New Shark Acting Strange  10/29/09
Hello, I have recently purchased a male white-spotted bamboo shark. He is about 7 1/2 inches long and he is in a 180 gallon long tank. I know this is not large enough for life but I will upgrade in a couple years.
I have a larger protein skimmer with a 40 gallon wet-dry/refugium sump.
<Do keep your eyes on Nitrate accumulation>
I drip acclimated him for a few hours and when I let him into the aquarium he swam around for a while then just went behind the rock and laid down. Then for some reason for about 2 hours straight he was swimming around sporadically as if he did not know where he was going (even swimming into rocks)
<Ow! I do hope these are placed centrally so this animal can swim all around the system's perimeter>
and swimming upside down.
<Yikes! Not good>
Now he has resumed to laying behind the rock and he looks normal. All other fish are healthy (sail-fin percula tang and a couple of clowns).
Water parameters all read zero and salinity is at 1.024. Is this anything to worry about or was he just getting used to the tank?
<Was the pH matched with the drip water to the shipping water? I think this animal was poisoned ("ammonia burned") by being exposed to too high a pH in the acclimation process>
I even offered him some squid before this all happened and he came it and nibbled on it and swam away. I just want to know if all is good. Thanks.
<... Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/FishInd1.htm
the second tray down... the Shark articles, FAQs files for needed background. Bob Fenner>

Re: New Shark Acting Strange   10/30/09
Hello, thank you for the fast reply. Yes the rocks are all centrally located for the best swimming room and I made a nice cave for him.
<Ah good>
For the past day and a half he has just been laying on the bottom not moving much (even at night which worries me knowing they are nocturnal).
<Actually, this and some other "sedentary" shark families members are quite inactive en toto>
I noticed that he is breathing really hard also. It almost looks like he's doing pushups off the sand with his front two fins with every breath. I offered him fresh squid, krill, and a cut up silverside and I stick it right in front of his face and he just sits there or moves a little.
<Don't be overly concerned re the lack of feeding... try some appropriate size pieces every other day...>
Referring to what you said about the pH it is
at around 8.2 .
<... Have you read where I referred you? What re NO3 conc.? BobF>

Re: New Shark Acting Strange – 10/31/09
Hello, my No3 levels are at zero.
<Wow, great>
He is doing much better now. He ate a squid tentacle and is breathing normally.
<Ahh, good>
Sometimes he finds the smallest places to sleep in , I hope that is normal. Also is it normal for him while he is swimming to be so close to the surface? Even poking his head out sometimes?
<Does happen... Make sure the top is covered... as they can leap out.
Cheers, BobF>

Mysterious bamboo shark death  6/11/09
Hi
There are no words to express my absolute love for sharks. On December 24, 2008 I was given a bamboo shark egg (very young). On March 19,2009 tellulah (the shark) hatched at 6 in. Since then she's been eating mysis shrimp (I've tried feeding her squid but she doesn't seem to like it as much). She has always had a very healthy appetite. She's been swimming very well and no irregularities in her behavior. When I got? home from school yesterday (6-10-09) she was very very pale and had blood around her gills. I picked her up and could not find any cuts.?She was not breathing and had no response to touch or movement. I was hit with the reality that she had died. I've search your web page an the web, but have not found an explanation for her death.?Here is some info on my aquarium.
75 gallon (only temporary for her first few months)
The tank is longer and short so there is more room for swimming
3 small damsels
1 clown fish
2 turbo snails
Live rocks (all kept in one area to prevent scratching of the shark)
KH (carbonate hardness): 180 mg/L
PH: 7.5
<Way too low>
nitrite: 0
nitrate:80 mg/L
<Way too high...>
All levels have been constant since birth.?Please help me find what happened to my dear tellulah. Thanks very much
???-Erin
<The chemistry you list above could itself be the explanation/cause of loss here; though there are quite a few other possibilities... Bob Fenner>

Re: mysterious bamboo shark death  6/12/09
Thank you very much for responding so quickly. My only thoughts on the water quality being the cause is that, wouldn't it affect the other fish too,
<Mmm, yes. But to a much slighter degree... i.e. the other species are far more tolerant>
and why it is that she had been acting and eating as usual. I will fix the water quality ASAP. Do you know of any diseases that could have caused her to die so suddenly. (names or links to learn more about it)
Thanks very much Erin
<... please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/FishInd1.htm
the second tray... BobF>

