Can juvenile Columbian Sharks survive in small, freshwater tanks?
by Aquaboy on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 | 5 Comments
I bought a Columbian Shark today, not knowing it’s living requirements, or much about the breed. The petstore I got it from kept it in a small, freshwater tank, with only one other fish, so I assumed that was fine. Currently, it’s two inches long, and living with a batch of Neon Tetras. Is it allright to keep it there for a month or two, until I can buy it a bigger aquarium, more suitable tank mates, etc?
whoops, you should have done your research first.
these should be kept in brackish waters when juvenile, to move up to full marine when adult. they can get anything from 1ft-2ft long, and need to be kept in groups ideally as they can be quite skittish animals.
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Arius_seemani
unless you can get a brackish/marine tank 100 gallons plus in the next few months (now would be best, with 3 more columbian sharks), i would return this fish to the store. at 2″-3″ long, it is capable of eating a small neon tetra! a columbian shark can swallow up to 67% of it’s own body length.
You really need to take that fish back. It is not at all suitable for the setup you have.
Regarding the Neons with it – here’s a quote on Columbian Sharks:
“Feeding is not a problem as they will accept all types of prepared food. Sinking pellets, live insects, earthworms and small fish are some of its favorites. They have a voracious appetite…”
The rest of this profile can be found here:
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile63.html
i currentley own two 5″ colombian sharks ( i got them at about 3″). they grow about 1 inch per month in brackish water. In fresh water they grow slower.
if you allow it to live too long in it’s current tank, it will probably begin to eat the tetras.
You should think about getting a 55 gallon aquarium, make sure that you get “salt friendly” filters. If you want your shark to live past three years you’ll need to keep it in salt (eventually). if you are willing to go through those steps i suggest that you get at least one more, they like to be in groups.
i’ve also read reports that sand substrate is better than rocks, when cats get older they tend to ingest them.
i’m thrilled with the amount of personality these guys have,..i can’t wait until mine get larger!!!
if you don’t like the idea of a larger tank, and keeping a saltwater i suggest that you bring it back, in the best interests of everybody!
p.s. if you want to keep it (and any other friends you may get it) you can keep it in a small tank, provided that you keep up with your weekly waterchanges. At the moment mine are living in a 20 gal, with a filter rated for 50 gals. I recomend that you get nitrate test strips, this way you can monitor their waste, as well as when they offically need a larger tank.
happy fish keeping!
Tisk Tisk, this is a brackish water fish needing salt at maturity and you will need a 75 gallon minimum they like to hug the wall and love very high currents. It will be ok for a very short time but remember brackish water soon needing saltwater and they do best in pairs of 3.
Most pet stores do not keep brackish water setups because they run off of a single filter setup…especially big retailers, and they are in smaller tanks because it is a temporary home until they are properly rehomed.
It is very important that you acclimate the fish before just dropping the fish in a saltwater tank, I would take the fish back and if you have a 30+ gallon tank maybe 2 red tail sharks. They will eat your tetras but so will the Columbian shark.
por que se le callo la piel a mis tiburones colombianos