Smooth hound shark

[fishguy777]

Getting:
Grey smooth hound shark

I have a few questions, hoping you guys could answer.

1. How aggressive are they?

2 what, and how often do you feed yours?

3. How much lbs of rock can I put in, and how should I scape it, ex: all on back wall, or piled on bottom…?

4. $500 for a 12” one a fair price?

5. How fast do they grow, how many inches per year?

6. What are some signs that he is not happy in my tank anymore?

7. Do male ones top out at a smaller size?

8. How to tell if I get a male one

9. Is this species always swimming?
On YouTube I saw a few of them lay down, and swim… is this normal? Or are they stressed?

10. For a lid, I called a lfs, they can custom make a glass lid, or I can go with a mesh lid. I’m guessing I need a glass lid, as my fish are too powerful for a mesh one?

11. I plan to have a lot of flow, as my snapper, the tangs, and the trigger will enjoy it. Is this a problem for the shark?

12. How important are water parameters for this shark?

13. On all the websites that sell this shark, they mark it as: experts only, what makes it so hard to care for?

14. Would a PVC pipe cave system in/under the sand in addition to the rocks make the other fish feel safer? In case the shark decides to go after a sleeping fish.

15. Can it go with my current fish, and the ones I’m planning to get? I’m making the tank around the shark, so whichever fish will be a problem, I will move to a different tank. Whichever fish won’t work, please explain why.

Already have:
Threadfin snapper 8”
Zebra eel 30”
Emporer angel 5”
Purple tang 4”
Blue throat trigger 5”
magnificent foxface 6”
Polleni grouper 4”

Want to add along with smooth hound
Harlequin tusk
guinea fowl puffer
Achilles tang
5-10 chromis (are these an easy snack?)
Coral cat shark
Blue dot ray
Minautus grouper
Gem tang
2-3 Look down
Naso tang
Quoyi parrotfish

It’s a 240 gallon tank, Ik it's on the smaller side… with a simplicity 800dc skimmer, 4, 4” filter socks

And when the shark outgrows, I will either setup a large pond in my basement, or give him to the aquarium in the town over.
Thanks!!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

From what I've heard, these guys tend not to do well if kept at 70F+ temps - so they may not be a good fit for a tropical tank. The shark will need a substantially larger tank long term (from everything I've heard, the blue dot ray would outgrow a 240 gallon too; the suggested minimums I've seen for it range from 300-525 gallons).

That said, let's call in some people who are better versed in sharks than I am to actually try and get your questions answered: @Jay Hemdal @Aspect @Lowell Lemon

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sorry, you cannot keep a grey smoothhound in that tank, even for a few months. This species requires temperate water (below 72 F) and can grow to over a meter long (although they grow slowly). While they can rest on the bottom, they swim most of the time and need huge amounts of open space. They cannot navigate tank decorations well, and will bang up their snouts. They also "spy hop" when kept in too small of a tank, swimming at the surface with their snouts out, banging into the lid.

To put things into perspective - I kept an 18" one in a 900 gallon exhibit and 68 F., and we had to move it out, that tank was too small.

In terms of your overall stocking list, your 240 is close to being full with the fish you already have in it.



Jay

 

[Marquarium]

Recently got a horn shark to go with my yellow stingray and zebra moray.
I trust my LFS owner a lot. There's been previous sharks and other livestock he's refused to sell me because they won't eat or he notices other issues.

The temperature was something I read up on but my LFS said it won't matter much and so far i've had no issues. I keep my house around 68-70F and tank around 77-78F
I plan to do the same as you, I already have a new aquarium lined up for when the shark out grows my tank as it's only 300gallon but shark is super baby right now. A couple big caves otherwise it's a **** ton of swimming room and open sand bottom.

However my livestock list ends pretty much there. I think you'll have to really be on your game for waste management if you want that many fish. If you're doing the coral catshark just stick with that.

For what my horn shark eats: He has NOT had interest in krill, silversides, mysis, many other types
What He DOES eat is clam/squid. Bought frozen from LFS

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Recently got a horn shark to go with my yellow stingray and zebra moray.
I trust my LFS owner a lot. There's been previous sharks and other livestock he's refused to sell me because they won't eat or he notices other issues.

The temperature was something I read up on but my LFS said it won't matter much and so far i've had no issues. I keep my house around 68-70F and tank around 77-78F
I plan to do the same as you, I already have a new aquarium lined up for when the shark out grows my tank as it's only 300gallon but shark is super baby right now. A couple big caves otherwise it's a **** ton of swimming room and open sand bottom.