Re: mysterious bamboo shark death   6/13/09
I 've looked over the link you sent me, I do recall there being a small lump on her underside below the mouth, but it was there since the moment she hatched. Could she have gotten a goiter while she was in the
egg. If so can a goiter kill her so quickly without a change in behavior.
<Possibly>
Also, by any chance the tomato clown fish that i mentioned before was recently purchased (5-22-09) he is very young, but could he have brought in a parasite or something.
<... doubtful. B>
Keep in mind he was bought from my usual fish store where? I have purchased all my fish from.
Thanks
???? -Erin

Bull shark   2/25/09
Oggetto:
Dear director,
<Andrea>
I have a problem with a Bull shark, he has the gills completely open and stopped, even if he swim normally ( the oxygen in tank is 8 mg/l). I can't understand what's happen! Can you help me?
Best regards,
Andrea
Andrea Dr Tomei
Shark Expo
Palazzo del turismo
Jesolo 30016 Venice ITALY
<Is this Carcharias leucas? How long have you had this animal? What other species are house with it? Are any of them acting odd? What have you done recently? Bob Fenner>

Re:  Bull shark 3/2/09
Dear Bob,
Yes we have a pair of Carcharhinus leucas, now the shark is doing well. We have 18 species ( sand tiger shark, wobbegong, Zebra shark, lemon shark etc...) and about 50 sharks. Have you experience with sharks?
<A great deal of old experience with their pathology... Not so much with their "live husbandry". Am glad to find your collection is doing well. The others listed are not hard to keep generally... but the Bulls... can be.
Bob Fenner>
Best regards,
Andrea Dr Tomei
Shark Expo
Palazzo del turismo
Jesolo 30016 Venice ITALY

Re: Bull shark, hlth.  – 03/03/09 Dear Bob, the bulls is not simple to maintain but they are beautiful animals! <Ah yes... do keep them well-fed... and under observation... This species has a great tendency to predate other sharks, rays...> 3 months ago they have had a problem with parasite, I think Turbellaria. After using all the drug normally used ( Trichlorfon, formalin, lower salinity) i have tried with Diflubenzuron an inhibitor of chitin synthesis, with excellent results. I send a picture before the treatment. Sorry for my bad English. Andrea <No worries re your English... Better than my Italian for sure... I do agree with your materia medica list, use. Ciao, Bob Fenner> Andrea Dr Tomei Shark Expo Palazzo del turismo Jesolo 30016 Venice ITALY

Dead bamboo shark, no data of use   2/10/09 Hi everyone, <Anthony> I woke up to find my bamboo shark dead in my aquarium this morning and was wondering if any of you could shed some light on what may have happened here... <Given information...> I've experienced several deaths in the past with my tank, but never anything this peculiar. I've attached some pictures that I took once I pulled her out - you can see that one side of her body is all red (I can only imagine internal hemorrhaging?) while the other one seems mostly fine (except for a little blood in her eye. Do any of you know what might have caused this? <...? Not w/o data, no> Thanks, Anthony <This shark is... obviously dead... Petecchial... but... cause/s? System, tankmates, maintenance history, foods/feeding, water quality measures? No sense guessing w/o data... Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/shkdisfaq2.htm and the linked files above... to gain insight into your situation and what sorts of input we're looking for. Bob Fenner>

Re: Dead bamboo shark  2/10/09 Hi Bob, thanks for the reply. Sorry I didn't include the typical information in the original email - I was kind of shook up at the time. <Ahh, understandable> The shark was in a 180 gallon tank with a Picasso Trigger, Snowflake Eel, Dog Faced Puffer, Black Spotted Puffer (both of which are extremely non-aggressive), a porcupine puffer (a bit more aggressive towards the  other puffers at feeding time but always left the shark alone), and a Queen Trigger. <Yikes... some very tough customers as tank-mates> The system has been running for over 2 years and there were no water quality issues from a chemical perspective. One thing that did happen recently (about a month ago) was that the sump started leaking salt-water, and before I knew what was going on, the leaking water had been automatically topped off by new fresh water. About a week later, the Queen Trigger and Porcupine Puffer both died within a day of each other. <Highly stressed... and reason here for the shark's loss> I attributed this to what happened with the salinity dropping so rapidly the week before. When I spoke to my LFS about it, they were surprised that the shark had survived it - they said if anything, the trigger should have been able to deal with that, but I guess not. <Yes> As for feeding, I fed them frozen shrimp and scallops every couple of days. The food would never hang around for more than 5 minutes in the tank, and with the exception of the porcupine puffer being a little over-zealous when eating, everyone got along very well. There is around 130 lbs of live rock in the bottom of the tank, with two caves at both extremities of the tank where the shark would hang out. The middle of the tank was clear of live rock so she could swim without hitting anything. The marks that you saw on the pictures were never there prior to her death. I did however catch her swimming upside down the night before she died. As I said earlier, all the water quality measures were normal: pH around 8.2 - 8.3, no ammonia, no nitrites, 10 ppm nitrates. The specific gravity was back to 1.023 (it had dropped to around 1.017 when the incident occurred - I brought it back up gradually by filling my ATS with 1.025 salt water over the course of 2 weeks). The protein skimmer was functioning properly. Thanks for your help Anthony <I do suspect that the principal cause here was the sojourn too-much, too-fast into too-low specific gravity. Such effects are not always so straightforward, obvious.. but the internal changes... damage to kidneys, other organs consequently, can be deadly. There are controllers, with alarms that can notify one of deviation from measures as specific gravity. Perhaps you're a candidate for such. Bob Fenner> Re: Dead bamboo shark  2/10/09 Thanks Bob. I'll look into it. I had a feeling it was because of the salinity drop, but was thrown off by the delayed reaction. <Yes... a useful, though painful lesson here re such delayed responses and what passes for our understanding (terrestrial, homeotherms...) with other animals we're familiar with. Cheers, BobF>

