My 65 gallon and fish
- Thread starter Death Shrimp99
- Start date
Death Shrimp99
Member
haha. Which neighbors? The clownfish is fully grown and is longer than the Lionfish is from head to tail! It has no interest in the clownfish. When I first got him and was feeding him live food it showed almost no interest in fish and would only eat very small fish less than an inch or grass/ghost shrimp. It wouldn't even chase the fish. The only way I him to eat them was by letting them go right next to him. I have been hand feeding him pieces of shrimp and silversides since a couple weeks after I got him.
Also, years ago I had a Volitans that was much bigger than my current dwarf zebra and it lived for years with that same clownfish until I gave him away to a fellow reef keeper. At one point that lionfish was not fed for a full week while I was on vacation and the fish sitter was only feeding flakes and it he was going to eat the clownfish which it could have if it really wanted to it would have then. I believe that once they are established for a while living together the lionfish does not view it as food. The clownfish is pretty much as big as that species gets as i've had it for 3 years now and the person I bought it from had it for 4+ years.
Lionfish generally won't try to eat fish that are barely small enough for them to fit in their mouth as its not worth it. Mine is very docile as it has been trained/conditioned to be hand fed by me once a day. It doesn't even show interest in feeder fish that would be very easy for him to eat because it is used to the routine of being hand fed by me. Thanks for your concern but i've been keeping lionfish for a long time and I know their behavior and personality and what they can and will do. I know a lot more about my own fish than you. No hard feelings.
shinypenny
New member
Lovely looking tank.
Can I ask what corals you've had success with in that tank. I think it's a great idea but I'd be worried that with the lion (low flow) and angel (nips SPS) that it could be tricky to get things to thrive. Any experience you have would be great to hear.
Can I ask what corals you've had success with in that tank. I think it's a great idea but I'd be worried that with the lion (low flow) and angel (nips SPS) that it could be tricky to get things to thrive. Any experience you have would be great to hear.
Death Shrimp99
Member
The strategy that works with me is high flow and lots of natural filtration and no mechanical filtration. This works great for me since my tank is very well established(9 years old). My tank is very well established as far as natural filtration goes with bacteria. I got rid of my protien skimmer about a year ago and I still have undetectable nitrate. Since I have done this I have seen even better growth in my corals. I believe this is because the increased nurtient levels make most of the corals I have grow faster. When I say nutrient levels I mean disolved organics, pods, etc. things that the protien skimmer takes out that are used by corals. I believe the nitrate has still been kept undetectable with no protien skimmer or any mechanical filtration is because of a very well established tank with ample nitrate-processing bacteria from good live rock and medium(~3 inch sand bed) that I stir up a little sometimes and also lots of xenia that is growing fast.
I personally don't like SPS. I like corals that move in the flow like xenia and soft corals and the brillant colors of zoos/palys and ricordea. I think LPS and soft corals make for a better looking and more interesting tank than SPS dominated. I think the whole craze with SPS is because its harder to keep so there it is seen as a challenge and therefore more prized than soft corals. I choose my corals based on how they look and I think soft corals make for a more impressive looking tank than SPS. People see xenia as a pest and Acropora as a prized coral but I see it the opposite. Acros looks boring to me, the hard skeleton structure that would come off to non-reefers as a fake coral. I would think to hear the infamous phrase by non-reefers "wow, is that real?" more from SPS than softies. I think people are much more impressed by the looks of leathers, pulsing xenia and the stunning colors of zoas, rics, star polyps and LPS like frogspawn.
Anyway here is my list of corals as of now:
1. green star polyps in several different places.
2. 4 types of zoas: radioactive green, eagle eyes, purple, pink, and yellow. also a couple brown/green palys
3. toadstool leather
4. green frogspawn
5. xenia: elongata and white
6. orange/blue ricordea
7. red bubble tip anemone
and more...
I personally don't like SPS. I like corals that move in the flow like xenia and soft corals and the brillant colors of zoos/palys and ricordea. I think LPS and soft corals make for a better looking and more interesting tank than SPS dominated. I think the whole craze with SPS is because its harder to keep so there it is seen as a challenge and therefore more prized than soft corals. I choose my corals based on how they look and I think soft corals make for a more impressive looking tank than SPS. People see xenia as a pest and Acropora as a prized coral but I see it the opposite. Acros looks boring to me, the hard skeleton structure that would come off to non-reefers as a fake coral. I would think to hear the infamous phrase by non-reefers "wow, is that real?" more from SPS than softies. I think people are much more impressed by the looks of leathers, pulsing xenia and the stunning colors of zoas, rics, star polyps and LPS like frogspawn.
Anyway here is my list of corals as of now:
1. green star polyps in several different places.
2. 4 types of zoas: radioactive green, eagle eyes, purple, pink, and yellow. also a couple brown/green palys
3. toadstool leather
4. green frogspawn
5. xenia: elongata and white
6. orange/blue ricordea
7. red bubble tip anemone
and more...
ocellaris123
Active member
That is one of the nicest flame angel pics I have seen. He is quite the stunning specimen.
Death Shrimp99
Member
The tank itself including all the live rock, live sand, and the Flame Angel which was the fish fish I ever bought are 9 years old but the GSP in the picture is only a couple months old but it's growing very fast. I have bigger pieces of GSP in other parts of the tank. My tank has gone through many stages. My tank was mostly fish-only for the first ~7 years. The Longnose Hawkfish is also very old at >7 years and the clownfish >3 years(previous owner that gave it to me had it for ~5).
SaltwaterAdict
New member
Very nice pics. I agree with what u said about lps/softies/mushrooms as being a better choice over sps. I like a variety, but people who go sps dominate is plain n boring in my eyes. The movement other corals have is very interesting n enjoyable n this can't be done by sps corals. I love the different shapes n sizes soft/lps corals have. I'd be careful with that lionfish, the hogfish/etc might be a snack give a little time. Could we see some full tank shots?
