There are around 12 species in this family of small sharks. Longtail carpet sharks and bamboo sharks are usually less than four feet in length. They are found in shallow tropical waters in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
They have long, cylindrical bodies with tails that are longer than their bodies. They have barbels on their snouts.
Many of the sharks in this family have spotted and banded markings on their bodies. They feed on the ocean floor and eat small fish and crustaceans.
Unfortunately these are not reef friendly as they will eat any crustacean in the aquarium. It stays relatively small, but requires at least a 180 gallon or larger aquarium as an adult.
Recently a captive Bamboo shark recently set a record for sperm storage of 45 months after laying a fertilised egg nearly three and a half years after it could have mated for more information visit BBC Earth.
Sorry its been a long while since I posted anything its been a crazy few months. I won a trip to New York with work (which made a little dent in the fund for spending money), I had to rush around trying to do the Christmas shop all while trying to manage 4 aquariums.
So whats changed so far? Well I was let down by the electrician coming to fit the new electrical out let need for the aquarium, Im now searching trade books for someone to do the job.
My female fighting fish succumbed to to old age an being chased by the male so I introduced two new younger females & one of my gold fish has just developed Pop eye as its only one eye I'm treating it as an injury but I will also keep an eye on the water quality
The usual routine of water changes, feeding, cleaning has also kept me busy so I've not had much time to do any more research. Although I have had the odd look at new fish when I have been out at my LFS and crossing off ones I fell in love with as they were un suitable.
Unfortunately no matter what we do we will always have an impact on our environment, from global warming caused by emission, litter people drop or that end's up in our sea's or accidental damage caused by divers. Our food chain also has effect's our reefs some fishing techniques brakes corals and other valuable breeding/nursery areas for smaller fish which eventually help feed bigger predators up at the top of the chain.
But there are things that the people who live around and work on the Caribbean's Mesoamerica Reef are trying to do to help protect the second largest reef in the world.
In between my research and current tank maintenance I like to take some time out to watch some TV for inspiration and also watch some video clips on you tube for more information on what other people are doing, how they do upgrades things like that. I thought I'd share some of my favourite fish related shows and Youtube channels.
Lets start with the TV shows: more for entertainment than learning something.
Tanked on Discovery Animal Plant, this might just be where I started saying to the family I want a marine aquarium. The tanks that Bret and Wade produce are stunning a bit like Orange county choppers where they do a lot of themed tanks. Their large installs can be seen in some amazing public places but they have made some as well as private installs.
Fish Tank Kings NAT GEO Wild, another great show amazing looking tanks they also do large public and private installations this team has a resident Marine Biologist Francis who is also a spokes person for Fluval.
River monsters Jeremy Wade this show has me hooked in many ways. Jeremy Wade follows up stories how fish are involved with the deaths of people on the river he thens fish's to find these river monsters. It's really gripping TV and the range of fish he catch's is amazing and terrifying.
Youtube Channels.
Please do not use these as your only source of information and my journey is really to give those about to take the step them selfs an idea of what to look for and hopefully encourage you to take the plunge. Use multiple sources, talk to your LFS and if you are lucky enough to have a local marine aquarium group talk to them you never know they may even help get you started. Also see my post of what I'm reading for books.
Mr Saltwater Tank TV a very helpful channel Mark share a wealth of knowledge tips and Product reiews. He also shares videos of his clients builds including a 6500 gallon outdoor saltwater pond and his own own home install. The Friday tips are worth a watch also.
Bulk Reef Supply.com Another great channel much like Mr Saltwater Tank covering DIY projects, how tons and product reviews.
I subscribe to both of the above channels and find the advice pretty much is the same.
This week has been a productive one, I have moved a very large movie collection from the spot where y new aquarium is to go. I have built 3 shelving units to house the collection and painted the area is preparation for for the big day. This is still a while away, I'm half way to my budget so far but there's a few things I didn't take into account which I will now need to look into.
So the first issue is the floor, the house sits on a slope and when they built the house the floor isn't completely level. This is a pretty minor issue I can shim the stand to level it not a problem I just need to add this to the check list when I start setting it up.
The second issue is a bit more pressing its the amount of electrical output sockets in the room. I can run an extension lead from a near by but I want to keep the area tidy with as few cables as possible. so the plan will been to get an electrician to install a new socket (preferably one with a waterproof cover) this will have its own fuse on the breaker box. This will leave the aquarium on its own circuit in the event something else in the house trips the sockets out.
So it's time for another fish profile again, this is a fish I won't be adding to my tank this beautiful fish gets a bit too big for my tank and they also are know to eat hard corals.
Type:
Fish
Diet:
Omnivore
Average life span in the wild:
Up to 7 years
Size:
1 to 4 ft (30 to 120 cm)
Group name:
School
Did you know?
Some male parrot fish maintain harems of females. If the dominant male dies, one of the females will change gender and color and become the dominant male a process called sequential hermaphroditism.
Size relative to a tea cup:
Its diet which consists primarily of algae extracted from chunks of coral ripped from a reef. The coral is pulverized with grinding teeth in the fishes’ throats in order to get to the algae-filled polyps inside.
The parrot fish can’t metabolise this coral so it ‘throws it overboard’ in the form of grains. The existence of this species of fish is essential to the survival of the coral as it acts as a ‘natural cleaner’ of parasites, etc. that grow on it, so without the help of the parrot fish the coral would die. If you find yourself near one of these fish you will find them munching and making crunching sounds with every bite.
Another reason is that they need to do this constantly in order to keep their beaks clean and that they (the beaks) don’t grow too much. We’re talking about an insatiable fish that spends the whole day eating and ‘discharging’ without a break and that’s why just one parrot fish can produce 100 kg of white sand every year!! Thinking about this then, to those of us who adore paradisiacal beaches, it’s obviously important that there is an abundance of the parrot fish.
So next time time your laying on a white sand beach just think that sand came from a fish's bum haha only kidding only a small amount is produced this way.
