Can anyone tell me what a minimum tank size would be for a few columbian sharks. I am fascinated by them, but my current tank is definately too small (20 gallon with 5 mollies and 4 guppies,) and I dont want the other fish to get eaten. i am probably interested in doing a species only tank, but would need to get a new aquarium to get started. any :help: anyone?
Help with Columbian Sharks
- Thread starter Nim Dibbley
- Start date
they are BW fish, I had a 200 Gal setup for them alone, they are really cool but suseptable to some nasty fungal problems, I Would not reccomend for the beginning aquarist
BW=Brakish water
BW=Brakish water
freshwater when young and brackish when mature the Columbian shark can reach a length of two feet, although about 16 inches is more the norm. a "few" of them would need 120 gallons to start with and something in the neighborhood of 300 gallons at maturity.
I started mine with a 200 but depending on how many you get....you will need a fairly significant tank. Hope we helped
NorthStar said:
how many did you have in the 200? i was thinking about 3 - 5, but i was hoping to avoid getting a tank that large.
i have lots of experience with mollies and guppies and i just need something more exciting/different.
thanks.
These fish get 12-14" long, when they are young, the aqaurium shouldn't be any smaller tha 48" long. They must have some salt in the water. You don't want them in a freashwater aqarium or a saltwater aqauium, but in between. The mollies may be added at first considering they prefer the same reqirments for top health and longivity. Mollies can get to be around 4" and will need to be removed later on. (I kind of drifted a little on the subject, sorry)
To clarify: you need marine salt, not just salt, and it should be at a particular SG, or Specific Gravity depending on the fish in the tank. This is known as a Brackish Water tank.kuzikan said:
Actually, mollies do not require brackish water unless they are wild caught mollies.
The majority of mollies in the hobby are freshwater. Born and raised in freshwater for several generations. They do not require brackish water.
Nim Dibbley:
Put another post in the Brackish Water forum. There are others there who kept a lot of brackish tanks who may be able to give you additional information.
Roan
Roan Art said:
Don't know about the Mexican and Central American species, but here in Florida we have mollies (Poecilia latipinna) year-round in straight fresh water in the Peace River system. I've been netting them since I was 5. The same species is also found in brackish water in Charlotte Harbor and in full-strength seawater just inside the Gulf of Mexico. We also have them in pretty much all the lakes and ponds around here — LOTS of them, enough that people use them for fishbait.
Don't want this to turn into a Molly discussion but they are the cool abnormal fish that seems to be able to adapt to all type of water, though they do best in water that has a higher TDS (not necessarily saltwater).
As for the sharks, yes would suggest reposting this in the brackish forum. But they do grow really large. Are there other cool fish you might be interested in that don't grow quite as large? Does brackish water interest you?
As for the sharks, yes would suggest reposting this in the brackish forum. But they do grow really large. Are there other cool fish you might be interested in that don't grow quite as large? Does brackish water interest you?