Geez vitz...you wrote a novel!
IMO the word "Shark" is the problem here. In general sharks are large animals that need a lot of space to swim and have specialized diets, and prone to some diseases. Well...isn't that the same thing as 100 more species of animals regularly kept in aquariums? What about large angels? They need a lot of room to swim, specialized diets and are prone to diseases. BUT since many people have kept them more information is known about Angels and people don't look at them as "out of the ordinary."
Sharks on the other hand don't have a lot of information available about them. I researched for two months! That is a lot of research! I though I found the one with the most information available (through Scotts book and a few websites with information on them, and posts by keepers). All the information I found stated these sharks are hardy and the best shark to keep out of all the species (I'm not saying it was wrong or right). To use this experience of mine to justify not keeping sharks is kind of odd IMO. Many tangs will die from ich in peoples tanks today. But that doesn't mean that a tang is a hard fish to keep and we should stop keeping them. Many Angels will die from fin rot, but that doesn't mean that an Angel can't be kept successfully. Just because one animal died doesn't mean much. There could have been a lot of variables involved in the death of my shark. Maybe it was from a bacterial infection, maybe ich, maybe cyanide, maybe bad food, the list goes on. Those things could happen to a Damsel. We could be having this same discussion on a Maroon clown that died.
I'm not sure if I will ever keep a shark again. I don't know enough about them I guess. I don't want to have this same damn fight every time I have a question about a shark. Say my shark wasn't eating for a week, I come here asking for help and people will say "don't keep sharks", your tank is too small...then a battle warps into other things...and I will have to write 3 pages essays explaining how much I researched before buying a shark.
Instead of a shark I'm thinking of investing $14 grand into solar panels for my house so I can buy MH's and not have to worry about Gray Davis's bullshit electric problems... :?
My last months bill was $350!!!
IMO the word "Shark" is the problem here. In general sharks are large animals that need a lot of space to swim and have specialized diets, and prone to some diseases. Well...isn't that the same thing as 100 more species of animals regularly kept in aquariums? What about large angels? They need a lot of room to swim, specialized diets and are prone to diseases. BUT since many people have kept them more information is known about Angels and people don't look at them as "out of the ordinary."
Sharks on the other hand don't have a lot of information available about them. I researched for two months! That is a lot of research! I though I found the one with the most information available (through Scotts book and a few websites with information on them, and posts by keepers). All the information I found stated these sharks are hardy and the best shark to keep out of all the species (I'm not saying it was wrong or right). To use this experience of mine to justify not keeping sharks is kind of odd IMO. Many tangs will die from ich in peoples tanks today. But that doesn't mean that a tang is a hard fish to keep and we should stop keeping them. Many Angels will die from fin rot, but that doesn't mean that an Angel can't be kept successfully. Just because one animal died doesn't mean much. There could have been a lot of variables involved in the death of my shark. Maybe it was from a bacterial infection, maybe ich, maybe cyanide, maybe bad food, the list goes on. Those things could happen to a Damsel. We could be having this same discussion on a Maroon clown that died.
I'm not sure if I will ever keep a shark again. I don't know enough about them I guess. I don't want to have this same damn fight every time I have a question about a shark. Say my shark wasn't eating for a week, I come here asking for help and people will say "don't keep sharks", your tank is too small...then a battle warps into other things...and I will have to write 3 pages essays explaining how much I researched before buying a shark.
Instead of a shark I'm thinking of investing $14 grand into solar panels for my house so I can buy MH's and not have to worry about Gray Davis's bullshit electric problems... :?
My last months bill was $350!!!
