the day will soon come

[darklcd]

hi all

well I have finally got everything together that I wanted to and its time to order my last shipment. I finally got rid of those damsels that destroyed my tank and I am going to order my new stuff I h ope this weeks if I can get it by the wife lol. Heres a list of what I am thinking of adding in with my tank and blue velvot damsel

1- snowflake moray 12"
1- volitan lionfish ( not sure on brown or balck yet) 3"
1- huma huma trigger fish around 4"
1- royal angel or an emperor angel if I get rid of my blue velvot damsel
20 - 25lbs - fiji live rock ( I want know i need to leave space for the lion and what not)
45 - blue legged hermits
6 - red scarlet hermits
15 - astera snails
15 - margerita snails
15 - cerithsnails

I know I can't get put it all in at the same time but thats what I want to order and I really have no problem getting rod of my damsel at all. I just want to know what everyone thought of it. I am also thinking of a clam or 2 and some aneomes but with the trigger and maybe the angel I don't know if that would be a good idea. I have a 55 gal right now but I am going to be upgrading in about 5 or 6 months to I am hoping a 100 or 150 and I wanted to get some idea if this was a good idea or not.

thanks

 

[Krish]

Congrats on the next step! I hope everything works out well for you As for your list, the only thing I can say is be careful with the lionfish and the eel. Both are predatory fish that produce tons of waste which will quickly degrade water quality if not take care of promptly. You will need to stay on top of water changes and skimm heavily. Not sure on the size recommendations for them, but I'm sure someone will chime in soon. Best of luck

 

[brady816]

i was told the only kind of lion fish for a 55 gal would be a dwarf lion fish. They dont get as big as all of the other lion fish. But since your upgrading to a larger fish tank then you should be cool with the lion fish. Dont know anything else about the other fish...

 

[ronj]

sounds ok as long as you will be getting a larger tank...i am not sure about the eel and lionfish.i don't have any experience with those guys...be careful with those hermits and snails though....you will probably lose most of your snails to the hermits..i have had nothing but problems with hermits in the past..i got rid of all of them after they ate all my snails

 

[steve-s]

I have a 55 gal right now but I am going to be upgrading in about 5 or 6 months to I am hoping a 100 or 150 and I wanted to get some idea if this was a good idea or not
1- snowflake moray 12"
1- volitan lionfish ( not sure on brown or balck yet) 3"
1- huma huma trigger fish around 4"
1- royal angel or an emperor angel if I get rid of my blue velvot damsel

Why not wait on most of these fish until the newer larger tank is set up and available?

To add fish based on a future "what if" is not fair to them and not practicle for you. You really have no way of predicting what may come in your future and if the funds will be available. The lion, trigger and angel do not belong in a tank this size and will do quite poorly even in the short term. For the types/species of fish you've lised above, you would need something closer to a 150-180 minimum. This isn't a lecture but sincere concern so please do not look at this negatively.

45 - blue legged hermits
6 - red scarlet hermits
15 - astera snails
15 - margerita snails
15 - cerithsnails

Way too many for a 55 gallon tank. Cut the snails back by half and consider nixing the hermits altogether.

Cheers
Steve

 

[MCary]

The fish list is for a 200 gallon or greater tank. The Eel or the lion is going to eat your damsel. The eel is probably going to eat the snails and the crabs. Then the lion is probably going to eat the eel.

 

[darklcd]

well that kind of put a damper on things. I thought that might work out when I got my bigger tank. I have it ordered I just have to wait to get the space set up in the living room. I am just not sure what to do now I really want to get that fish list but now I am concerned that things will go downhill and thats not something that I want at all. I can for go on the eel I think but everything else I really want to get. as for the crabs and what not I am sure that I can get a smaller order of them I don't think that will be a problem but other then that I really want to stick to that list and I am really looking for a way that it can be done and get everything before the wife says no lol. as for the angel and the lion I know that they will grow fast but I was also think of some corals and maybe some other things but I think that the angel and the trigger will eat them but if I am wrong please tell me

 

[steve-s]

What size tank did you order?

Yes the angel and trigger will be a concern for corals. The fish you want can be done, you just need the appropriate sizes system. A 55 gal does not fit that need, not even temporarily. Same goes for the "crew" you want although I think the trigger will diminish those in no time.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Sparks]

trigger + lionfish fins = no-no

lionfish fins, never grow back half as nice as they were.

if you put in this:
1- snowflake moray 12"
1- volitan lionfish ( not sure on brown or balck yet) 3"
1- huma huma trigger fish around 4"
1- royal angel or an emperor angel if I get rid of my blue velvot damsel
20 - 25lbs - fiji live rock ( I want know i need to leave space for the lion and what not)
45 - blue legged hermits
6 - red scarlet hermits
15 - astera snails
15 - margerita snails
15 - cerithsnails

your livestock list will be like this in 6 months:
huma huma trigger fish
a beaten up angelfish
snowflake eel (if he's able to hide)

 

[MCary]

The Lion will be a foot and a half long in a year and will eat anything that will fit in his mouth which is anything about half his size.

 

[darklcd]

well what if I remove the tirgger from what I want to do and get a larger tank in like a month or 2 would that work out or should I scrap everything and start fresh

 

[Sparks]

I'd say if you're going to go reef with beautiful corals, inverts etc.. go passive reef (meaning something like percula clowns are the most aggresive thing in the tank). if you have a well established large reef tank with algae, putting in a tang can be fine(especially kole or bristlemouth)

If you're going to go aggressive fish only with live rock, go for it, but plan on doing manual all the cleaning of glass/rock/substrate, because clean up crews are lunch.

don't do a combo, that you try to make work, i did, many people do when they start. I started with "wow, i really want a lion or trigger" and "this little fish too. I bet i can make it work fine." um no. (I am all for experimenting myself. I got a 40gallon im gonna put a octopus in the next couple of weeks. I figure once you got 4...soon-to-be 5 saltwater tanks going on at home you might as well get a little crazy)

IMO passive reef = no triggers/lions/eels/nastier tangs/groupers/angels/butterflies(angels/butterflies are a wild card in reef and usually shuold only be put in a reef tank when you want to spice things up after a year or so)

I had a 2.5" dwarf lionfish that ate all my hermits by picking up the entire shell hole first, sucking in the hermit crab and then splitting out the shell like sucking the filling from a twinkie.

 

[jsmkmavity]

put the 55 by the 125 and do a passive to moderate aggressive in the big reef and the aggressive in the 55 fish only with live rock for added biofiltration. you will still need to modify your list a bit but not as much.

 

[darklcd]

I don't think that having 2 aquariums in the house will go over well. I was looking on line and I found a 200 gal for the same as my 150 so I think I might go that way but I am wondering what I should do for filteration. I only have the fluval right now and I know that I will need something better then that but I don't know how to make any other filters that I see people have with sumps and dual and triple water jets how are they done?

 

[NaH2O]

Do you think you'll want a sump? If so, here is some information for you:

How does a Sump Work?

Everything you Always wanted to know about Sumps - Part 1
Everything you Always Wanted to Know about Sumps - Part 2
Everything you always wanted to know about sumps - part 3

The outputs/water jets you are talking about may be sump returns or they could be outputs from a closed loop. Depending on how you want to design the tank, you could do powerheads or a closed loop.