Leopard Shark Breeding, Keeping 9/28/07
If I have two leopard sharks is it possible to get them to mate in the home aquarium and if so what would the dimensions have to be for the aquarium?
<They have not been bred in home aquariums as far as I'm aware, to accomplish this, and in reality to be able to keep a shark that commonly grows to 6 feet in length, you need an aquarium the size of a small home.>
If they do not mate can u let me know the sharks that do mate but the ones that are just as big as a leopard shark or smaller than a leopard shark in a home aquarium?
<None with any regularity that I'm aware of. In reality the only thing sharks do in home aquariums with any regularity is die.>
Thank you for your time and i would really be more thankful to you if you reply back to me thank you so much
<Sharks do not belong in 99.9% of home aquariums, they are simply unable to supply the environment the shark needs to survive.>
<Chris>

Leopard sharks and abhorrent collecting practices
Hi Bob
What temperature, nitrate, and salinity should I have for my leopard shark? Thanks Edward Demsky 
<hmmm... do you own one already? If so, I must say that I am a bit saddened to see yet another one of these beautiful creatures purchased without having done the research first. Do you also know, my friend, that these sharks grow 6 to 9 feet long as adults. They cannot be "stunted" in smaller aquaria but most in small aquaria (under 500 gallons) die prematurely in about 2 years. Also, they are live born at around 14-18". This is interesting because 9-12" are commonly seen in the trade. How is this possible you may ask... simple, gravid females are caught and gutted for the immature offspring: much easier than waiting for the birth of a litter and then catching each one individually. For your benefit and that of all of our daily FAQ readers, do advise your local fish stores of this if you ever see them offered for sale. You might also ask such merchants how many customers they have that can house even a puny 6 foot adult? We are literally talking about a shark that needs an aquarium of several thousand gallons in the 5-10 year picture. Make no mistake about it... I/we are very sensitive about the inappropriate keeping of any animal. Please write back and tell me more about your system so that I can fairly help you (now that I've got all the soapbox stuff out of the way <G>). And please understand that we simply get too many people writing in asking us how to help them "kill"/keep (same thing) Leopard sharks in 300, 200 and even tanks smaller than 100 gallon tanks. Best regards, Anthony>