tanks like that for a while now...i believe someone posted a pic in reefcentral once...owner has a 20x7x4 ft tank with 2 baby black tips...

Is it just me or does anyone else think that 4.7k for a 4 ft setup is an awfully lotta money...even with the specified equipment?.... I cant see the pics for some reason tho so cant judge the workmanship etc..... Either way....keep the pics coming....

Good to hear that things have been sorted....how high is the last baffle and what's the water level in the skimmer section of the sump? U might wanna consider raising it to like 10 inches or so....need to check and see what is the optimum level for your intended skimmer... cheers

Stocking levels aside....i must admit, the sight of all the blue and yellow tangs looks great.....

damn....sorry to hear about that buddy...that's quite a mishap....

I hope ur wifes not an auditor....else u'd be skrewed posting those numbers....

Either 14k or 20k....i'm guessing urs would be 14k if you bought it from AM....

what color temp are the MH bulbs? cheers

Pods are short for for Copepods and Amphipods, they're basically the lil white bugs in your tank...they look like mini white cockroaches that live and multiply in your liverock. Most times they serve as food for some fishes like the mandarins and wrasses. Do a search on google for them...should give you a good idea of how they look......

I smell a new skimmer review on the horizon...how soon can we expect the arrival of ur new "baby".... And good to see no misunderstandings from the previous posts. In saying that...keep the pics coming....

Removing the highlighted baffle and sealing the bottom of the second baffle should solve your problem. That way, the second baffle will act as the overflow baffle and raise your water level to the height of the second baffle. Once done, you should have the room for any one of the insump skimmers available (H&S, Deltecs, ASM, Aqua C, Reef Octopus etc....)

Another option is u could switch the mandarin back and forth between the sump and main tank so that both places have time to recover.....they aren't that hard to catch

Basically u have the unit above water with only the ceramic end submerged to cool the water. You also need to make sure that if you hang it over the main tank, that there is sufficient water movement else there will be an uneven distribution of cool and warm water areas in the tank. What they do in the US is buy a hang on back skimmer, drill the top cover and place the iceprobe there. That way water is constantly flowing through the filter and being cooled at the same time. here's an example... http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_chille...ler.asp?CartId=

w3ish3ng, i'm agreeable to ur statement but lets not venture into the realm of "flaming" in anyway in this thread (am not saying ur statements were to flame either), just that this is venturing into "sensitive" territory... My initial comments was more geared towards urging reefers to be more sensitive to responsible reefkeeping in general and not get too hung over on all the fancy gadgetry. At the end of the day, to each their own....let bygones be bygones i suppose.... Paul....hope u see where i'm comin from...no harm intended to ur thread and apologies if i did bring any to it....

I see your point Jervis....and totally agree on the point about technology...i will admit...i'm somewhat a technological/gadget junkie myself.....and can understand the improvements and benefits that these new developments can bring to our hobby. Being able to push the limits of our hobby to achieve things that was not thought possible before is a great thing....but there has to be a balance. We must not forget that over and above all the frilly gadgets we play with, we are still dealing with living breathing organisms at the end of the day. For example, this whole arguement about cloning....technology has made it possible...but now comes the ethical argument as to whether its right... sorry..i'm going all over the place with this arguement but my point is, even if technology allows us the ability to do something...doesn't always make it right at the end of the day...so again...."balance" is key

Just to clarify..did u just get yourself a dragonet or have you already had one in your tank for sometime now. The reason i ask is cos the caution with dragonets is that although you may have abundant pods in the tank....depending on the tank size...a dragonet can completely decimate it's population in less than 2 months. I used to own a 16 gallon which i allowed to mature for a whole year before introducing a mandarin. At that point, my tank was loaded with pods and so was the custom 8 gallon refugium i built...even so, the dragonet literally terminated all the pods in the maintank in less than 2 months. It's amazing how much these lil buggers can eat. Either way, now that you've got one...just keep an eye on him and see if you can slowly wean him onto frozen brine/mysis shrimp as that'll help the pod population to recover. If you already have an existing mandarin and intend to get another one...it'll be tricky cos most times you'll need to introduce both in at the same time as they tend to be aggresive towards one another. If u still insist on adding another one...your best bet is with one from the opposite ######. Ur welcome on the response....I can understand your query as i had these same questions when i first stumbled across this beauty a couple of years back.

How much liverocks do you have in your tank? Generally the ratio is about 26 pounds to a single mandarin but it's only an estimate. Secondly, how matured are your liverock...ie. have the copepods had the opportunity to multiply without natural predators in the tank? Thirdly, if you were to get a pair, get a male and female. Males are distinguished by their high fin on the top....kinda like a flagpole, while females don't have this "high fin".....a male and female can generally get along and if you're lucky might mate as well. hope that helps...

That's not something to be proud of..... If u were in a US forum...ur @$$ would be flamed! They're more particular about the fishes welfare there than ppl here. But that's a whole other arguement...just don't go around boasting ur fishload.....

Interested to know details of it's arrival too....who's go the low-down?

What's the flow rate on the eheim...if it's around 600 to under a thousand litres an hour then it should be possible. But don't quote me on this...will need to check the flow rate of the CL85 which i suspect should be around 600....

Very interesting setup...how'd u end up with blue PVC tubes? Am liking the concept...very unique and not like most of the tanks we see these days. U mind explaining the setup...there seems to be two sump tanks...more info and pics would be great...