Never tried aggressive...

A

Ansphire

Member
hey guys i've been in the hobby for a while and lately been thinking about setting up a fish only predator tank..

I'm pretty confident all my equip will keep a fish only tank happy.. what I don't know is how to stock one... what fish is compatible with what..

I was thinking stocking around a volitan lion fish?.

Oh its a 46g bow..

little help?
 
stay away from triggers. make sure whatever you put in there wont fit in the lions mouth. Eel would be a great choice.
 
An agressive tank means that, you never know whos going after who. But, Dwarf Lion is a good choice, Snowflake Eel or Wolf, Blue Throat Trigger, Pink tail Trigger maybe. Clarki clwon fish, Hawk fish.
 
An agressive tank means that, you never know whos going after who. But, Dwarf Lion is a good choice, Snowflake Eel or Wolf, Blue Throat Trigger, Pink tail Trigger maybe. Clarki clwon fish, Hawk fish.
Click to expand...

Definitely no triggers in a 46 gallon bow.
I'd have a green wolf eel or an engineer goby for something "eel-like" that won't take up too much real estate in your tank.

With a properly planned and stocked "aggressive" tank, you can keep it compatible.

In your 46 bow, you could have a pair of fuzzy dwarfs, or two different species of dwarf lionfish. I have two different lionfish in a 44 pentagon, and they don't bother each other. HOWEVER my lions WILL outgrow the tank, they are medium species - mombassa (I think) and radiata. They will be going into a bigger tank eventually, probably my 90.

What other fish do you like? Depending on what else you like, you could fit one or two more moderate sized fish (as small as possible while not likely to be swallowed by the lionfish. Be sure you have good filtration.
 
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I thought Lisa gave a nice list back last year some time, so I looked it up. Mind you, this was for a 75g tank if I recall, so one should go even more conservative with a 3' tank:

LisaD said:
inch for inch, I haven't seen many fish more aggressive than pygmy angels!

Good points about a 75 being an "in between" sized tank. However, you "can" do a predator/aggressive tank with a 75. You just can't use the standard sized predator/aggressive fish.

For example, instead of a:

large puffer, use a sharpnose puffer (toby)
trigger, use a small filefish (e.g. bristletail filefish)
volitans lion, use a fuzzy dwarf or other dwarf lionfish
large moray eel, use a dwarf moray, engineer goby, or green wolf eel blenny
grouper, use a basslet (or marine betta, orchid dottyback, etc.)
large Thallasoma wrasse, use a six line, mystery wrasse or dwarf hogfish (e.g. yellow candy hog)

You still have the issues of compatibility, bioload, etc. but it is possible to set up a small aggressive tank without overcrowding.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, TriggersAmuck, I had forgotten about that list. I'm a big believer in "right sized" aggressive tanks. I do think OP will be happier with a bigger tank in the long run, 75 or even 55 is a pretty good size.
 
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im planning on putting a black ribbon eel, dwarf fuzzy lion, and maybe a filefish or toby in my 55g. i do have a niger 3" niger, maroon clown, and 5 damsels in the tank also but dont do what im doing, im stupid :P

my ultimate list for a 55 would be a ribbon eel, fuzzy dwarf lion, a bristletail filefish, blue spot toby (C. Solandri) and a candy hogfish. food for thought.
 
hey guys after reading a bit and also all of your responses i've come to the conclussion that i need a bigger tank!.. lol

but since i don't want a bigger tank... i'll just probably stay away from agresive.. and do dwarf angel, clowns, royal gramma and eventually a mandarin.. i think would be less of a headache too...
 
Ricky, you could have a nice tank built around one or two dwarf lions. You could even keep some hardy corals. I love watching my lionfish. The mombassa begs like a puppy for food. MY lions are medium, NOT dwarf, and will outgrow my 44 pent. If you had one or two dwarf lions, they would be fine in your tank for life. All my tanks are aggressive, and I don't have any problems...

Your other list sounds good too... Though be careful about the mandarin, even ORA mandarins that are trained to eat frozen or pellets may need supplemental pods. Unless you have a good refugium, your tank may not be big enough to support the mandarin (though mine is doing fine in a 44).

Palmer, your tank sounds like it may be a bit crowded. What is max size for ribbon eel?
 
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I agree with Lisa...you could easily do a nice tank with a couple of Dendrochirus sp. lions and a few tankmates such as one of the smaller filefish and a toby. For a bottom-dweller, could look into one of the waspfish sp. such as a cockatoo or the redfin or one of the smaller scorpionfish (typically genus Scorpaenodes).
 
Lisa- i think its around 40" or so. they are long and slender from what i know so even if they get to be 40" they arent as thick as the other eels. i might set up the 29 for a temp home for the eel tho, still deciding. if i add the lion and eel i wont add the toby and/or filefish ;)
 
sorry I don't mean to like take over the thread or whatever but I'm thinking of doing an aggressive tank also but in a 55g... i want to center it around a dwarf lion and snowflake eel, any suggestions? would larger butterflies be good with a dwarf lion and SFE?
 
Most BF's will be cramped in a 55 gal, so you'll really want to research your fish and look for the smaller, more hardy species.

I'd also rethink the SFE, as if you've read some of the threads on this forum, you'll find that they get pretty nasty once they get some size on them (I had one for 15 years, so I speak from experience). IMHO, you'd do better with a dwarf golden moray in that setup.

The fuzzy dwarf is a slam dunk for a 55 tho...it's a perfect size for them.
 
Ansphire said:
hey guys i've been in the hobby for a while and lately been thinking about setting up a fish only predator tank..

I'm pretty confident all my equip will keep a fish only tank happy.. what I don't know is how to stock one... what fish is compatible with what..

I was thinking stocking around a volitan lion fish?.

Oh its a 46g bow..

little help?
Click to expand...

i dont know how i missed this thread but i have a 46bow cycling right now.

the fish for it are in qt

Fuzzy lion(7in)
green wolf eel(7in)
Cockatoo waspfish(5-6in)

the are in a 30 tall now. i think they will love the space to swim back and forth!!

about another 2 week for copper treatment to finish!(cuprimine)

cycle completed about a week ago.

the clean up crew is at work in the tank at this time.

they will have double the space left to right when they make it in their
 
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