Planning new 6ft tank built around a 'Volitans'.

[Redhaze]

Hi chaps,

a mate of mine is planning the above as his first pop at Saltwater & would love as much feedback/suggestions as possible on his potential set-up so far?

His current thinking is as follows - 6ft tank with sump (I would persume about 130+ G) main occupant the fantastic Volitan Lion. Possible tanks mates so far - Tangs (Regal), Wrasses, Dwarf Angels (Flame), Groupers (Panther). Ocean Rock, heater, powerheads, Ro/DI unit.

Myself have a 55g Reef and no nothing regarding setting up a FOWLR (but in this case Ocean Rock). As well as a good skimmer would he need a filter also? Is a UV necessary? How many Powerheads? Would he need the skimmer?

I would think a tank this size going FOWLR would, pending correct equipment & not overstocking basically look's after itself? No LR, algae, hermits etc to worry about.

Any suggestions/help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Patchy]

you would want a 6x2x2 as the smallest for a V. lion, maybe even a little wider.
these fish get alot bigger than some relise its not just their length but they get quite fat when they mature then you have to take into account the pectoral extensions.

Tangs can pick on lions, most wrasse big enough to live with a lion will pick on it, dwarf angels will make a nice meal and groupers while a good tank mate can become a very inactive tank.

Me personally i love just my scorpionfish only tanks but its not for all people. may wanna try a dwarf species and then try some more active fish to fill it out

 

[Redhaze]

Thanks for your reply Patchy.

Interesting one this...myself got into the hobby after seeing the Volitan in LFS a couple of yrs ago but after some brief research on compatable tanks mates I got put off by, like you said, having a very 'inactive' tank. My mate's dead set on the Volitan and will build around it even if no other tank mates are included. Anyway....

Interesting about the tangs. What about maybe a 'Kole'?. Surley a max size of 7" to big for the lion, active and peacefull??? Agreed on the Wrasses but again maybe a Harlequin Tusk or a Moon Wrasse?

6ft tank would defo be the smallest but no bigger than 10ft. Ive told him bigger the better. His main dilema is whether to go with Ocean Rock (base rock) or LR. I did suggest LR for obvious reasons. One thing were both not sure on though is if he did go LR how would he combat any algae/blooms? Is it just a case of adding more Inverts on a regular basis to keep this in check as im sure they wont be in their long with this fantastic lion fish in question?

Anyone else want to chime in? More opinions/suggestions the better.

cheers

 

[drunktank]

get an AGA 125g, or the Oceanic 144 eclipse or 155 bow. Great tanks with lots of room. I'd tell your friend to just get 2 lions for the tank, and maybe a grouper or eel. I'd also suggest since its a big tank going 80% base rock (ocean rock, never heard that before) and 20% live rock. It's a much better option and easy on the wallet.
As for the algae blows etc- he's going to have to do a lot of maintance b/c you can't keep any inverts, tehy become tasty snacks for agressive fish. So he'll have to maintain water quality and buy a set of magnets to clean up !

 

[John@JP]

You can still get some inverts with a lion or grouper, Stars, Urchins, Hermits, snails. As for fish you have alot of options. Tangs, Lookdowns, sharks, rays, triggers, tangs, angels big body clowns, eels, batfish, spadefish, porkfish, all sorts of stuff.

 

[I like Triggers]

john@jp, no, triggers and tangs may nip at the fins of lions. snails and hermits probably would get eaten. most of those compatible fish you listed will get too large for a tank this size, especially sharks and rays.

 

[Patchy]

snails will be fine with a lion, hermits can be iffy. my lions picks up a hermits shell till they run away from it then he kills them.

 

[Redhaze]

as expected very conflicting opions. Im under the impression the lion will eat anything it can fit to its mouth so I guess it just tial and error?

Were looking in to a Urchin and maybe a 12" Conch for my clean up crew now. Surely a lion or even trigger wouldnt go for these???

 

[Patchy]

lions dont have the teeth to crush hard shelled inverts

 

[Unlikely_Hero]

I've been told that Lions only go for crustaceans (i.e. crabs, lobsters).

Don't be turned off by Triggers just because people say they'll nip at fins. That's usually something you'll just have to try and see what happens. There are plenty of people who keep Triggers with lots of other tankmates and have no trouble with fin-nipping at all. Your best bet for increasing your chances would be to get one young, and a less-aggressive species (Undulate triggers generally aren't a good choice unless they're alone).

