insane?

[Moonstream]

there is one fish that will most definitely, beyond any shadow of a doubt be kept in my BC29- a fuzzy dwarf lion. now, I know a lion adds something to the bioload, and I realize it is not realistic to expect lots of other fish with it, but I was hoping to be able to fit one or two other fish in the tank.

I would like to end up with- at the very least- the lion and some kind of bottom dweller (thinking the standard shrimp/goby pairing would be dinner, so I've narrowed my options to an engineer goby or a blackcap tiger jawfish). in my wildest dreams, I'd love a saddle valentini puffer as well.

okay, before anybody tells me outright I'm insane, remember that I said this tank is going to be setup with increased bioload in mind. I'm setting this tank up to run, basically, as one giant refugium geared towards nutrient export. cheato will be growing in the back chamber, and I'm planning various other macros for the main tank. corals will be minimal, and nothing will be sensitive (leathers and mushrooms, basically). if needed, I can and will buy a skimmer, although that will be on an as-needed basis and I'm hoping it will not be necessary.

also, as a note: I know some people will say a fuzzy dwarf is too large for a tank this size, and I agree that it is a possibility that the lion will outgrow the tank, in which case arrangements will be made as needed.

so... am I crazy to even hope for fish besides the lion?

 

[namxas]

You could keep a smaller scorp species or waspfish in the tank. Engineer "gobies" get huge and make a real mess of the tank. The jawfish might work if you get an adult jawfish and a juvie fuzzie, but bear in mind that cigar-shaped fish are easily swallowed. I dunno if the jawfish might bully the fuzzy in a small tank like that tho...

FWIW, we've kept similar setups before...plug-n-play setup with a fuzzy and smaller scorps/waspfish. Lots of macro (to which I attribute being able to pull it off) and some LR. In fact, all of our juvie fish live in similar setups as grow-out and/or QT-weaning tanks.

 

[curlykid]

i think a cockatoo waspfish would nicely suit your needs. I believe they're more active than red fin waspfish.

 

[MrTuskfish]

IMO, people worry way too much about "bio-Load; especially in FOWLR tanks. where nitrate is much less of a concern. Aerobic bacteria, assuming it has enough surface area to culture, multiplies rapidly and (IMO) you can easily keep a couple of fish with a dwarf lion in a 29. Picking fish that won't be lunch or make the tank look cramped is another problem.

 

[treylane]

A 29g won't have enough swimming space to keep a valentini happy - they don't stay tiny for long.

 

[namxas]

i think a cockatoo waspfish would nicely suit your needs. I believe they're more active than red fin waspfish.

IME, that's very true, esp. with adult fish. Our cockatoo "taught itself" how to maintain its place in the water column, and can now do so with little trouble. The fish looked really spastic at first (as in I thought something was wrong with it!), but it apparently wanted to make sure we notice it at feeding time. Altho the fish isn't as flashy as some of the other waspfish, it more than makes up for it in "personality".

Some smaller scorps that would be OK in that setup are:

Scorpaenodes caribbaeus (reef scorpionfish)

S. littoralis (cheekspot scorpionfish)

S. strongia (barchin sropionfish)

 

[Moonstream]

how common are those scorps? cute little fish, the barchin and the reef scorps especially, but I've never seen them (nor wasps) for sale. any oneline sources that carry them often?

so, definitely no puffer- I had a feeling that was a little unrealistic anyways. right now, I'm thinking maybe the lion, along with one or two scorps (pair of redfin wasps, or one a barchin or reef scorp and a cockatoo waspfish).

 

[MrTuskfish]

how common are those scorps? cute little fish, the barchin and the reef scorps especially, but I've never seen them (nor wasps) for sale. any oneline sources that carry them often?

so, definitely no puffer- I had a feeling that was a little unrealistic anyways. right now, I'm thinking maybe the lion, along with one or two scorps (pair of redfin wasps, or one a barchin or reef scorp and a cockatoo waspfish).

Puffers can be very nippy with lions too
. DD has had quite a few unusual scorps lately, even some pairs. Get ready to buy though, they don't last long.

 

[namxas]

The caribbaeus and the strongia both came from DD, altho the strongia was mis-ID'd as Sebastapistes cyanostigma. The littoralis was a find at a huge warehouse-type LFS down in San Diego.

Our redfins came from DD as well, but I found the cockatoo at a LFS. Oddly enuff, cockatoos used to be fairly common in the trade, but seem sorta rare now, possibly due to their drab coloration.

With finding scorps, you need to know what you're seeing (as they're often mis-ID'd) and be ready to move quickly to obtain them, but patience is a big part of it as well.

Here are the waspfish:

Ablabys taenianotus (cockatoo waspfish, sailfin rogue, leaf fish):

Paracentropogon rubripinnis (red-fin waspfish):

 

[Moonstream]

gorgeous wasps- I'm thinking about maybe getting one of each species, I really do like their body shape better than that of the scorpions'.