predatory tank

[darklcd]

good day all

Its been a while since I have been on. If some of you remember I was in the process of getting a new tank set up and I had to put things on hold a little. lost my job and had to wait a little but thats ok it was a good thing lol. any way long story short I am ready. I wanted a little adivce though. I am looking at a predator tank only ( lions eels things like that ) and I want some advice on some of the fish out there that will work. I was thinking of a shark and I have talked to a few people that have them they seem to be ok.

Its going to be a big tank. The place I moved into its very open and I am going to use the tank as sort of a wall between the kitchen and living room.

but I am wondering what I can put in there that would work well in there. I am also wondering if there is anything that I can put in with a lions and eels that will live ok.

I know that I have changed my mind a lot lol but I am just having a hard time deciding what I want and with the fish that I want to get after some long hard thought I think that I will have to stick with something like this set up.

If anyone has and experence with a predtor/aggressive tank set up please let me know

thanks

 

[prbhasson]

It will really depend on what size tank and what you are going to do for filtration. Most of your predatory fish need a large area to swim and they cause a large bio load. Fill us in on what you have for equipment and then we can help you decide what you may or may not want to try to keep..

 

[darklcd]

I am looking at a 370 gal tank 120 x 24 x 36 and I am also looking into converting an old 55 gal tank into a sump for it as well. As for a skimmer I am not sure what way I am going to go there but it will be an in sump for sure. As for lighting I will be going with vho bulbs 4 bulbs per fixture and 2 60" fixtures. I plan on having to overflows set up about 2 feet in from either end of the tank and have liverock and some corals and what not set up around them.

Other then water flow in the tankn from either power heads or a closed loop I am not sure what else I would need.

Please let me know what I need and what else I might need and if anyone has any thoughts on how I can make the system better.

thanks

 

[returnofsid]

I've a friend with a large predatory tank. He's got a large moray eel and a huge picasso trigger. He's also got a large fox face. I'd think that'd work out....but a lot depends on more info about your tank.

 

[brady816]

I would go with any lion fish and a snow flake eels if it was for me...

 

[darklcd]

I am thinking something like that I just wanted to get a few more fish in there then just 3 or 4. I think that I will have the room in there with it being a 10 foot tank but I just want to make sure before I get all of them.

I am also wondering about a clean up crew to keep the sand clean. I know that with the lion any small fish will be histroy but I was also wondering about maybe a large angel or a trigger of some kind. I mean if that can't work then thats ok I will just stick with them.

I was also wondering about a shark I was talking to someone on here I just can't remember his name I will have to look that up later but I would really like to get 1 or 2 of them. I think it was a cat shark that he was talkin about. I would really like to hatch 1 or 2 if I can.

 

[Juanfer]

you could also try with a marbled bamboo cat shark (Chiloscyllum plagiosum), You could also try with a big tang like a naso or a powder blue !

 

[returnofsid]

I wouldn't recommend a shark in anything less than a 300 but I just realized you're looking at a 370. I am not sure but 24" isn't much turn around space for a shark. If you do decide to go with a shark, I'd definately limit it to just one. Wouldn't even consider 2 unless you had more than 500 gallons to work with.

 

[darklcd]

I don't mind if I have to say with only one shark I just think that having one would be really cool. I saw a shark tank in the rainforest cafe in niagara falls ontario and I just loved it. Thats where I got the idea from.

But I am wondering if I can put some other big fish in there with them and still have them stay alive and not worry too much about them being eaten

 

[returnofsid]

Well, keep in mind that larger, predatory fish are going to have a HUGE impact on your bio-load. You'll need massive biological filtration. That's usually accomplished with live rock. The more live rock, the less room for large fish to swim. Sharks in particular need very soft sandy substrates as their belly is easily scraped or cut. That same reason will limit the amount of live rock you'll be able to have in the tank.

 

[darklcd]

yeah I kinda thought that would happen but I was thinking that I could throw a bit into the sump and still have enough for what I needed. As for any other filtration I was thinking of going with a skimmer that would do about a 450 gal tank to make sure that it will be large enough to handel the bioload and keep the tank running. The substrate I can't remember what I was told to use I think its arberite and I hope that will be good enough.

But I was also thinking that if I can only get 2 or 3 predatory fish in there I was wondering if there was anything else that I could put in there like a large trigger or an angel or tang of some sort.

I am not sure if I can or not. I know that small fish are out and I am ok with that I would like to get some where from 6 to 12 fish in there and still have the tank run right.

can this be done with what I want to use?

 

[returnofsid]

I guess it's going to depend on the size of the predatory fish you have, the amount of live rock, your feeding habits the amount and quality of live rock and the amount of maintenance you're willing to do.