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Felicia's 40B Predator Reef

I got another lionfish!!! I asked Aquarium Concepts to request a dwarf fuzzy lionfish from their wholesaler. The order came in today and they got in two lionfish, so I drove there to pick one up. Well I get there and they were dwarf zebra lionfish instead of dwarf fuzzy lionfish. I had been on the fence between those two species anyway and when I saw it in person, I decided I just had to snatch it up. Very beautiful fish and he even ate in the acclimation container they had him in since he'd just arrived from the wholesaler. I got him before he even went into the store's tank. He's only eating live food right now, but that's normal for lionfish. Its rare to find one already eating frozen (totally lucked out with the Fu), but they're supposed to be relatively easy to wean onto frozen. Plus they eat live ghost shrimp which are super easy to get locally and I can keep them in my FW planted betta tank. I got 9 ghost shrimp who are now living in my betta tank.

Anyways, here's the new fish!









He had a staredown with one of my ruby mithrix crabs, but decided he didn't look tasty.


Mushu didn't want to be shown up!


 
Snapped a few photos of the lionfish the other night. They were hanging out near each other, so I was a bit nervous they might fight but they mostly seem to ignore each other. They both seem to be settling in really well, so I'm really thrilled
smile.png




Fu Manchu


The dwarf zebra


And a quick video of the two of them hanging out.


Oh and in other news, the little coris wrasse has officially been rehomed to Mike (bondolo) :)


This means my fish list is now:
Fu Manchu lionfish
Dwarf Zebra lionfish
Snowflake eel
2 ocellaris clowns
Starry blenny
 
Oh and a little update of something I set up yesterday. So the new zebra lionfish is only eating live food right now and so I need a place to keep my supply of live ghost shrimp while I'm weaning him onto frozen. I originally threw them into my FW planted betta tank, and I knew the betta might decide to eat them but I wasn't sure. Well turns out, the betta ate them all, so I had to come up with a plan B. I didn't want to put a shrimp holding tank anywhere that you can see it, since it wouldn't be a pretty display tank. Luckily my linen closet has electrical outlets inside the closet, so I set up an easy/cheap 5 gallon tank in there for the shrimp. I threw on a spare AC 50 and 50W heater I had laying around and put in one cheap fake plastic plant. There are ~15 shrimp in there right now. I fed the zebra again last night and he has no problem snatching the shrimp out of the feeding tongs, so hopefully it won't take too long for him to associate the tongs with food and take some frozen.

Here's the quick shrimp set-up. I was floating the bag of shrimp in this photo before they went into the tank. Ignore the extra heaters, I was heating the water up quickly. There's only one in there now.
 
Ok, so I have some FUN new videos for you guys. These may be my favorite tank videos to date! First one is of Draco being a little too curious and getting a bit too close to Mushu. Don't worry, no lionfish were harmed in the making of this video!

Mushu established his dominance and went right back to ignoring Draco, so its all ok.
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The second video is feeding time! Draco ate yesterday, so I didn't get a video of him, but you can see Mushu and Falkor chowing down on some silverside chunks.
 
And some photos I snapped. Here's Mushu and Draco having their little showdown.



Draco






Mushu


I decided to play around with the cheap macro lens that goes on my iPhone. Here are some cool macro shots of Mushu.










 
Couple more photos from tonight.

The blenny has been chilling on the clam lately. I find it funny that the clam doesn't seem bothered and doesn't close.


Draco out swimming in the water column. He's finally getting settled in and swimming a bit more!


 
Enderturtle said:
So are those ones poisonous?
Click to expand...
Yes, Jon is correct. Although technically they're venomous, not poisonous. Mine are both pretty outgoing, so they don't really run away from my hands, but they don't get too close either or exhibit any aggression. Just to be safe while I'm working, I've been wearing the thick rubber, over the elbow gloves while working on the tank. I'm not worried about one of them intentionally stinging me, so much as me bumping into one of them by accident while I work. I did a full water change and tank cleaning last night with no problems.
 
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aqua-nut said:
Has anyone in the club been stung by a LF? If so, what's it like?

Beautiful fish, Felicia. Quite good pics with the iPhone macro!
Click to expand...

Have had a Lion Fish, yet I never been pricked by the spins, but I was told it is like being stung by a bee....but this article paints a little different picture....but it wouldn't stop me owning another lion fish!!!
 
aqua-nut said:
Has anyone in the club been stung by a LF? If so, what's it like?

Beautiful fish, Felicia. Quite good pics with the iPhone macro!
Click to expand...
I'm hoping I don't ever find out what its like! I'm being really careful with my new lions.

Thanks! The iPhone takes some pretty decent cameras. I bought one of those cheap attachable lenses that has wide angle, fish eye, and macro. Kind of fun to play with.
 
jonmos75 said:
Have had a Lion Fish, yet I never been pricked by the spins, but I was told it is like being stung by a bee....but this article paints a little different picture....but it wouldn't stop me owning another lion fish!!!
Click to expand...
Yeah I've heard its like a bee sting for most people, but it sounds like it depends on how sensitive each individual person is to the venom. Some people are allergic, which can make it a really bad reaction just like people who are allergic to bees. I know if you get the sting under hot water immediately its supposed to not get that bad since the venom wouldn't have time to spread before the proteins were denatured.

I'm just being very cautious with mine. I've got these gloves that I'm wearing when I'm working on the tank.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PBEJ00/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Alright, so I have some exciting news...


Introducing...


The new antennata lionfish!




My plan was to have three lionfish: Fu Manchu, Dwarf Zebra, Dwarf Fuzzy. However, I found out yesterday that some people have issues keeping a fuzzy with a zebra. That messed up my original stocking plan, so after researching the lionfish species again, I decided that an antennata was a better choice than a fuzzy. Well it turns out that Aquatic Collection got in an antennata a few days ago. Karson knew I was looking for lionfish, so he had texted me telling me they got in a couple different species, but none of them were fuzzies, so I had told him I would wait for a fuzzy. Then I found out the fuzzy wouldn't work and went and snatched up the antennata that was in stock.

Seems to be a very healthy and active fish so far. It isn't eating frozen (lionfish pretty never are when they arrive from the wholesaler), but it took a live ghost shrimp at the store with no hesitation, so its got a good appetite and is eating well. Its the smallest of my three lions now. Its just a bit smaller than Draco (the zebra).
 
Draco was being really photogenic. I was right in front of the tank while I was acclimating the new lionfish, and Draco has already learned that I mean food. He was swimming all over and sitting up close to the front glass where I was, watching me. His personality is super adorable.





With the starry blenny.


With the eel.


Played around with the cheap iPhone macro lens again. Here are two macros of Draco's fin.




Not the best shots, but he even decided to land on the clam for a moment and the clam just stayed open for it.




And here's how lionfish can devour big fish and shrimp.


 
Here's a few shots of the snowflake eel.






The starry blenny.




The clowns.


Fox coral


Squamosa clam


Derasa clam


Underside of the derasa clam mantle.


Shots of the derasa mantle with the macro lens.






Right after adding the antennata, Draco had to investigate.


Luckily Draco decided they could be buddies.
 
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So nice it got posted thrice!

You'll have a very full tank when they grow up.

Damm you, now I'll have that song stuck in my brain ALL DAY.
Ah wheem a whey, Ah wheem a whey, Ah wheem a whey (or what ever they sing)

:D :D :D
 
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