LA
Pic
Most bull sharks start out at about two
inches.
LA
Pic
Bull shark about 2.5 inches. He's much lighter over this white sand.
Little hippy "beard."
LA
Pic
All bull sharks like to school together. These are three
inches.
Appeal. Drop any type of
food into their tank, and small bull sharks swarm about the tank (like actual
sharks) eagerly seeking food. The
more sharks in the tank, the harder they work as they attack their food. Their silvery
body with black-trimmed fins makes for a good looking fish.
LA
Pic
At eight to nine inches bull sharks lose some of their cuteness.
Not
a Real Shark. Nicknamed bull
sharks, silver sharks, Colombian sharks, these guys really belong to the catfish
family. Check out those front
whiskers. Like all catfishes, these
guys use their sensitive whiskers to find food in murky water or at night.
Whiskers usually mean their owner likes to eat smaller fishes.
Bull sharks ignore equal sized and larger fishes.
LA
Pic
Looking like our local bullheads, bull sharks just keep growing in large tanks.
Gets
Big. Bull sharks start out as
cute little whiskered scavengers. Almost as
cute as our local baby bullheads. They
grow into fairly large predators -- just like our local baby bullheads (pic#7). Don’t
try to keep them with small fish -- just like our bullheads. Bullheads have a
rounded tailfin and a much larger mouth. Tank raised bull sharks seem to
prefer commercial fish foods over live fish. But do not mix them with
smaller, bite size fishes.
Security.
Lots of catfishes insist on hiding during the day and coming out when the
lights go off. Not these bull
sharks.
They’re out looking for food all day long.
They start looking faster when they smell food.
LA
Pic
Even in death, this little two-inch bull shark can still stab you painfully.
The
“Horns.” Net these guys
carefully. Those side fins and top
fin hide some sharp stabbers. In
addition to the painful stab, their “horns” emit an irritating substance
that makes the wound hurt more and longer. Oddly
enough, their horns do not catch in nets (like pictus
catfish) until they die.
Water.
Hardness and pH make little difference as long as you keep their water clean.
Don’t overfeed your bull sharks – even if they act like they’re
starving.
LA
When kept in saltless water, bull sharks develop usually lethal skin conditions.
Special
Note: Bull sharks need brackish
water – add at least two teaspoons of salt per gallon, more if your other fish
can handle it. The larger ones will
live in full strength sea water.
Space.
The more room you give them, the better.
Small tanks stunt their growth and encourage disease because of poor
water quality. The bigger their
tank, the less frequently you need to change their water. Change it
anyway.
Ich
Comments. Most ich remedies
contain malachite green. If you use
one of these to treat those little white spots, use it at half strength.
Ich cures can wipe these babies out fast.
Temperature.
Keep your bull sharks at regular tropical fish temp – about 75o
plus or minus five degrees.
Foods.
Not picky. Drop any type of
food in the water and these guys will swarm it.
Just avoid overfeeding them. They
eat so much food, you need to change their water often.
Spawning.
Not likely. They probably
spawn in the mouths of rivers – where they mix with the ocean. Don’t
try this at home.
Tank
Mates. You can mix these guys
with most other equal-sized catfishes. Bull
sharks also mix well with Central and South American cichlids too large to
swallow and vice versa. Their slimy
skin and pointed “horns” ward off most bad guys.
They also mix fairly well with koi and goldfishes without fancy
fins. You will raise no baby fishes
in a tank or pond containing bull sharks.
LA
Bull sharks love to school with their own kind.
LA
Bull sharks school even better when food hits the water.
LA
LA
Bull sharks looking for food on the bottom.
LA
Same bull sharks before food hits the water.
LA
And after they find the food.
Additives.
None needed except salt – and plenty of it. Well, and food --
and plenty of it. LA
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© 2005
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