can this be done?

joander123

joander123

what a fruitcake
Jan 12, 2007
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Massachusetts
hey guys just playing with ideas here- i've got a 110 gallon tank that needs using -always fun.

I was thinking that i really like lionfish, so i think id like to keep one, looking at volitians although those may get a bit large, so the other i am pondering are white finned (similar to volitians, but stay around 8-9") and the antennata lionfish as well.


The set-up i was looking at would hold something like this
-bout 125lbs LR
-Lionfish
-blue hippo tang (2)
-Trigger fish of some sort (one that would hopefully leave possible sessile inverts alone, any suggestions?)
-Angel(a larger one havent decided on which type yet however)
-Some snails (lots will get eaten through-out the life of the tank..but im willing to tank hits here, they do plenty of good for me)
-LPS corals....this is eventually im thinking, maybe not start the fish with these in tank, (although maybe if they mature around them they or less likely to nip?? whats your opinion on this matter?) I'm looking to have mushrooms zoanthanids polyps kind of corals.

for lighting on the coral, i am planning on about 3-4 wpg, and wondering if PC alone will suffice? Let me know what you think.

Also, let me know what you think about the potential stocking.

How much room does 125lbs of LR take up? I was origanally thinking more.... but i need there to be lots of open swimming room as well.

Thanks,
Jay
 
anyone have any opinions on this??
 
I'm no expert on lionfish, but I'll share some other comments since no one else has...

I wouldn't recommend getting two blue hippo tangs. Many tangs act aggressively towards other tangs, especially tangs of the same body type. Yes, you might get away with it, more so when they are small and young, but it could be risky as they get larger. Or, you may just find yourself needing to get rid of one of them once they reach a certain size.

I would be leary of a large angel with corals. There's really no guarantee that it would or would not bother your corals. However, there are those that could easily destroy the corals in a reef tank. There are more or less reef safe large angels, so you'll have to read species profiles and judge which one you'd like to try. I doubt that growing up and maturing around corals will have much effect on whether or not a fish nips at corals. Instincts are instincts, so if it's going to nip, it'll most likely nip. Results vary from individual to individual, so you might buy one that shreds your corals, swap it out for another, and the second one doesn't nip or does so hardly at all.

Most soft corals and LPS will be ok under PC lighting. There are some higher light species of both coral types that you'd probably want to avoid unless you choose better lighting. You might want to consider T5 HO lighting, as it'll give you more light output for the same amount of energy consumed. T5 HO lighting is more costly initially, but bulbs are cheaper and last longer than PC bulbs.

The amount of room 125 lbs of LR takes up will depend... certain types of LR are denser than others, but more importantly it will depend on the shape and size of pieces you choose along with how you stack them. We have about 110 lbs in our 90g reef and it occupies about 40% of the tank.

Hope that helps get you started!
 
since you want the lionfish first and foremost. I would look the lionfish up and find species that are compatible with it and make your decision about tankmates from there. He's your showcase fish, you don't want anything uncompatible with him. I'm pretty sure niger triggers are okay with lions, at least I've seen it done many times.

you'll have plenty of room still with the amount of LR you want with the tank size. you can do some really cool aquascaping with it.

btw, lionfish are awesome. I can't wait to see your set up. I think you are off to a great start...

Do you plan on having a protein skimmer? Sump? Any mechanical filtration? what type of sand?
 
yes too the skimmer, and probably a sump as well plans are in the making... as for mechanical filtration i have a mag 350 canister filter, although im not really sure as too how these work under marine conditions. Sand will probably just be normal pool filter sand, seeded with a couple lbs of actual live sand to help it become live itself.

Right now stocking looks like
-1 red volitan lionfish
-1 indian triggerfish (also known as the black trigger)
-1 Blue hippo tang
-1 blueface/emperor/koran angelfish havent decided on type yet
-2 red hawkfish

All these fish should get along together from my research, some potential problems of course, will the hawkfish grow fast enough to not be food for the more aggressive trigger, lion, and angel? Not sure yet just another potential stocking 8). let me know what you think on this one.
 
most trigger won't work with lions cause they usually nip fins (ending badly for both fish) but nigers are usually more peaceable, so with monitoring i guess it could work.
for an emperor i would get a 110 for itself. they do get really big and are fairly active i would recomend one of the smaller angels, also with thekoran just keep in mind what happens to most angels as the age.
as far as the hawks if there are put in there, say, when the cycle is finished and the lion and stuff come about 2-3 months later i think it would work.
 
ok, so right now im looking at either a pink tail trigger or an idian (black) trigger, which are both known to be more peaceful and "reef safe" (wont harm sessile inverts) triggers.

So stocking currently looks like this
-1 pink tail/black trigger
-1 Red Volitian Lionfish
- A tang of some sort, havent decided yet may go simple... may go exotic
-10-15 damsels (will probably eventually end up food but not until my bigger fish get bigger)
-2-3 red hawkfish
-Thinking about a yellowstripe maroon clownfish (biggest, meanest type so could put up with trigger)


^i got rid of the angelfish idea, as i started to realize the only real reef safe angels were not the type i was too interested in.

-Jay
 
10-15 damsels is a lot on your bio-load. Do you want them as food or to keep in your tank? They get big, mean, and ugly(IMO).

I think hawks fight within their own kind, 3 of them will probably not be a good idea. I don'tk now much on hawks.

You could try a dwarf lionfish. Look very similar to Volitian half the size. Lions will eat anything that can fit into their mouths. If a fish can't fit ( i mean really can't fit ), they won't try it.
 
i would keep the hawks to 2 MAX!! and as with the hawks if you want ANY of the damsels to live they need to go in very early and be one of the larger species: velvet, domino, sergent major, etc.
i would also second the dwarfs, they also look kind of cool in groups, 2-3.
 
not planning on damsels living, more of a cycling type fish. (they will be going in the tank first and will be testing out water type of idea, im not talking fishy cycling just when params get close is when i plan to put them in there before anything expensive.... im also not planning on buying bigger damsels simply yellow tails that are 1.25 at my LFS)

On the lion, i was looking a bit at the atenentta (sp?), do you think it would be a better fit?

-Jay

As for the hawks, i read that the Flame hawkfish does well in groups of 2-5, but if you think 3 is too much? im fine with 2 8).
 
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