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FOWLR aggressive tank ideas

Roc

Roc

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So the more I think about my shark in a 120 idea the less i like it. (still not saying it cant be done) So I have been rethinking the idea a bit and now I'm thinking maybe I want to do more fish which are smaller and could provide more movement and entertainment.

I will start a new tank thread with details etc, but the basics are a 120 gallon Acrylic 2X2X4 tank with a 55 gallon sump.

I want to look at some ideas ppl may have for stocking, then once I get my list idea down I will discuss stocking order, etc. I have some time as I havent even re set up the tank yet, so I still have cycle time etc....


Some ideas I have had
Humu Picasso Triggerfish
Clown Triggerfish
Hardwicke Wrasse
Volitan Lionfish
Blue Ribbon Eel


lets hear some of your ideas
 
Two that I have and like:
Harlequin Tusk
Cuban Hogfish
Not hard core predators, but they do get pretty big, and are very active.

Also partial to:
Blueline Grouper
Rainbow Wrasse
Lime Green Wrasse
But a bit too aggressive for my tank, so no direct experience.
 
It is funny:
The main reason I have been rethinking my predators - they eat the snails!
Not instantly, but if one ever gets turned over after a fall, it is toast.
Losing my clean up crew is a real hassle with all the extra maintenance.
 
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If you or anyone must...
Ribbon eel needs a species dedicated display
In the prospective predator tank it will be the first to die from stress and starvation
I'm gonna guess that 95% of ribbon eels don't make it through their first month in captivity
And the remaining 4.5% die in the next 3 months
No real stats but from what I've seen...
 
I agree with Erin and others, the ribbon eel is a bad idea. They're very very hard to keep! There are so many better choices of eels, that are very hardy and easy to keep. I have a snowflake eel that I absolutely love! He has a ton of personality and is always out and about, so he's lots of fun to watch. He eats everything I offer and has been super healthy and easy to care for. I definitely think a snowflake would be a much better choice of eel!

If you're going to go the predator tank route, I'd highly recommend some lionfish! You can keep several different species together (as long as you don't keep two of the same species) without any fighting or aggression. I have a fu manchu lionfish, a dwarf zebra lionfish, and an antennata and I love them! They're very hardy and very interactive fish. The only issue is that they normally come in only eating live food, but they can be weaned onto frozen with a bit of effort. I just fed live gut loaded ghost shrimp while I was training mine onto frozen. Now they eat basically any kind of frozen seafood.

A volitans would end up being cramped in a 120 when its full grown. Their body gets to the size of a football, and that's not including the huge fins. Its doable in a 120, but I think some of the slightly smaller lions would be a better choice. Mombassa, antennata, and radiata are all medium bodied lionfish that will grow to about 8". Then there is the russels lionfish that is considered a large bodied lion and will get to about 10". The volitans will get to 15" full grown.

If you go the lionfish route, you just have to make sure the rest of the fish are large enough to not get eaten. Lionfish can eat any fish that's about 3/4 of its body or smaller. With lionfish you could easily keep a bigger harlequin tusk, any of the large wrasses, any tangs, rabbitfish, eels etc. Just stay away from pufferfish with lionfish because the pufferfish will eat the lionfish's fins.
 
rygh said:
It is funny:
The main reason I have been rethinking my predators - they eat the snails!
Not instantly, but if one ever gets turned over after a fall, it is toast.
Losing my clean up crew is a real hassle with all the extra maintenance.
Click to expand...
I actually lose less snails now that I have lionfish and an eel than I did when I had smaller wrasses! My wrasses were the ones who used to flip the snails and eat them! Over the last couple years though, I've been moving away from using snails as the majority of my clean up crew. They've never seemed that effective to me. I've had better luck with an urchin, mitrax crabs, and a tang for the algae. I only have like 3 turbo snails at this point and they don't really do that much.
 
rygh said:
Two that I have and like:
Harlequin Tusk
Click to expand...
I'm really loving the harlequin tusks! I'm beginning to think about a large tank upgrade down the line for my lionfish and eel. I'd love to be able to keep a harlequin tusk. I know they're coral safe, but that they eat snails and shrimp. I don't have any shrimp because of the lionfish and I really don't care about snails as part of a CUC at this point. My only concern would be a tusk with tridacna clams. Have you had any experience with this? I've seen a few people keep them together without issue, but its not something that many people seem to have tried.
 
