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a LFS got in horned shark, looks cool but curious about difficulty andhabits. will it eat my large tangs? reef safe? i have a 6'x12' lagoon thats 2' deep, is that big enough. I have one of the larger tanks in my area so this fish will tough to sell and would hate to see it die or end up in the wrong application.
 Current Tanks: 240 reef room divider connected to 620 gallon inwall in basement. 90 gallon zoanthid. More wrasses than you
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The horn shark is a cooler water shark so it would not be a good idea to put it in a "typical reef tank." Did it look like this? http://www.elasmodiver.com/californian_horn_shark.htm I've cared for some of these sharks when I worked at a public aquarium and they are very beautiful and generally spend most of their time on the bottom.
Christine
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| I agree with Christine, horn sharks require a cooler tank (chiller). Other things to consider - sharks can be jumpers and do require larger food requirements (can get expensive) than most fish. Horn sharks will eat urchins and can knock over or rest on corals. They are strong and can over turn rock fixtures as well. If your lagoon has a pond liner - make sure it is thick as the horn on the shark could pierce the liner. Scott Michael's Sharks & Rays book is a good place to start for basic shark husbandry. Hope this helps. Best of luck.
Kelly
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| its a non-tropical species and will not survive long term when mixed at higher temps. Moreover... if you buy this specimen to "save" it you will in effect kill at least several more for the collections made to get another specimen to survive import to fill the order of the wholesale/retailer that will reorder another since the last one sold... to you. Please understand, my friend, that this sort of rescue kills more than it saves. I have a pair of these sharks myself... they are in a 1000 gall coldwater pond... alone. Happy... breeding.
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Anthony Calfo
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[b] Moreover... if you buy this specimen to "save" it you will in effect kill at least several more for the collections made to get another specimen to survive import to fill the order of the wholesale/retailer that will reorder another since the last one sold... to you. Please understand, my friend, that this sort of rescue kills more than it saves.
An excellent point Anthony. These sharks should be left to professional aquarists.
How long have you had your pair? Have you raised any pups yet?
Christine
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My pair are just about seven years old now and in the 30" range. They've laid 2 wind and 4 infertile eggs and took a rest, and just now are starting back up again. I do hope/expect with some maturity and time they will be fruitful. Magnificent animals to see... and oddly came into my care: a coral wholesaler got stuck with them and sent them to me unsolicited (and charged me!). I did not want to put them on display in my wholesale facility for fear of encouraging others to buy them or ask for other species, so we built a pond at home and there they are now. Very few people can afford the electricity to chill such an aquarium, let alone the chillers, filtration, food bill, etc. Its staggeringly irresponsible for LFS shops to order them and for casual hobbyists to buy them and keep them in small home aquaria. Really quite sad.
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Anthony Calfo
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Anthony,
Here's a shot of one that I hatched and raised in 2005. This pic was taken about 3 weeks after he had hatched.
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| fantastic to see/read... what ahandsome animal! Hmmm... by chance did you do a breeders report or are you willing to? Woudl you consider writing it up for publication in my new reef magazine? I can supply you with a mountain of pics to illustrate it (eggs, sexual differences, ages/stages, feeding and vitamins, etc). I'll co-author it with you if you like, else I'll just act as editor. It would make a fine breeder's report species.
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Anthony Calfo
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After more research I have come to the conclusion that it would not be for my lagoon reef, there seems to be a lot of sharks coming into omaha lately, yet there aren't as many large systems that I know of that can handle one. This same LFS has had a Bamboo Shark for months now. I would rather see them order in 3 extra corals then waste the money on these novelty items(for lack of a better term).
Current Tanks: 240 reef room divider connected to 620 gallon inwall in basement. 90 gallon zoanthid. More wrasses than you
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agreed... and FWIW, the Bamboo/Epaulette species are some of the only shark species that are even remotely suitable for home aquarium keeping. Still they require large aquaria and rather species-specific tanks (or at least very mindful tankmates)
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Anthony Calfo
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