If you could keep sharks at your house, would you do it?

Gumbies R Us · Jul 7, 2023

This is more of a hypothetical question. If you were able to keep sharks at your house would you do it? Not just reef tank save sharks I’m taking the big sharks like great whites. For me? I think it would be pretty neat to keep a shark, I don’t know if I would exactly do it but it would be pretty cool.

Budman93 · Jul 7, 2023

If I won a billion dollars and decided to install a massive aquarium in my new mansion? Sure.

On a practical level I think smaller fish are equally as rewarding for me and cost a lot less to home. (Although still pricey)

fish farmer · Jul 7, 2023

If I had the means to have a big house to house big sharks I would just live on the coast where they are found like a Cape Cod cottage for the summer whiteys and a Florida home for the flats/reef sharks. Boats at both locations and possibly volunteer for tracking studies.

Gtinnel · Jul 7, 2023

While the thought sounds cool I probably wouldn’t. It would be neat to watch them feed but after a while I think it would get old and I would rather have a huge tank full of colorful reef fish.

o2manyfish · Jul 7, 2023

In the early 90's I was the largest supplier of Leopard Sharks in the country. We shipped them in Trash Can Sized bags 10 per bag. I had a 600gallon circular tub in my back yard with a barrel full of bio balls - and we had as many as 400 sharks a week pass through my back yard.

There is peaceful serenity in the way a shark moves and glides thru the water. But in captivity they aren't always on the move and you end up with a big fish sitting on the bottom gasping for air.

I had a client that built a 12x16' concrete and glass aquarium in the center of the house for Black Tip Reef Sharks. He had a budget that wasn't limited. An education beyond most. And his experience was not successful to say the least. They went to every extreme possible to build a safe and sustainable environment for the black tips and they were unsuccessful.

Now that was almost 30 years ago. And the filtration technology and water quality has advanced greatly. But I would still rather have a box of colorful sticks and fish than a big empty pool with something that can't be fragged and will eventually need to be rehomed.

Dave B

littlefoxx · Jul 7, 2023

I love sharks!!! But I would only want to keep the little guys. I would be afraid of a big shark in my house to be honest. Respect the deadliness of them and leave the big guys to the ocean!

elysics · Jul 7, 2023

When we are talking about great whites, it probably isn't a matter of having a house big enough to fit a tank, but a matter of having a large industrial park that you would want to live in.

Like, stadium size or bigger

Cichlid Dad · Jul 7, 2023

Private Island of course, that way I could could always be surprised every time I went diving. Largest aquarium in the world and no maintenance!

danenelsen · Jul 7, 2023

I would! Smaller sharks though, unless I had a 20,000g+ tank.

Mr. Mojo Rising · Jul 7, 2023

no way, that little devil on my left shoulder has too much power over me.....

fish farmer · Jul 7, 2023

Gtinnel said:
While the thought sounds cool I probably wouldn’t. It would be neat to watch them feed but after a while I think it would get old and I would rather have a huge tank full of colorful reef fish.

It's like when I had red belly piranhas as a kid. The little ones were fun... I'd hang pieces of lunch meat on a string....but once they grew up they just sit there in a corner.

face · Jul 7, 2023

no nurse sharks!

Propane · Jul 7, 2023

Prolly not. When I see data on sharks that are fitted with GPS devices it seems they really cover the miles. Perhaps if there was a small lazy shark species lol.

Lowell Lemon · Jul 7, 2023

Nope, did that for three customers. Never again!

PhishMonger84 · Jul 7, 2023

Nope!
maybe the catsharks but nothing else. seems cruel like keeping a working breed of dog in an apartment or a city.

Rp8 · Jul 7, 2023

Nope, to specific and can’t mix well with others

Alexraptor · Jul 7, 2023

Absolutelty, but I would probably be satisfied with a couple of Blacktip reef sharks.

Aspect · Jul 12, 2023

Great Whites have been proven to be impossible to keep in captivity in any size tank. Any electrical equipment will affect their electroreceptors which is how they hunt and basically know where to go/find food. They can sense even the smallest of interferences. No Public Aquarium has even kept one for any period of longevity.