Im still thinking about Starting a SW Tank

[phonemaster]

I plan to build a species SW tank.

Im thinking that I want to have a plain SW tank (no reef) That is just big enough to house one or 2 really cool specimen(s)...

I was thinking Lionfish.

I am also thinking about maybe doing Sea Horses instead...

Does anyone know where I might find a Leefy Sea Dragon to buy? I was thinking that if I could have just 1 fish in the tank... A Sea Dragon would be PHAT!

[Guy W]

Originally posted by phonemaster
I plan to build a species SW tank.

Im thinking that I want to have a plain SW tank (no reef) That is just big enough to house one or 2 really cool specimen(s)...

I was thinking Lionfish.

I am also thinking about maybe doing Sea Horses instead...

Does anyone know where I might find a Leefy Sea Dragon to buy? I was thinking that if I could have just 1 fish in the tank... A Sea Dragon would be PHAT!

I've never seen one for sale, but I would imagine they are very expensive if they can be bought.

As for doing a Fish Only tank with a Lion. If you go for one of the dwarf species of Lions you won't need a gigantic tank, but if you want a Volitans or Russel's, I'd recommend atleast a 90 gallon tank. Some say 75 is ok, but they are messy eaters and the extra water volume would be helpful in controling water parameters.

As for Sea Horses, they don't interest me, and you are limited on what you can do with them. But they can make a cool 29 gallon species setup if you just do a couple. But not a whole lot of other fish can go with them because they are slow eaters. They can't compete for food against other faster fish.

Guy

[MonoSebaelover]

Last time I saw a Leafy Seadragon for sale it was $699.00. Plus to the fact that they are temperate so will need a chiller, generally don't accept anything but live mysis shrimp, will need a minimum of 125 gallons for one specimen, basically not a fish that is bound to be in an aquarium. Last year I went to our public aquarium (Ocean Journey) and was talking to one of the care takers and he said they spent $300 dollars a month importing live mysis shrimp for just two seadragons by themselves. If you go with Seahorses be aware that wild caught ones will have to be fed live foods twice a day minimum (eventually they should convert to frozen) and captive raised ones will need frozen once a day but generally their price starts at 60 bucks a pony. Anyway hope this helps.

[Hebdizzle]

I went to that Ocean Journey aquarium just a couple weeks ago, nice place. Now if only Detroit could maintain a quality aquarium :(

Aaron

[VoodooChild]

I believe the sea dragons were recently put on CITES. That means only captive bred domestic specimens. I'd nix that, and if you're starting out, like everyone else said, seahorses are very fragile and lions are very tough.

[votek]

Originally posted by phonemaster
I plan to build a species SW tank.

Im thinking that I want to have a plain SW tank (no reef) That is just big enough to house one or 2 really cool specimen(s)...

I was thinking Lionfish.

I am also thinking about maybe doing Sea Horses instead...

Does anyone know where I might find a Leefy Sea Dragon to buy? I was thinking that if I could have just 1 fish in the tank... A Sea Dragon would be PHAT!

Go easy for starters son. You will be dropping $$$$ like water itself when your fish die. And believe me...they will die. It happens to everyone and its best to learn with cheaper more managable fish so that you know what to do with future more demanding species.

[BrianH]

Actually I believe that if you do your homework and stay patient, theres no reason for any fish loss. I've lost 1 fish in my 18 months of keeping a reef tank. I lost a foxface who got caught in a powerhead intake. No other losses. Just take your time and do the research and you will do fine.

Brian

[Ray Pollett]

Originally posted by BrianH
Actually I believe that if you do your homework and stay patient, theres no reason for any fish loss. I've lost 1 fish in my 18 months of keeping a reef tank. I lost a foxface who got caught in a powerhead intake. No other losses. Just take your time and do the research and you will do fine.

Brian

While I agree with the research part, I have to disagree with " theres no reason for any fish loss". It is not going to happen. You've been lucky. You will lose fish if you stay in the hobby long enough. Please do not take this as a flame, it is not the intent. I believe setting unreachable expectations causes problems for new fish keepers. They wonder why am I killing fish when others never lose a fish. They get discouraged and leave a great hobby. I also am not for saying it is OK, I killed 15 fish , now lets throw 15 more in the tank. I believe we need to research, learn and respect the fish live we are keeping. We need to do our best to try and keep as many as possible of them alive.

Ray

[BrianH]

Ray,

I agree that I've been more fortunate with fish health than corals, I just wanted to state another opinion(and experience) after this quote.

"You will be dropping $$$$ like water itself when your fish die. And believe me...they will die."

I remember that when I first decided to move into SW many people advised that it was too difficult to be successful. I still hear too many negative comments regarding the keeping of SW fish. I simply want to say that "success" is not as difficult as many would like you to believe.

Brian

[Ray Pollett]

BrianH,

"I simply want to say that "success" is not as difficult as many would like you to believe."

I agree totally

Ray

[Alastair]

Regarding the leafy sea dragons, yes, they and the closely related weedy sea dragons are a protected species. They are bred in captivity, but only by a few places to the extent of maybe a couple of hundred a year and are typically only available to licenced public aquariums. My understanding is that the current sale price to public aquariums is around $1000 each (although that might be in Australian dollars, which would put that $699 USD about on the mark).