When I get going on my Lion tank in the near future (hopefully a 90g+), I'm going for multiple Lion species with a few stand-out mates like a Harlequin Tusk, a Marine Betta, and a Butterfly or two. Possibly an eel and/or Trigger as well, depending on the size I decide on. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[Redhaze]

Thanks for all the replys reefers again its much appreciated. After more research Inc. some great threads/pics on here recently the current update for my mates tank built around what we thought would be a Volitan -

* Tank has been ordered: 6x2x2 with 20g sump = 170 g total
* 80/20 Base Rock/Live Rock (prob about 60-80kg total?)
* TMC V2 800 or 1000 Skimmer
* 2 x Maji-Jet 1200
* 1 x Heater (all equipment within sump)

Although the original idea was to build around a Volitans my mate is now swaying towards the Russells mainly due to their smaller max size. He was keen the highly prized Radiata (the redish colours & extended white fins look fantastic) but seems like there harder to come by hence why more expensive, sleep all day only come out at night, & are finiky eaters. Also not aggresive eaters as the other lions.

I think though it will be the Russells. Other poss tank mates -

2 x Maroon Clowns (yellow stripe)
1 x Foxface Lo
1 x Regal Tang
1 x Niger Trigger
1 x Flame Angel

Now personally I would say this is too many? Myself on this all round set up would definately include more LR, would only have one Maroon & drop the regal and go for a smaller tang like the Kole or Yellow. Or even drop the tang and go for a Moon Wrasse or something similar?

Any body want to chime in on all aspects of set-up/tanks mates?Pics of the Russells or even the Radiata would be great?!

Regards

 

[Redhaze]

Anyone?

 

[Unlikely_Hero]

Too many? Nah. That's far below the 1/2" to a gallon rule. I'd guess that you could put that same group in a 125 gallon with very few problems. If it were me, I would skip the Maroon clowns, though. They're far too aggressive as adults for my taste. Plus, that'd leave more room for another Lion or two.

 

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7185886#post7185886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Unlikely_Hero
Don't be turned off by Triggers just because people say they'll nip at fins. That's usually something you'll just have to try and see what happens. There are plenty of people who keep Triggers with lots of other tankmates and have no trouble with fin-nipping at all. Your best bet for increasing your chances would be to get one young, and a less-aggressive species (Undulate triggers generally aren't a good choice unless they're alone).

It depends on which trigger you're talking about, more than anything else. Your best bet is with the Xanthichthys triggers. Niger triggers are hit and miss. Rhinecanthus triggers (picasso, bursa, rectagulated, etc) are very, very adept at killing lionfish. Large angels can also cause a lot of trouble.

Dave

 

[BadOleRoss]

I dont think its too many fish. But I thought the gallon rule was 1" to 5 gallons. Not that I follow it mind you.

 

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7188242#post7188242 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Unlikely_Hero
Too many? Nah. That's far below the 1/2" to a gallon rule. I'd guess that you could put that same group in a 125 gallon with very few problems.

The fish-length/gallon rules are not tremendously useful or helpful in this hobby. They're not quite as useless as the Watt/gallon "rules" for lighting, but they're close.

Dave

 

[Redhaze]

Nice to hear that is regarding space! All this research for my mate is making me think get rid of my 55 reef go FOWLR aggressive in tank around about the same size, main occupant the Porcupine puffer..ahhh..if only..anyway,

yeah he did think of getting rid of a couple on the list and go with 2 lions. This would solve the issue of a dilemma between the volitans, russels & Radiata. BUt he was worried about the width for both lions in a 6x2x2? I wouldnt of thought (width wise) their would not be enough space for them to swin around eachother?

The option of a Dwarf lion with one of the above was soon dissmised as im sure the volitan/russells would have this as a tatsy meal?!

Agreed on the maroons but hes dead set on these. Any other potential tank mates? I believe another trigger something like the Gilded/bluechin or Sargassum (lovely) would be ok? He's defo going for the Foxfce Lo, 2 x Maroons and the Niger so far. he likes the Moon wrasse and a powder blue but have been pitting him off the tangs especially the Powderblue due to being a newbie.

Also, something else im not sure on myself is he wants a run a UV. Do you need a filter to run one of these?

 

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7188561#post7188561 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Redhaze
Also, something else im not sure on myself is he wants a run a UV. Do you need a filter to run one of these?

I personally am not a fan of UV sterilizers, for several reasons. One is that they have to be carefully calibrated to have any effect on the bacteria count. And if there are changes in the water clarity (which there will be in a tank), then this changes the effectiveness of the bulbs.
Another is that this isn't proven to save fish, just to reduce the bacterial count.

The bigger problems are things like maintenance with keeping the tubes clean and keeping the bulbs replaced. Most people tend to neglect this, which means you're not really getting the full effect.
Along with this, IME, UV sterilizers give people a false sense of security, so they're more likely to skip out on a few other maintenance issues, feeling that they have the protection of the sterilizer, which may or may not be working properly.

At a conference I went to a few weeks ago, Scott Michael, Eric Borneman, and Steve Pro were all not in favor of UV sterilizers for the above reasons (and others). There's also the potential problem that Eric pointed out that UV light is a mutagen, and you could be created a few difficult to treat strains by increasing the mutation rate of the populations in the tank.

Dave