Starting up A predator Tank

[snowflakejason]

Ok so I have a 60 Gal tank and I want 2 fish.. a volitan lion fish and a Snowflake Eel.. its going to be a fish only tank, I am also interested in getting some tangs, triggers, or anything else that can go with it.. what are some other good fish suggestions that will make it look really nice?

 

[snowflakejason]

also.. how would live rock do with this setup? How many lbs would I need for a non-reef setup?

 

[fishy88]

voltans get huge. a 60 is way to small. they also grow fast. i would get a fuzzy dwarf and a snowflake.

 

[snowflakejason]

how big do the dwarfs get?

 

[fishy88]

the dwarf get ten inches and the fuzzy dwarf( shortfin lion) gets 7 inches. i woud get the fuzzy.

 

[fishy88]

here is a fuzzy

 

[bdhough]

Go with a dwarf lion. He'll get plenty big enough. As far as other fish go..... Dwarf Angels may work. Alot of the tangs get to big for a 60 and the triggers like to eat the spines off of Lions. Buy them small enough and they may get along.

 

[snowflakejason]

hmmm.. all my dreams are getting shot down.. haha.. well my only problem with the dwarf lion fish is that they look weird.. I liked the elegant stringy look of the regular lion fish.. are there any dwarfs that carry that same look?
So I see nobody objected to the snowflake eel? What other fish would be good with it..? And how many?

 

[fishy88]

well dawrf kinda look like the voltan.

 

[snowflakejason]

So then my next question would be.. live rock? Can I use it with this setup? And how much should I use for a non-reef setup?

 

[fishy88]

its how much you would like. but its like 1.5lbs. per g

 

[snowflakejason]

But live rock will be ok with my eel and other predator fish? Snails?

 

[krunk]

jason - you should get about 60 lbs, mainly because eels like too tunnel in the live rock. but if you dont like the dwarf lion, yo can always get a antennata lion. They get the same size as the dwarf.

 

[snowflakejason]

wow.. 60lbs of live rock is expenisve... heh... what about the Radiata Lionfish? And what about other possible tank mates?

 

[krunk]

Jason, if you have strong filteration, you can jsut use base rock, then about 10-20 pounds too "seed" the base rock.
i dotn know much about the Radiata lion, so cant help you there. As far as tank mate with a lion. nothing that can fit in tehre mouths. but you could go with a kole tang, but that would be the only 3 fish your bio load could hold.

 

[joe5_15]

u would not need 60lbs of live rock for the snowflake mine would njoy it more if i didnt have so much and i just have 40lbs in my 55 so im movin some to my 25 for him to swim but he does need atleast proll 25 or 30 lbs thats more on the sand bed because mine tunnels under the rock and moves the bottom peices for more room but like i said earlier after his feedin time he likes to come out and swim but doesnt have much room so i would try to keep them more on the bed, and as for other fish u could try a baby trigger like a clown or niger i found my clown for only 32 at the lfs and also a niger for 17 both are only 1 1/2 inch but are really cool to watch

 

[snowflakejason]

Ok so I was doing a little more planning.. I added up the fish size in relation to the gallons (1 inch of fish per gallon right?) and this will supposedly fit.. but I am n00b so I am probably hella crowding them.. well lemme know:
Snowflake Eel
Some sort of Lion Fish
Blue Tang
Yellow Damselfish
Harlequin Tusk

 

[fishy88]

no its not 1in per gallon its like 1in per 5 gallons. thats a bad rule anyway. tangs need a lot of swimming room so you cant keep one in a 60 and harliquins gets a foot long so you cant keep one them in a 60. i would go with the sfe, dwarf lion, and Yellow Damsel but it might get eatin by the lion.