My Bamboo Shark is sick (Suggestions/Info Please)

[King Jason]

My Bamboo Shark is sick (Suggestions/Info Please)
Background: I watched this shark at the LFS for about 3 weeks. It seemed healthy and was eating live ghost shrimp. I bought it last Wednesday and right away it was eating in my tank. He ate 4 live ghost shrimp the first night. Then the third night he ate 2 more ghost shrimp, and this last weekend he ate a large piece of squid soaked in Selcon.

Tank Specs: All readings are perfect

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Salinity 1.024
pH: 8.33
Temp: 79-80

Sickness: The second day I had the shark I noticed him kind of rubbing his belly area on the sand in his den. At first I just thought he was moving sand in the den. As the days progressed he started to be more aggressive in his rubbing on the sand. I looked closely at his body and couldn't see signs of ich. Yesterday I noticed he had small red spots with white centers. Almost like ich with irritation around the white spot. Today he is in really bad shape. I have noticed him on his back and his underside has a bunch of the red irritated spots that look like ich. I did not notice him breathing fast. However after the fresh water dip he is breathing faster.

What I have done: I gave him a 30 second fresh water dip (RO/DI Water at tank temp.)

Attached is a picture of him. I feel awful that I might have caused this in some way. I'm awaiting advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[Anonymous]

my advice is don't keep any more sharks.

 

[King Jason]

my advice is don't keep any more sharks.

Please, advice that will help me keep him alive. Don't turn this into a battle of "Should we keep sharks"

 

[Anonymous]

yeah, we had that battle a few days ago, see the URL below..

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=25610

 

[King Jason]

Ok people, I think this board has turned into a bunch of eco-nazi’s trying to ***** at everything anyone buys. Unless you buy a Damsel and live rock people throw fits. I have seen such a swing from people giving advise to people telling everyone the f'ed up it's ridiculous.

The last argument was on the size of my tank. He is certainly not too big for the tank now. That did not cause this sickness.

Now if you feel righteous and smart now because I have a sick animal then fine, feel that way. Don't waste my time saying shallow comments like that.

 

[GSchiemer]

Ok people, I think this board has turned into a bunch of eco-nazi’s trying to ***** at everything anyone buys. Unless you buy a Damsel and live rock people throw fits. I have seen such a swing from people giving advise to people telling everyone the f'ed up it's ridiculous.

The last argument was on the size of my tank. He is certainly not too big for the tank now. That did not cause this sickness.

Now if you feel righteous and smart now because I have a sick animal then fine, feel that way. Don't waste my time saying shallow comments like that.

Now's not the time to say "I told you so" but I will say that the size of the tank and the type of decoration could have contributed to the problem. As I said in another thread, these sharks are clumsy creatures and need room to move. They can scrap themselves on sharp rocks and corals and this can lead to bacterial infections. I suggest moving it to a quarantine aquarium and begin immediately treating it with antibiotics. That's your only hope and it's a long shot.

Greg

 

[naesco]

I am truly sorry to see the picture of your shark dying.

But, Nazi is not the right label for the reefers who posted. They are not the killer.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

I read that shark need a sandy bottom with no rock, as they will scrape their belly on rock and it get infected and they die. Your shark has belly wounds. He is not doing well and your tank has lots of live rock. I think this is the problem.
BTW, 190 g is not big enough for a shark that will get to 30+ inches.
Minh Nguyen

 

[LFS42]

Sorry about the shark, I guess that 1000 gal pool in back yard will need to wait.

How hard was she to catch in the LFS tank?
Did it get "damaged during transport?
Did you have trouble with the LR from the old tank at all?

 

[Reef Guy11]

Hey Jason Sorry to here about your Shark getting sick. Well I know what you mean about this board becoming a battle field instead of helping people. I tell people about this site all the time at work and now I am afraid that people will say this site isn't helpful. Anyways there are a good amount of people that care, and there are people that just like to be right that is how it has to be to them. Well I hope your Shark gets better.

