Angelfshgrl

Back in December we bought an 85gal aquarium. We have 4 goldfish, 3 angelfish, 3 id sharks, and 1 pleco. Well my husband and I are new to this hobby and so when we went to purchase fish for the aquarium, we trusted what we were told by the owner of the store. I checked with him on every purchase to make sure the fish were compatible and suitable for the tank. The owner told me id sharks would be fine so we bought them. Since then, I had several people ask about our sharks so I looked up blue whale sharks and could find nothing. Long story short I finally discovered they are id sharks are and considered "tank busters." I went back to our LFS and told them they sold me id sharks which become huge and they told me that when they get too big I can bring them back.

My question is can they live in a pond? My husband and I are planning on installing a fish pond in our backyard and moving the goldfish there since they are not suitable to be in with our tropical fish. But if we can also move the id sharks there, then that would be great. I live in Southern California, do you think the water will remain warm enough year round? I know they can jump out of tanks when they become frightened, will they do this in the pond? Or should we just return them?

Amanda

I have heard of people keeping them in indoor ponds. They can reach up to 3 feet, so the pond woulf have to be huge. If you could keep the pond warm enough, in the range of goldies & ID sharks (warmer goldie scale/cooler ID shark scale) they COULD be ok. But the pond would need a constant temp.

navyscuba

I have to tell you that I had some a long time ago and they do grow big. Yes they do jump too. The way I see it is if you have a heater in your pond you could have them outside. I think Aquaculture sell big water heater for ponds and that kind of stuff.
Here is some more info on them.
http://www.fishlore.com/profile-iridescentshark.htm
Good Luck.

Angelfshgrl

Thanks to both of you for your help. I will look into pond heaters. Although it looks like it may be more of a hassle considering the size of pond I will need, heating it, and making sure they don't jump out. Maybe I will just return them

I will talk it over with my hubby.

Amanda

They are beautiful fish to own. If you decide to keep them, they would be quite a conversation piece, lol. I love the look of them, but I don't have room for that large of a tank.

Angelfshgrl

I agree they are beautiful and we do get comments on them. They are my husbands favorite. But, we don't have the room either. I was so upset when I found out how big they get and how it seemed like our LFS was trying to conceal what they are by calling them blue whale sharks. They told me they get to be about 12 inches. Being inexperienced I thought fish stores would guide me in the right direction. But lesson learned, I will now always research the fish before I purchase

Amanda

Yes, it's hard to believe that even some of the sincerest appearing fish stores will lie to make $$.

Red1313

You could make your pond slightly deeper then you were planing and just think of it as a koi pond... There's a koi i read about that's 5' long... the ones at my school are easily 1+' I don't know what the actual dimensions that you would need are but I'd say it would be do able.

Angelfshgrl

5' long is a huge koi!!
But thanks for the deeper pond idea, I will definitely keep that in mind.

Red1313

Hope this link helps you out a bit.

MeGustaUnaPez926

If you can get a really large pond, and, as others have suggested I think it would be okay, but I would be worried about them jumping. Maybe if you return two and keep one? That way you could still have them, but the pond wouldn't have to be quite as large...

Angelfshgrl

Thanks Red that does help.

MeGusta, we might try the pond but I too am worried about them jumping out. Maybe I will return two and keep just one. Thanks

Amanda

They are a schooling fish, so I would be wary of having just one.

Angelfshgrl

That's true Amanda, I forgot about that. Well I have a lot to consider and I will see what my husband would like to do. I told him about making the pond deeper and he was worried about heating the pond. He pointed out that the deeper we make it, the harder it will be to heat it. So, we might have to return all of them. We will see.

Red1313

technically the deeper the pond the better it would be a holding the heat as well...
I'll see if I can find you some links to pond construction and that sort of thing if you'd like.

Angelfshgrl

Yea that would be great. Thank you!

Red1313

Here's one that has some good info in it.
Here is another link on pond construction.
Here's another (canadian link but you might find it useful)
Here's a link on stocking. It's a Koi stocking guide but it should suit your sharks as well.
EDIT:
Ok I found two more good links.
Here's one where they talk about... well basically everything.
Here's one on ID sharks... the consensus from this link and other's that I've read seems to indicate that they'll reach around 27" and up. Thinking about your pond I'd say 4' deep would probably be a shallow as you'd want to go.

I had other links earlier but I seem to have miss placed them... Anyway if i find them I'll post them for you.
Hope these help. I'll edit new ones in if they're good.

MeGustaUnaPez926

Oops, didn't realize that!

Angelfshgrl

Thanks Red, you are awesome!

Red1313

No prob
If you need any help let me know
I love excuses to google fish related stuff

Angelfshgrl

LOL, I wish I had the time, but I have too much homework.

Red1313

this is my homework breaks

jack--sos

snap might explain why i got a D in my physics exam

Evan McKay

i would go for it you live in a warm place. i live in canada and will be trying this with my cichlids in the summer i however will be useing heaters and a homemade filter. 2l bottle filled with rocks sand and carbon. connected to our fountaion. it is a great idea when not able to house another large tank in your home take it outside.




all though a wise man once said "you can always hang it from the ceiling"

Angelfshgrl

That would certainly be a conversation piece!

Evan McKay

for sure