New tank... Questions... Lions, puffers, eels,

[starr]

Hey I am new to this salt water thing, this is our first tank, I have done a lot of reading and I know some, but not much, lots of things conflict when your trying to learn about salt water tanks! I have a few questions and wasn’t really sure who to ask them too. I will put the numbers beside them so its easier to reply to. I have just recently started a 44 gallon tank. It cycled for four plus weeks with just live sand and water, every thing was perfect for pets so we decided to go to the local fish store and start our tank. We just added about 25 lbs of live rock and a small lion fish, this is there second day in the tank, today we added a few (4) small hermits to the tank and fed the lion a goldfish, we also bought frozen krill to feed him but have not tried it yet. We are working on the ammonia and the nitrite, which I knew would go up when we added to the tank but every thing else is good  yay! So.. question one is… are goldfish ok to feed him? Pet store said yes but I have heard a lot of no’s. We want to get a small porcupine puffer, a blue ribbon eel and a banded snake eel. Question 2 both eels are supposted to be non aggressive is this true and question 3… are these 4 fish selections ok to put in the 44 gal tank together? I would like to order the deep sea yellow gorgonian, an anemone (not sure which kind), an electric flame scallop, and maybe an urchin (again not sure which kind maybe purple). This is question 4 with the fish we want are all of these things ok to have? And question 5 is about the hermit crabs, like I said we have 4 small ones and the lion has not bothered them yet but I’m afraid the puffer (when we get him) will, we would like to order the 10 blue legged hermits but are not sure if they will be dinner. I would love to hear any suggestions and comments, like I said we are new and I value wiser opinions!  THANKS!!!!!!!!! Starr

 

[ireland]

We have a 150 gallon with a lion fish and a puffer in it. First off I think your tank is too small for a puffer. They get about the size of a football when they are full grown I would say you would need a minimum of a 75 gallon for one. Our lfs has one in a 55 gallon and he can't turn around I feel badly for him. And they will eat any crabs, or shimp you try to put in there with him. I think lions should be in atleast a 75 gallon tank as well. Goldfish are not good for them. Try to get them on other foods as soon as possible. We are new to this hobby though so see what other's have to say as well. Good luck.

 

[cartman101]

*see my post in the aggressive forum*

 

[ryan115]

The blue ribbon eels are really cool but... They are notoriously hard to keep, they are very picky eaters and tend to enjoy jumping ship to go carpet surfing, not really sure about the other eel though. But welcome and good luck!

 

[fishieness]

none of those fish will fit in your tank size unless your lion is of a dwarf species.
the only eel that would be ok in there is a worm eel (looks like a largeearthworm and stupid IMO) and a snowflake or a ghoast eel if you have MAYBE one other fish with them.
how old is your tank?
There are a few types of sharpnoes puffers that you can get such as a valentini or a honeycomb.
gorgonian corals are very hard to take care for and often die
what lighting are you expecting to get?
the puffer is very likely to eat corals anyways, no matter what type of puffer you get.
wait a few months before adding corals anyways
make a new fish list and get back to us

 

[starr]

Hey Yall!! I also posted my message on the aggressive posts and I wrote an update there, I really appreciate all the advise and would love to hear tons more!!!!!!! The tank is about a month or more now so if you would like to please look at my other post and get back to me, I love this site and the willingness of people to help other people out! ITS GREAT!!! thanks! starr :joy: