I need help setting up a volitan lion fish setup.

[RicoJ]

OK I got a glass 100 gallon tank (5' long) that I would like to set up for a dedicated volitan lion fish. Actually I would like to get two. At this time I don't have plans on keeping any other type of fish.

Can anyone recommend a set up? I.e. lighting, filtration, circulation etc. The tank is not drilled but it can be.

Thank you in advise for your suggestions.

Rico.

 

[rayn]

Lighting could be t5, but I would stay away from MH unless you are adding corals later.

I would drill and get a sump under there and a good skimmer. They are messy.

As far as two? They can get to about 15-18" as adults. Two may seem packed in there when adults.

 

[namxas]

What are the other dimensions of your tank? Is it a rectangle?

The reason I ask is that 100 gal tanks are typically either 72" x 18" x 19" or 48" x 24" x 20".

In captivity, an adult P. volitans will eventually end up being a 12" - 15" cube (counting fins), and IME, the less room they have, the more they will simply perch and sit there. If you want to keep two lionfish, and like the volitans, you might consider keeping a couple of P. russelii instead. They're just a tad smaller (10") so there would be a bit more space.

FWIW, we keep our full-grown volitans in a 4' 100 gal footprint, which is great, as it's 24" width gives the lion plenty of turnaround room, but I wouldn't keep two in the setup.

Definitely go with a drilled setup. LR and live macroalgae are your friends. The live macro looks nice and aids in water quality.

 

[RicoJ]

Thanks for the responses team. I am planning on buying some juveniles but I can assure you that if I can get a lion fish to full size I am planning on getting a much larger tank.

Greg my 100 gallon tank is an odd shape, It is 60l"x18w"x24h".

Thanks for the tips on the filtration. I will drill the tank and put a sump in with a good protein skimmer. I am going to be using the bean animal approach when installing the overflow. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1541946&highlight=over+flow.

Should I get some additional power heads for circulation or should the circulation from the return pump be enough? Any recommendations on a return pump?

Thanks again fellow reefers.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thanks for the responses team. I am planning on buying some juveniles but I can assure you that if I can get a lion fish to full size I am planning on getting a much larger tank.

Greg my 100 gallon tank is an odd shape, It is 60l"x18w"x24h".

Thanks for the tips on the filtration. I will drill the tank and put a sump in with a good protein skimmer. I am going to be using the bean animal approach when installing the overflow. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1541946&highlight=over+flow.

Should I get some additional power heads for circulation or should the circulation from the return pump be enough? Any recommendations on a return pump?

Thanks again fellow reefers.

Just a heads up; Volitans grow incredibly fast, especially if you are a soft touch and give in to their constant begging.

 

[namxas]

+1 to Tusky's remark about feeding and growth.

In our 100, I run a two return main on a SCWD and a 3-way CL for additional flow. Here are some pix of the setup:

Quick Schematic of Main Returns:

 

[RicoJ]

Namxas

That is a gorgeous picture of your tank, almost looks photoshoped!

Nice job. What kind of lighting are you using? Do you like the closed loop? Any good links that you recommend on setting one up?

Rico

 

[namxas]

My wife Renee (seahorsedreams) shoots almost all of the pix in the house, and she pretty much just uses tank lighting, as it's a lot more even than a flash, plus it doesn't bother the fish. She does shoot everything on a tripod tho. She actually takes pride that her pix aren't photoshopped other than to change their size or cropping.

As for lighting, that tank uses T-5's (10k and actinic). To be honest, I forget how many tubes, but I think it's 8, so that would be half and half.

I really like the CL, but I really just looked at the setup and said "a CL would be nice across the bottom of the tank" so I added one. I can control the flow between the center and side CL returns since the center return would normally have more flow due to the plumbing length. Our fish apparently likes it too, as it will sometimes face into one of the CL returns to loosen its cuticle around its face before molting.

Our upcoming peninsula (7' x 2' x 2') setup has four CL returns in its bottom, and they will be on a OM 4-way (2 returns on at a time) and will be individually valved for more precise control. The CL pump is a ReeFlo Dart.