Hay so I just got a 6 inch banded cat shark and it's not eating, copper measures 0, nitrates 5-10, nitrites 0, and ammonia 0. Tank is a 300 gallon, any ideas why it's not eating yet? I heard that sometimes it takes time but won't it starve?
Banded Cat Shark
- Thread starter BillyP
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We need a lot more info.
How long has the tank been up? What tank mates are in there? What is the scientific name of the shark? A banded cat shark is often times s bamboo shark and not a true coral cat. Any pics? What are you trying to feed it?
How long has the tank been up? What tank mates are in there? What is the scientific name of the shark? A banded cat shark is often times s bamboo shark and not a true coral cat. Any pics? What are you trying to feed it?
Scientific name is Chiloscyllium punctatum. No other tank mates as of yet, tanks been cycling for over 2 months before adding the shark and I kept feeding the bacteria during that time. I'm trying to feed it mysis I'll post a pic in a second but I'm 90% sure it's a banded cat.
Yep the food on a stick trick and if you can smart silversides, use those as well and kinda mimic a wiggling action.
Also a shark is much more sensitive to its environment so a 2 month old tank may not be best for it.
Also a shark is much more sensitive to its environment so a 2 month old tank may not be best for it.
Also, yep you have a brownbanded bamboo shark.
A truce coral cat shark is an:
Atelomycterus marmoratus or macleayi
There are certainly differences so please research the one you have to properly date for it.
A truce coral cat shark is an:
Atelomycterus marmoratus or macleayi
There are certainly differences so please research the one you have to properly date for it.
It looks skinny so I'm not sure. We would make a slurry of clams, reef nutrition mysis and feed with a syringe until it started slurping squid like noodles. Careful catching the shark if you have to syringe feed, they thrash quite a bit.
Eastlake
Active Member
You could also try live foods. If you have access to them get some ghost shrimp. When I worked at a local fish store I always had luck giving them shrimp until they could be weened onto prepared foods.
chipmunkofdoom2
Always Making Something
Good advice here. I work part time at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and while I don't work with sharks, I work with rays, skates and other animals that can be picky eaters. If an animal is being picky, we try basically everything we have until we find something they want to eat.
Last picky animal I had to try to get to eat was a half-blind sea bass. We attempted to pole feed everything we had. We did scallops, crab meat, squid, mackerel and smelt. He refused to eat it all. He did finally settle on shrimp. They're not the most nutritious, but he's at least eating.
I would get an array of fresh seafoods from the grocery store and see if you can entice it with anything. Get a feeding stick and try to dangle it in front of the shark's face in a life-like manner. When choosing seafoods, be careful of those with relatively high copper (check Randy's article here, table 1 to be precise). If it still won't eat, look into live foods.
Last picky animal I had to try to get to eat was a half-blind sea bass. We attempted to pole feed everything we had. We did scallops, crab meat, squid, mackerel and smelt. He refused to eat it all. He did finally settle on shrimp. They're not the most nutritious, but he's at least eating.
I would get an array of fresh seafoods from the grocery store and see if you can entice it with anything. Get a feeding stick and try to dangle it in front of the shark's face in a life-like manner. When choosing seafoods, be careful of those with relatively high copper (check Randy's article here, table 1 to be precise). If it still won't eat, look into live foods.
Sharks are extremely efficient with food. Large sharks like Great whites can get by on 30kilos of food which equates to 3.6% of body mass over a ~2 week period. I had been told they converted between 70-85% of food to energy and growth, though I cannot find stats to back that up when searching today. I don't know how well this translates to coral cats but I had a banded cat I hatched in my tank in the 90's. Initially, it was slow to eat as if still had some unbiblical/yoke sack attached. I offered it food a few times a week. It accepted the food off and on. It would occasionally take what the other fish missed. It ate clam and squid fairly well when prepared in thin small strips clipped to a rod.
