Irridescent shark, NOT for the home aquarium either....

DiOhio · 02-25-2005, 07:58 PM

Hi all, new member here and just had to jump into this discusson. I was doing a search on life expectancy of the ID Shark and found this thread.
My ID Shark is now 5 years old and measures 24". That's 2 feet ! I was really stupid for not researching this fish before I purchased it and only relied on the fish store salesperson who said 2 ID Sharks would do good in a 75 gallon tank. Well 2 years ago at 14" the other one I had finally killed himself from a major spazz attack. The surviving fish was moved to a 130 gallon 2 years ago and last year measured at 16". The only other fish I have in with him is a 20" Clown Knife (and of course feeder goldfish). The 130 gallon is WAY too small for this fish. I have been trying to find him a home and no one has a tank big enough ! The Clown Knife (or just about anything that moves) sets him off into spazz attacks where he'll knock the glass cover off, break heaters (I go through about 4-5 per year), spashes water onto the walls and floor, knocks off filter intakes and makes a total mess of the tank. These fish do NOT belong in home aquariums. And it doesn't take all that long for them to reach 2 feet in length.

DiOhio · 02-25-2005, 08:10 PM

Bubba the ID Shark at 4 years old, 16" long.

Editing here.......boy have I lost track of time. Bubba is 3 years old in this pic at 16" long.

Julie-Anne · 02-25-2005, 10:34 PM

hes a cutie needs a big home tho

mudracer06 · 01-10-2006, 11:08 PM

I have a 25 gallon tank, and the intent to get a 100 gallon or so within 6-12 months. I recently bought a Irridescent Shark not realizing it would get that big, I will blame myself, not the fish store.

Three Questions...

1) It is only a few inches, and seems to have enough room for now. Would it be ok to keep it in a 100 gallon tank?

2) If I shouldn't keep it, what should I do?

3) The first few days it was semi-active, hiding some of the time, swimming around some of the time. Now for a little over a day, it just sits at the bottom under some rock looking around. Swimming to a new spot every once in awhile. I have read two seperate sites of two other people that noticed the exact same thing with theirs. Any ideas what might be up, or is it just something this fish does?

DiOhio · 01-11-2006, 10:13 AM

I would definately take him back !! You are only asking for trouble down the road.

With that said, if you move him to a 100 gal. right away I think he will just grow faster. But even if you keep him in the smaller tank he's still gonna grow and sooner or later the 100 gal will NOT be big enough. Take the fish back unless you plan on getting a 500 gallon tank ! And I'm not sure that would even be big enough in the future.

I know I was shocked with the behavior of my ID sharks because in the fish stores you always see them swimming around. Once I got mine home they hid most of the time. I tried to make them happy by supplying caves but eventually I couldn't find a cave big enough so I put in a huge 6" diameter piece of plastic pipe and that worked good for a while. Now at 24" long with a girth of 10" (tip of dorsal to tip of anal fin) I cover both ends of the 130 gal. tank with towels to serve as caves and the Clown Knife stays at one end and the ID shark stays at the other end. If I remove the ID shark's towels to clean the gravel (which is usually a nightmare) the ID shark swims to the other end.
The ID shark hasn't had as many spazz attacks since I supplied him with the "towel" cave but they still do happen. A few months ago he actually jumped out of the tank ! Imagine finding a 2' fish flopping on the floor ! It took all I had to get him back in the tank. He floated upsidedown for a while (I really thought he was dead) but within about 30 min. he was back to normal.

mudracer06 · 01-11-2006, 06:16 PM

Ok... I took him back. I got three pretty little mollies with the store credit.

DiOhio · 01-11-2006, 09:00 PM

Wise decision. I know you'll be much happier with the mollies.

Ronin · 01-28-2006, 11:06 AM

yes ooo ahh, look i have under 10 posts therefore i am a nub...but i went to my lfs the other day and they have a 1foot id shark in a large pool like holding area, and it looks nothing like that. The one in your picutre was supossed to be a link to an id shark, but if u look closely at the thumbnail, its a different picture than the one u actually see when clicking on that thumbnail.

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgur...LG:en%26sa%3DN

Diohio's picture is the most accurate one..

Fishckabibble · 01-28-2006, 11:11 AM

I saw one in the petstore a few years ago that was about that size, i would love to have one in a 300 gallon tank. but that is a pipe dream lol i used to have one and i loved him, his name was sharky poo, and just to add a little info, it takes a really long time for them to get that big, so if you got a baby one you would have time to slowly upgrade tanks.

JAWS69 · 03-28-2006, 04:57 PM

They will only grow to the size of the tank. I saw one at my local fish store in a big tank and it was about the size of my arm. Then I had one in a 20g and it got about 8inch.