Bamboo shark trouble    1/17/09
Dear Bob (and WWM crew) I just hatched my first bamboo shark late last night. The birth was natural with no assistance from me. When I awoke this morning I was distressed to find the shark had wriggled past the eggcrate I set up to protect it and other critters from entering the overflow and gotten caught in my filter sock. I pulled the shark from the sock only to
find it has ingested a small string or something, I had to cut the string or risk hurting the shark trying to pull it free. Now it is sitting on the bottom of the tank(breathing regularly) but with a tiny piece of filter sock fuzz hanging out of it's mouth. What should I do now?!?!
<Wait, be patient... try to keep the shark in a low-stimulus setting as much as possible. The string is not likely trouble. Bob Fenner>

Re: bamboo shark trouble  1/18/09
Thank you. I did manage to remove a small amount of material with no effort. There is still some in there and was resistant to very minor force, (just enough to scare the shark from the palm of my gloved hand)
<Leave it be>
so I will follow your advice and leave it be. I noticed some of the material made it's way through the gills so I removed that as well, again, with no Resistance from the material or shark. I don't know if you will remember it, but I actually showed you the shark egg back at MAX where I was at Tim McGuire's booth with our friend Harold Diaz (frag city), I was also supposed to make your Xmas party with the rest of SDMAS but work came up and I was forced to miss it, much to my chagrin. I normally go by Maz BTW.
<So it is>
Thanks again for your advice, I have been researching relentlessly trying to find a solution.
Maz.
<To go is to come. To accept what is to be is a high achievement... those who cannot/will not accept what will be will be destroyed upon the lathe of nature/chi'en/heaven>

Bamboo shark treatment... Prazi? Nope.  1/14/09
I have a bamboo shark that is about two weeks old. I saw him rub or scratch on the bottom. I want to know if Prazipro (distributed by hikari ) is safe to use.
Thank you. Kris
<Umm... why would you be using/exposing this animal to an anthelminthic...
Prazi treats for flukes, flatworms... Your shark is not suffering from these assuredly... Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/sharkeggfaqs.htm
and the linked files above, elsewhere you lead yourself. Bob Fenner>

Mortimer the white spot bamboo shark, fdg./hlth.    9/6/08
Dear Mr. Fenner,
A few years back I wrote to you with this same problem . Morty was 10 then and now he's almost 15 . Although I have a good idea what you'll tell me , maybe you'll see a solution I don't . Morty is obviously interested in all of the food I try feeding . But each and every thing , he spits out .
I've tried so many things . Shrimp, cocktail and fresh , squid, scallop, clams, oyster, and silversides which he usually woofs down since he rarely gets them . I've also tried live shrimp and live mollies, both of which were sucked in and spit out ! I'm going to go to a bait shop .
<Mmm, better by far to use previously frozen fare... to avoid pests, parasites and more>
But I can't imagine what they might have that won't evoke the same response . The last time he gave me such a hard time , I gave in and fed the silversides , which he doesn't want now .But it s been about three weeks since we've been playing this game now. I see no indication of something like goiter which would affect his ability to swallow . I've dealt with that in another shark . That shark , an epaulette, we lost after trying the force feeding thing . At the time Paul on your crew was helping me out with his guidance. He even did a necropsy for me at The Monterey Bay . It was determined that we had gotten the food into his stomach . So it wasn't likely we did anything wrong . But I'm very scared to try to force feed Morty , and lose him . I love him lots!
I wondered if you could think of any reason for this behavior ? Or any other remedies ? I'm at a loss .
Thanks to
you and your crew for your time .
Terri Rego
<... Do you use supplements in the foods? What brand, make up, dosage? Bob Fenner>