Columbian sharks/silver tips/black fin shark catfish?

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brucejames

Registered Member
Nov 16, 2004
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Would you like to hear the result of combined ignorance?
I ended up with a 10 gallon with 2 goldfish, 2 hex. seemanni/arius seemanni, and a trap door snail (now four:)).
Me, "Those shiny sharky lookin' guys can go with goldfish?"
Shop owner, "Sure, that's where I got 'em"
Did she mention a 135 gallon tank? Nope.
Did she mention brackish water, even? Nope.
Just, "Oh yeah, they should be fine. Cute little buggers, eh?"
But in the end, I'm responsible for researching what I'm getting into before adopting living creatures, right? The columbians (as I prefer to call them) are now 3 1/2 to 4 inches in a 20 gallon. By themselves. They were all friends for about two days and then the goldfish's fins were "mysteriously deteriorating". I bought the twenty and then got online, only to find that I was quite unprepared for the complexities of aquarium keeping in regards to specific fish. I need to know how to go about adding salt to their environment. I need specifics. No MacGuyver. No little'a'this/little'a'that. Can anyone help? I would like to give them a happy home, not a passable one. 135 gallon tank, here I come. Why can't anyone agree on how big they get? 14", 18", 24"? Any help from experienced aquarists would be greatly appreciated.:confused:
 
cdawson

cdawson

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Jan 6, 2003
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They get VERY large and need alot of swimming room (of course you already knew that), but they also need to be in groups of 3 or more. They're a schooling fish.
 
Oddball~

Oddball~

Brackhead
Nov 18, 2004
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Dallas, TX
Ouch, that sucks...but when i was uninformed he said they would b okay with my puffers, so i didn't have the exact same problem...they got eated up before they grew to that size :D :D :D
 
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Paul1006

AC Members
May 23, 2006
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shark tank mates

i recently bought 3 comlombian sharks of a specific species that only reaches a max size of 7" im happy with this . i currently have a 10G tank and each shark is about 2" right now. i soon will be moving up to a 25G or a 40G tank to accomidate the size that i hope they reach. in my tank right now i have 3 columbians and 3 corydoras. i was told that i shouldnt have a problem with the sharks eating the cory's for now but how long do i have till this combination explodes into a feeding frenzie. also what botton feeders and algea eaters do these sharks seem to work well with? also at what size should i begin feeding meet other than the shrimp pellets i currently treat them with? also what fish do these sharks prefer to eat?
 
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Brackman

Brackman
May 23, 2006
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Vancouver, Canada
colombian sharks

hey

I have had three colombian shark catfish for four years now with little problems other than they keep outgrowing their tanks! I would say they are now close to 14" and I believe have stopped growing...I hope. They started like yours in a 20 gallon brackish water tank with a sg. 0f 1.006 and are now in a 80 gallons brackish tank with a sg. of 1.018...and are very happy fish. They do get quite agressive with each other at times, due to their tank being a bit small for them once again!!! But I would just warn you to be ready for them to grow and fast! I feed them everything from bloodworms to feeder fish to crickets...They are not picky. They get along with other fish very well to...these ones grew up with a couple of Archer fish until they out grew the Archers and the 40 gallons tank they were in...

As for adding Marine salt...maybe try raising the sg. by .002 with your weekly water changes until it is at 1.008 or so...they will probably love the salt and become even more active than they are now. They are very active fish!!! Maybe something here can help?

Good Luck
 
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Paul1006

AC Members
May 23, 2006
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well im going to a 46G tank in about 2months so they will half to make due with that as i dont know that if in a few years i may go to 70G or 90G depending on the space i have in my home. but 46 should work until about 20" i figure so i got a couple years to cope and see what happens. my sharks are also quite young about 2" and the big one is maybe 3" so a 10G i hope will work for the time it takes me to afford a 46G. heres i question though dothe schools have an alpha male or female and also how do i tell males and females apart
 
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Paul1006

AC Members
May 23, 2006
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fat fish

i recently have begun to notice that even though ive only had them for 2 weeks they seem to have grown about 1/4 of an inch to about 1/2 in inch in one of them. i feed them 3 times a day with normally a smaller amount of fish food and 1-2 freeze dried bloom worms but have noticed now that they are still quite agressive and seem to be looking for more food after these feeding sesons. so the last 2 days ive feed them double portions of tropical fish food and between 3 of them they finsh 90% of this along with 2 cubes of blood worms. the cdory eat the remainder. I was wondering if im jsut seeing things or if they are growing much faster thant i expected them too. i also added aqauriam salt about 1 table spoon per 10g to the w2ater and they seem more energetic and fun to watch. i also have finally got my 50G ocatagonal tank so its gonna be up and running for the next 2-3 weeks then a new home
 
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tedwagner

AC Members
Sep 28, 2009
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I have two of these beautiful fish and photos are posted on my page. I have had them 6 months or so and rescued them from a fate in hell. The larger one is about 8-10 inches I believe they are about one year old. I have them alone in a 90 gallon tank and I just posted about adding salt to the tank. LET ME TELL YOU DO IT SLOWLY. I overshot mine and had to change out 80 percent of the water cuz they were freaking out. Look at the video I posted on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HETQjBrh_1s There are lots of posts on adding salt if you look at my posts last week. I got the SG down under 1.002 after adding a mix of Instant Ocean for 10 gallons to get the 10 gallons to a SG of 1.022 and Figured 100 gallons 10% should have been around 1.002 SG after I mixed it and added it to the tank. The fish went nuts and I checked the SG and it was at 1.004 so I was forced to do an IMMEDIATE water change. You cannot add more salt to raise the SG more than .002 at a time or it kills the beneficial bacteria in the tank. There are lots of posts on my pages if you look about mixing and great info if you look under my username. Good Luck and I love the way my tank looks with these guys under the corallife 50/50 lamps. They are watched more than my tv lately.
 
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