02-25-2005, 07:58 PM	#51
DiOhio Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: SE Ohio Posts: 5	Hi all, new member here and just had to jump into this discusson. I was doing a search on life expectancy of the ID Shark and found this thread. My ID Shark is now 5 years old and measures 24". That's 2 feet ! I was really stupid for not researching this fish before I purchased it and only relied on the fish store salesperson who said 2 ID Sharks would do good in a 75 gallon tank. Well 2 years ago at 14" the other one I had finally killed himself from a major spazz attack. The surviving fish was moved to a 130 gallon 2 years ago and last year measured at 16". The only other fish I have in with him is a 20" Clown Knife (and of course feeder goldfish). The 130 gallon is WAY too small for this fish. I have been trying to find him a home and no one has a tank big enough ! The Clown Knife (or just about anything that moves) sets him off into spazz attacks where he'll knock the glass cover off, break heaters (I go through about 4-5 per year), spashes water onto the walls and floor, knocks off filter intakes and makes a total mess of the tank. These fish do NOT belong in home aquariums. And it doesn't take all that long for them to reach 2 feet in length. __________________ Di 130 gallon 75 gallon 55 gallon (2) 10 gallons 2400 gallon pond

02-25-2005, 10:34 PM	#53
Julie-Anne Little Fish Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Gimli Manitoba Posts: 156	hes a cutie needs a big home tho __________________ 30 gallon - 2 spotted mollies(not the name i dont think but their covered in spots) - 2 balloon mollies -2 swordtails - 1 female betta 10 gallon - 2 snails - 5 white cloud minnows - 4 neon tetras

01-10-2006, 11:08 PM	#54
mudracer06 Little Fish Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Oakland, California Posts: 101	I have a 25 gallon tank, and the intent to get a 100 gallon or so within 6-12 months. I recently bought a Irridescent Shark not realizing it would get that big, I will blame myself, not the fish store. Three Questions... 1) It is only a few inches, and seems to have enough room for now. Would it be ok to keep it in a 100 gallon tank? 2) If I shouldn't keep it, what should I do? 3) The first few days it was semi-active, hiding some of the time, swimming around some of the time. Now for a little over a day, it just sits at the bottom under some rock looking around. Swimming to a new spot every once in awhile. I have read two seperate sites of two other people that noticed the exact same thing with theirs. Any ideas what might be up, or is it just something this fish does? Last edited by mudracer06; 01-11-2006 at 12:22 AM..

01-11-2006, 10:13 AM	#55
DiOhio Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: SE Ohio Posts: 5	I would definately take him back !! You are only asking for trouble down the road. With that said, if you move him to a 100 gal. right away I think he will just grow faster. But even if you keep him in the smaller tank he's still gonna grow and sooner or later the 100 gal will NOT be big enough. Take the fish back unless you plan on getting a 500 gallon tank ! And I'm not sure that would even be big enough in the future. I know I was shocked with the behavior of my ID sharks because in the fish stores you always see them swimming around. Once I got mine home they hid most of the time. I tried to make them happy by supplying caves but eventually I couldn't find a cave big enough so I put in a huge 6" diameter piece of plastic pipe and that worked good for a while. Now at 24" long with a girth of 10" (tip of dorsal to tip of anal fin) I cover both ends of the 130 gal. tank with towels to serve as caves and the Clown Knife stays at one end and the ID shark stays at the other end. If I remove the ID shark's towels to clean the gravel (which is usually a nightmare) the ID shark swims to the other end. The ID shark hasn't had as many spazz attacks since I supplied him with the "towel" cave but they still do happen. A few months ago he actually jumped out of the tank ! Imagine finding a 2' fish flopping on the floor ! It took all I had to get him back in the tank. He floated upsidedown for a while (I really thought he was dead) but within about 30 min. he was back to normal. __________________ Di 130 gallon 75 gallon 55 gallon (2) 10 gallons 2400 gallon pond

01-11-2006, 09:00 PM	#57
DiOhio Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: SE Ohio Posts: 5	Wise decision. I know you'll be much happier with the mollies. __________________ Di 130 gallon 75 gallon 55 gallon (2) 10 gallons 2400 gallon pond

01-11-2006, 06:16 PM	#56
mudracer06 Little Fish Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Oakland, California Posts: 101	Ok... I took him back. I got three pretty little mollies with the store credit.

01-28-2006, 11:06 AM	#58
Ronin Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 90	yes ooo ahh, look i have under 10 posts therefore i am a nub...but i went to my lfs the other day and they have a 1foot id shark in a large pool like holding area, and it looks nothing like that. The one in your picutre was supossed to be a link to an id shark, but if u look closely at the thumbnail, its a different picture than the one u actually see when clicking on that thumbnail. http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgur...LG:en%26sa%3DN Diohio's picture is the most accurate one.. Last edited by Ronin; 01-28-2006 at 11:10 AM..

01-28-2006, 11:11 AM	#59
Fishckabibble Large Fish Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Colorado Posts: 792	I saw one in the petstore a few years ago that was about that size, i would love to have one in a 300 gallon tank. but that is a pipe dream lol i used to have one and i loved him, his name was sharky poo, and just to add a little info, it takes a really long time for them to get that big, so if you got a baby one you would have time to slowly upgrade tanks. __________________ one sad empty 10g tank

03-28-2006, 04:57 PM	#60
JAWS69 Banned Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 152	They will only grow to the size of the tank. I saw one at my local fish store in a big tank and it was about the size of my arm. Then I had one in a 20g and it got about 8inch.