Considering aggresive tank

[amdninjaboy]

I recently had my community tank wiped out by a bout of velvet.. I am letting the tank sit fishless for 8 weeks.. When I start to add fish again I am considering doing a predator based tank.. Im thinking of having a lionfish, porcupine puffer, yellow tang, harlequin tuskfish and possibly an angelfish of some type.. Im wondering about aggresion issues, mostly the puffer and lionfish.. I have read some places say they are fine together others say the porcupine will go after the lionfish.. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with these fish together.. My tank is a 90 gal with a 20Gal sump, lots of live rock and a skimmer..

Thanks
Shane.

 

[rayn]

Most will yell you no on the lion and puffer. I have been lucky with a lion and dog face puffer, but they are well fed and I watch them. If I see a problem arise one will be gone.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Many puffers can be very nippy, I don't trust them with lions. Also, I think your tank is WAY to small for your fish list. Imo, its too small for even one of any of the fish on your list (unless you're looking at a dwarf angel), many of the fish on your list approach or exceed a foot in length as adults---way too big for a tank that's only 48" long. Dwarf Angel, Dwarf lion, small puffer, med. wrasse, etc would work much better. If you just got over a velvet plague; I hope your first purchase is a QT.

 

[amdninjaboy]

i have a qt tank, never had an outbreak of velvet before. I thought it was ick and treated for that but before long it was too late..

 

[MrTuskfish]

i have a qt tank, never had an outbreak of velvet before. I thought it was ick and treated for that but before long it was too late..

If you properly QT everything before you put them into your DT; you'll never have to deal with either.

 

[bigfish520]

I have 2 dwarf lions with a dogface and golden arothron with no probs at all. Puffers are usually pretty chill as long as they are well fed.

 

[namxas]

Lions and puffers are usually a hit-or-miss thing. The trouble is that if they happen to be a "miss", the lionfish will suffer for it.

IME, Arothron sp. tend to be OK when smaller, but as they grow, they tend to become more aggressive. I had to get rid of my S&S because it decided that every other fish in the tank was OK to gnaw on.

Adding the lionfish first and letting it become well-adjusted will be your best hope for success, but I would definitely have a "Plan B".

 

[Gagstr]

Here is a video of my tank and i have a Dogface and a Lion, they get along better then most of the other fish in the tank, When i got my Lion i made sure he was the biggest size i could get because many fish nip at their fins, so far the only issues ive had was a bit of nipping by the angels on the puffer. I also feed alllllooooootttt and often so i know they arent ever hungry... good luck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1C94SNyJnw

 

[MrTuskfish]

I'm glad its working. "Nippy" puffers" is a typical individual fish thing. IMO & IME, the smaller "Toby" type and porcupine puffers are nastier than many of the bigger Arothron puffers. Not always, though. FWIW: I don't think keeping any fish well fed is going to determine either its "nippiness' or its aggression. Those traits are genetic and can't be controlled. Ask anyone who's ever tried to civilize an Undy Trigger by keeping it well fed.

 

[Gagstr]

I agree that you will not be able to modify the naturally aggressive species by feeding but I do know that aggression levels do decrease when fed well, also ive been told that using frozen foods rather than live feeders will help. The best thing would be size control. Least aggressive = Largest fish first added, Most aggressive = smallest fish last added. Also most species aggression levels vary from fish to fish so it’s always a roll of the dice... I always check to see if the fish im buying is doing well with the tank mates at the LFS but even that isn’t something you would want to base your decisions on.