 

[reefNewbie]

jason, sorry i feel bad for you and your shark....what happend to him, was he just like that all of a sudden or was he slowly progressing to where he is now? thats not good when they lay like that.

 

[Reefguide]

190 g is not big enough for a shark that will get to 30+ inches.

I researched it when I was considering setting up a shark tank and from what I can tell they hardly ever reach more then 24"...

 

[Anonymous]

from the pics-the shark also looks emaciated

fwiw:

i think that those who criticize you strongly for keeping a shark are not trying to be nazis, but are trying to convey their strong felt opinion on their percieved morality of keeping an animal in captivity that they feel shouldn't be kept in captivity at all.

it's not you personally, methinks they would reply strongly to anyone who keeps one-

whether they are right or wrong is a seperate issue.

my $.02-

sharks are often difficult to treat-they can react more sensitively to medications than the 'typical' fish kept in an aquarium

and-not to attack you personally, but i really think you shouldn't attempt it again, -if for nothing else, than for not taking the chance of having another shark die while in your posession, whether it's not an intentional killing is fairly irrelevant-sharks reproduce fairly slowly, in the wild, and encouraging their trade and capture for the enjoyment of keeping one, while hundreds need to die on the way, is not a very moral thing to do, imho.

it's also helping to kill off the animal you seem to really like observing, in the wild.if you really want to see the beastie-go to the public aquarium, and take videos-no sharks killed unnecessarily, that way.

keeping an animal because it's cool, w/out considering the consequence side of the coin, for the effects your keeping it has on the species in the wild, is, imho-unnaceptable,-we all have a certain responsibility to the species we enjoy, and share the planet with.for every shark that gets to a hobbyists tank alive, hundreds have to get killed on the way.

(this is also, btw, close to my opinions/motives on why i feel the way i do about cyanide use) :wink:

like i said, just my $.02,and i'm not trying to judge you, as a person :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

from fishbase:

Chiloscyllium punctatum
Brownbanded bambooshark

Hemiscylliidae (Bamboo sharks) picture (Chpun_ub.jpg) by Randall, J.E.

Order: Orectolobiformes
Class: Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays)
FishBase name: Brownbanded bambooshark
Max. size: 104 cm TL (male/unsexed; Ref. 2334)
Environment: reef-associated; marine
Climate: tropical; 34°N - 26°S
Importance: fisheries: commercial; aquarium: show aquarium
Distribution:
Gazetteer Indo-West Pacific: India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Viet Nam, China, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, and northern Australia.
Diagnosis: Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Anal spines: 0-0. Caudal fin with a pronounced subterminal notch but without a ventral lobe (Ref. 13575). Young with dark transverse bands and usually a scattering of a few dark spots; adults light-brown, usually without a color pattern (Ref. 13575).
Biology: A common inshore bottom shark found on coral reefs, often in tidepools (Ref. 247). Probably feeds on bottom invertebrates and small fish (Ref. 6871). Can survive up to 12 hours out of water (Ref. 247). Gills sometimes infested by larval isopods (Praniza-larva of isopod Gnathia) (Ref. 247). Utilized as food (Ref. 247).



104cm=about 42 inches=3.5 ft 8O

 

[King Jason]

Eco-Nazi may not have been the correct choice of words. I should have used another term. I’m just getting frustrated at a lot of peoples non-constructive criticism. You can basically pick apart any species we keep in our aquariums and come up with negatives about the species. But it just frustrates me when I come to the forum for help, and get comments like “I told you so.” Things like this aren’t constructive and don’t help, they just cause arguments and upset people making the atmosphere unpleasant, and unfriendly. My girlfriend was with me and read the first few responses to my post saying “Geez, why are these people so rude to you? Do they know you? I don’t understand?” Just something for everyone to think about.

Sadly to report she died about 30 minutes after I posted. It was very sad to watch, I'm still rather upset about it. It's hard when you can't do anything for the animal.