FeliciaLynn said:
I'm really loving the harlequin tusks! I'm beginning to think about a large tank upgrade down the line for my lionfish and eel. I'd love to be able to keep a harlequin tusk. I know they're coral safe, but that they eat snails and shrimp. I don't have any shrimp because of the lionfish and I really don't care about snails as part of a CUC at this point. My only concern would be a tusk with tridacna clams. Have you had any experience with this? I've seen a few people keep them together without issue, but its not something that many people seem to have tried.
Click to expand...

For whatever reason I don't see many clams at all, let alone homed with a tusk.
 
Call me silly, but I'd do a non-traditional "aggressive" tank, where the fish themselves aren't inherently predators but they can be aggressive. Damsels & chromis. Might be a fun experiment to have a wide range of fish that people will cycle a tank with but always say "don't put a damsel in there it'll bully everything" well fill the tank with bullies! Upside is wouldn't be that expensive as they tend to be some of the cheapest fish out there. Only downside is you're usually restricted to blacks/whites/blues as far as color (greenish if you go the chromis route too). But with a lot of hidey holes in your rock structure, you could possible have a large number of them.

I know, I know, not exactly what people think of though, they want predator fish because there's some innate desire to have something "deadly"
 
Kensington Reefer said:
If you or anyone must...
Ribbon eel needs a species dedicated display
In the prospective predator tank it will be the first to die from stress and starvation
I'm gonna guess that 95% of ribbon eels don't make it through their first month in captivity
And the remaining 4.5% die in the next 3 months
No real stats but from what I've seen...
Click to expand...
Good info, thats off the list
 
sfsuphysics said:
Call me silly, but I'd do a non-traditional "aggressive" tank, where the fish themselves aren't inherently predators but they can be aggressive. Damsels & chromis. Might be a fun experiment to have a wide range of fish that people will cycle a tank with but always say "don't put a damsel in there it'll bully everything" well fill the tank with bullies! Upside is wouldn't be that expensive as they tend to be some of the cheapest fish out there. Only downside is you're usually restricted to blacks/whites/blues as far as color (greenish if you go the chromis route too). But with a lot of hidey holes in your rock structure, you could possible have a large number of them.

I know, I know, not exactly what people think of though, they want predator fish because there's some innate desire to have something "deadly"
Click to expand...
Im not looking for deadly as much as fish i always wanted but couldn't get because of my tank being a coral dominated reef.
 
well if it's the coral dominated reef that kept you from getting fish, then we're talking dwarf angels, butterfly fish, those aiptasia eatting fish on every 3rd tuesday of the month that actually prefer coral, etc. I would say large angels too but for a 120g tank those mostly are going to outgrow it.

Things like your triggerfish and lionfish aren't out because of corals but because of all the other crap they'll eat.
 
FeliciaLynn said:
I'm really loving the harlequin tusks! I'm beginning to think about a large tank upgrade down the line for my lionfish and eel. I'd love to be able to keep a harlequin tusk. I know they're coral safe, but that they eat snails and shrimp. I don't have any shrimp because of the lionfish and I really don't care about snails as part of a CUC at this point. My only concern would be a tusk with tridacna clams. Have you had any experience with this? I've seen a few people keep them together without issue, but its not something that many people seem to have tried.
Click to expand...
Nope, never tried a clam.
 
sfsuphysics said:
well if it's the coral dominated reef that kept you from getting fish, then we're talking dwarf angels, butterfly fish, those aiptasia eatting fish on every 3rd tuesday of the month that actually prefer coral, etc. I would say large angels too but for a 120g tank those mostly are going to outgrow it.

Things like your triggerfish and lionfish aren't out because of corals but because of all the other crap they'll eat.
Click to expand...
well i had issues with wrasses, and triggers in my old tank, but since i wont have corals those are both in the mix
 
FeliciaLynn said:
I actually lose less snails now that I have lionfish and an eel than I did when I had smaller wrasses! My wrasses were the ones who used to flip the snails and eat them! Over the last couple years though, I've been moving away from using snails as the majority of my clean up crew. They've never seemed that effective to me. I've had better luck with an urchin, mitrax crabs, and a tang for the algae. I only have like 3 turbo snails at this point and they don't really do that much.
Click to expand...
Hmm, Interesting different take on the CUC. Neat idea. But given my acrylic tank and zoas, I would be pretty nervous about Urchins and Mithrax.
 
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