Shark Week Countdown Challenge DAY 24
I thought it'd be nice to discuss some human-shark relations that should be discussed before Shark Week. Shark Week for saltwater enthusiasts and pet retailers is no different from Easter for bunnies and baby chicks. I used to work in a petshop, and we would get requests all week for shark eggs and pups.
A shark pup, like a canine pup, is a long lived and large animal when it gets the proper care. However, it is more likely that a shark pup will end up like an Easter bunny - purchased as an impulse buy and dead within a few weeks. Sharks - pups and adults - even the smaller growing species, have extreme habitat concerns.
Let's start with size. The smallest sharks legally sold on the retail market will get to be three feet long at the least. This means you need a sizable area for the shark to swim.
Sharks are messy eaters and have a large biomass in general. Therefore, you can pretty much think of keeping a shark in a home aquaria like trying to cram koi in one. They require large water volumes to dilute nitrogenous wastes between water changes and excellent skimming. Sharks are ultra-sensitive to poor water quality, burning their gills and skin.
Smaller sharks have sensitive tummehs. They require a soft, silty sand substrate like sugar-fine oolite. Otherwise, their tummehs get scratched up and subject to potential infection.
On top of all that, there is an additional issue with keeping sharks in captivity; their electrosensory system. These systems are so super fine that even faint electromagnetic fields around cables outside of the aquaria can confuse or bother some species of sharks. Even the less sensitive species will require their tank to be well grounded, and that may not be enough for some specimens.
Then, there's feeding. Just dropping food into the tank can stimulate a frenzy behavior - triggering unsafe conditions for the owner, the shark, and any other tank companions.
Decorations can be an issue with sharks. Holes in decor may prompt some bottom dwellers to try to enter (and get stuck or roughed up on scratchy edges). Large branching decor may be run right into by obligate swimmers. Metals and chemical colorants may leach in trace amounts that sharks are sensitive to but bony fish may be unaffected by.
Still sound like a shark is the pet for you? I'm guessing not. It's best to leave them to the professionals. There are additional concerns not mentioned here and specimen specific concerns.