After she died I was able to get a closer look at her. Her stomach seemed to be all bruised, it was purplish color almost like when you get punched in the arm. The spots on her underside seen from the pictures didn't look like scratch wounds. They looked more like irritated spots of ich. She was eating and then all of a sudden (3 days time frame) she turned from healthy to dead. Not sure how sharks are collected, but could have cyanide been used?

My substrate is SUPER fine. Southdown is just about the finest substrate you can get to my knowledge. So I can't image the sand irritated her. From the images it may appear as if my tank has a lot of LR in it. There is really a substantial amount of open sand and space that the shark can swim on/maneuver/etc. The live rock doesn’t even take up half the space in the tank.

The thing that doesn’t make sense is that the shark was healthy in the stores tank which was 1/3 the size of mine, full of live rock, and Caribsea substrate (not as fine as mine). I guess the shark could have been unhealthy as I’m not an expert in sharks. All my knowledge is from reading books and not experience. But from what I’ve read, it was eating, didn’t show signs of bleaching, no visible sickness, etc.

 

[King Jason]

Here is a little more info:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... ost1032830

 

[Anonymous]

Jason,

if you really are as upset about this as i believe you are, i hope that first you'll spend a few months doing some very serious research into captive husbandry of bamboo sharks, and the requirements of a 3.5 foot shark in captivity

i would suggest you also contact some folks who actually take care of sharks at public aquariums, for their opinion/input on your venture, what size tank you will finally need, and whether or not an aquarium will be able to take it in if you won't be able to provide the appropriate accomodations the shark will later need

good luck

 

[King Jason]

Thanks Viz for your comments. They are appreciated. I actually did more then 3 months research before I bought the shark. I built the tank basically to keep a Bamboo Shark. It's what sparked my interest to upgrade from my old 60g tank to this one. From my reading my tank was larger then what Scott Michael said is needed to keep one. Now he could be wrong and I know many people disagree with him when it comes to sharks. If we can trust his oppinions on other fish, why not sharks? But that's another story for another day.

Bottom line. I don’t want to see another shark die like this one. It was horrible to watch. It wasn't just a stop breathing death. It jerked, arched her back, shook, etc before she died. Truly nothing I would want anyone to watch. I’m certainly not going to rush out tomorrow and buy another shark.

 

[LA-Lawman]

Hey KJ,

sorry to hear about your loss. I might suggest the freshness of the squid the little guy ate. I know that squid often contract a bacteria that starts reporducing exponentially after the are caught (kind of like a cold). I hear that it has to be eaten absolutley fresh or cooked to a degree. you are right. i think it was a bacterial infection.. I think that rock rubbing could have played a part but not the whole shebang..... if u catch my drift.....

I know your pain in watching the animal pass. In my line of work i have had people die in my arms or at my grasp.... if u remember about 3 months ago there was two girls that died in a drowning at dockwieler state beach. I gave CPR for 30mins to no success.

this is just to show you that some of us out here do care and are here to help.

the argument there was they shouldnt have been out in the water. but one of them was a lifegaurd who went to get the other friend... some times things happen. i think ur tank was a great place to introduce a shark. I have read all of your posts and u were well informed of the risks.....

once again i am sorry.. dont give up on the hobby now.learn from your experience and move on......

via con dios un sharky poquito.....

 

[Minh Nguyen]

It is also likely that the tank is too new and not stable enough. There is more to the stability of a tank than the Nitrogen Cycle. It is true that the size of the tank have nothing to do with the death of your shark. He certainly did not die because he running out of room. I think you must think of poor condition due to the newness of the tank, the rock and other unknow factor as the cause of your shark's death.
I would wait a few more month until your tank is really stable then buy another one if you really wanted one. However, I would not put a shark in a 190 g tank, but you are not me.
Good luck at whatever you do.
Sorry for your loss
Minh Nguyen