However my livestock list ends pretty much there. I think you'll have to really be on your game for waste management if you want that many fish. If you're doing the coral catshark just stick with that.

For what my horn shark eats: He has NOT had interest in krill, silversides, mysis, many other types
What He DOES eat is clam/squid. Bought frozen from LFS

The difference is that horn sharks do better above 70 F and are very sedentary. You may even have a Mexican horn shark, those do better in even warmer water. Although horn sharks can reach 3' in length, they grow very slowly and really don't need swimming space like a smooth hound does.

Jay

 

[Marquarium]

The difference is that horn sharks do better above 70 F and are very sedentary. You may even have a Mexican horn shark, those do better in even warmer water. Although horn sharks can reach 3' in length, they grow very slowly and really don't need swimming space like a smooth hound does.

Jay

Great to know! I take your advice to heart so it's great to hear you confirming what they said, appreciate it as always Jay

 

[fishguy777]

The difference is that horn sharks do better above 70 F and are very sedentary. You may even have a Mexican horn shark, those do better in even warmer water. Although horn sharks can reach 3' in length, they grow very slowly and really don't need swimming space like a smooth hound does.

Jay

How big of a pond for long term? I have a 25’ by 15’ space I could put one, what other fish do you have with yours?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

How big of a pond for long term? I have a 25’ by 15’ space I could put one, what other fish do you have with yours?

That's plenty large enough for an adult, but it just won't work in your 240 for maybe a few weeks.
I kept our with horn sharks, garibaldi a small bat ray and a leopard shark. We called him "flipper" because he would tail walk across the tank like a dolphin.....

Jay

 

[MrGisonni]

Don't do it. Horn shark is fine. I had one with a leopard shark in a 9 ft long 350 gallon aquarium and the leopard grew too big within a couple of years. They are both probably still alive at SeaWorld in the Atlantis Aquarium.

 

[Reign1]

Yeah too small of tank for smooth hound . I made the mistake of getting one at one point for LFS had it in a 400 tub it was not happy .. They are more active than the other sharks you see in Pet industry .. I would only get it if you have the pond ready to go ..

Per Scott Michael should be in a a 1700 gal males mature in 15-33 months
Females 2 years

 

[fishguy777]

That's plenty large enough for an adult, but it just won't work in your 240 for maybe a few weeks.
I kept our with horn sharks, garibaldi a small bat ray and a leopard shark. We called him "flipper" because he would tail walk across the tank like a dolphin.....

Jay

Do you know of any large ponds that aren’t custom made? Like a supersized version of the rubber made stock tank?

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Do you know of any large ponds that aren’t custom made? Like a supersized version of the rubber made stock tank?

I would discourage you from the Smooth Hound shark. Their adult size is really to large for any but the larger public aquariums. I provided several with Leopard sharks for a 16' x 3' x 4' tank I built for a customer. In a couple years they were just to big for that aquarium. I would never do that again. It is very difficult to capture and transport them safely when they get larger. Difficult to acclimate safely and outside of the practical care and keeping for the average hobbiest. Expensive to feed with a natural food supply of small live crabs, shrimp and fish. Their waste is explosive in the water column and requires very large chiller, mechanical, biological and aggressive protein skimming with some ozone injection for best results. Many public aquariums are pump and dump systems located on the Pacific coast that keep them so water quality is not a problem for their applications. Decorative items need to allow for their free swimming and active movement.

Jay is more of an expert than myself with his years in public aquariums and he seems to be recommending not to keep these beautiful creatures in a home aquarium. California had a moratorium on collection for both Leopard and Smooth Hound sharks for many years so it is possible the shark was not collected legally...not up on current legal issues. I have experience with Nurse sharks as well and while they are fascinating animals in all honesty they belong in the ocean not in a home aquarium.

The majority of small sharks need 450 gallons or more in my estimate. Round tanks are better than rectangular for sharks with lots of water movement. So the best tank is a large diameter cylinder. Just wait until you get an estimate for one over 8' diameter and see the cost.

Sorry just my opinion.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Do you know of any large ponds that aren’t custom made? Like a supersized version of the rubber made stock tank?

Sorry, no I don’t.

Jay

 

[Aspect]

Yeah like Jay pointed out, much too small of a tank to put a Grey Smooth Hound in any at stage of life. Also, that tank will not be sufficient size for the Coral Catshark you want to add.