Felicia's Lionfish Mixed Reef 40B

[flsvedlund]

Tank was started on February 16th, 2015 as an upgrade from my 30 gallon system. First lionfish was added on May 16th, 2015.

FTS 5/28/15

Fu Manchu Lionfish (Dendrochirus biocellatus)

Dwarf Zebra Lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra)

Antennata Lionfish (Pterois antennata)

Specifications

Tank
40g Breeder Tetra glass aquarium (36"W x 18"D x 17"H)
Drilled 700 gph Glass Holes overflow kit and 3/4" return kit
Aqueon black pine stand

Rock and Sand
28 lbs of KPA cured live rock
10 lbs Real Reef rock
40 lbs of CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink sand

Lighting
Maxspect R420R (Razor) 27" 160 watt 16k

Flow
2 Vortech MP10's

Filtration
Sump - 20g long Tetra aquarium (30"W x 12"D x 12"H); Jebao DC-3000 return pump
4" Felt Filter Sock
Phosban 150 Media Reactor with TLF NPX Biopellets
Reef Octopus NWB110 skimmer
Refugium with chaetomorphia, rubble rock, and Maxspect Razor Nano 10K light

Heating
125 Watt Eheim Jager Heater
Finnex Max-300 Digital Aquarium Heater Controller

Auto Top-Off
JBJ ATO Water Level Controller
Tom Aqua Lifter Vacuum Pump

Dosing
Jebao DP-4
Channel 1: Acropower
Channel 2: B-Ionic Mg
Channel 3: B-Ionic Ca
Channel 4: B-Ionic Alk

RO/DI System
BRS 5 Stage RO/DI System
Purtrex 5 micron sediment filter
Catalytic carbon
ChlorPlus 10 carbon block
75 GPD Dow Filmtec membrane
DI resin (color-changing)

Livestock

Fish
Fu Manchu Lionfish (Dendrochirus biocellatus)
Dwarf Zebra Lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra)
Antennata Lionfish (Pterois antennata)
Snowflake Eel (Echidna nebulosa)
Darwin Ocellaris Clownfish (male) (Amphiprion ocellaris)
Standard Ocellaris Clownfish (female) (Amphiprion ocellaris)
Starry Blenny (Salarias ramosus)

Inverts
2 Fighting Conchs
Squamosa Clam (purchased May 27, 2015)
Squamosa Clam (purchased Oct. 2013)
Tiger Derasa Clam (purchased March 2014)
Turbo snails
2 ruby red mithrax crabs
2 serpent starfish
3 scarlet hermit crabs

 

[flsvedlund]

Build History

Build History

Drilling the drain and return

Cat included for scale

Stand

Sump Design

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll205/alatarie/IMG_2698.jpg

 

[flsvedlund]

Build History

Build History

The build and tank transfer!

Draining the old 30 gallon

Painting the back of the new 40B

New tank on the stand

Working out the plumbing measurements

Finished plumbing

Filled the tank for the plumbing test

 

[flsvedlund]

Build History

Build History

Whole system up and running

Drain

Return

Screen lid

 

[flsvedlund]

Build History

Build History

Sump

 

[flsvedlund]

Photos of the Fu Manchu Lionfish

Photos of the Fu Manchu Lionfish

Photos of the Fu Manchu Lionfish

 

[flsvedlund]

Photos of Dwarf Zebra Lionfish

Photos of Dwarf Zebra Lionfish

Photos of Dwarf Zebra Lionfish

 

[flsvedlund]

Photos of the Antennata Lionfish

Photos of the Antennata Lionfish

Photos of the Antennata Lionfish

 

[flsvedlund]

 

[flsvedlund]

Snowflake Eel

Snowflake Eel

Snowflake Eel

 

[hotelbravo]

this is a wonderful post. great pictures and great job. it looks like alot of hard work and love went into this and it all payed off congrats!!

 

[james30ct]

Looks good. Do you have a lid for the eel?

 

[flsvedlund]

this is a wonderful post. great pictures and great job. it looks like alot of hard work and love went into this and it all payed off congrats!!

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed. I am really active on Nano-Reef, but I figured since this tank is borderline on no longer being a nano-tank that I would check out Reef Central. Also, I'm hoping there might be some more lionfish owners/experts on here. I have a thread on Nano-Reef documenting this tank, so I pulled the best photos to put together this post. Its definitely still a work in progress

 

[flsvedlund]

Looks good. Do you have a lid for the eel?

Thank you! Yes, I have a screen lid made with 1/4" netting. It fits snug within the rim of the tank, so there are no gaps that the eel can escape through. He's too big to go through the 1/4" netting. The screen lid is light though, so he could possibly push it up, so I tape it down to the rim in the 4 corners to prevent that.

Here's the lid:

 

[hart24601]

Wow, just wonderful! Love the idea and the execution. Clams and small lionfish, two of my favorite things.

 

[flsvedlund]

Wow, just wonderful! Love the idea and the execution. Clams and small lionfish, two of my favorite things.

Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm loving the combination of the lionfish and clams. Kind of a unique combo

 

[Martini5788]

Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm loving the combination of the lionfish and clams. Kind of a unique combo

It is definitely unique and absolutely beautiful. Great job!

 

[saf1]

Well done. Outstanding actually. You are amazing.

Do you happen to have a full tank shot or did I miss it.

 

[Nihoa]

A dream tank. What's everyone eating?

 

[Docdiggy]

Nice tank.When I look at the pics, the clam and soft corals look like they need more light.