predator tank fish options

[daugherty]

go with a clown trigger or a marine beta. the beta has a wicked stike when it attacks live food.

[Bifferwine]

How about a frogfish? They change colors.

[hibye]

so heres what i would like to put
frogfish
snowflake eel
not sure on which pufferfish blue dot or porcupine
lionfish
huma huma or titian triggerfish
marine beta

is that everything ?

[fatman]

Killer, but with fish like that I would seriously consider using a trickle filter as the primary bio filter system and not live rock or a deep sand bed. Consider any rock you use as just decoration. It will do some filtering, but to depend on all rock to filter out the mess of those fish would leave very little room for their swimming. I would not consider real low nitrates as even being an option with that many predators. You might as well give them a lot of room and let a more efficient filter like a trickle filter do the nitrification. The eel is the only real hider in the bunch so you do not need to provide a lot of hiding spaces, just a good viewing appearance, and that can be done with dead rock.

[salt newbie01]

I would also be VERY careful about a lion fish in with triggers and puffers. The puffers especially will eat/nip the lion fish's long spiney fins. They are NOT good tankmates. The lion fish are slow graceful swimmers and are not very active - while the other predators are very active swimmers. I am afraid your lion fish will end up stressed and dead with 6months or so. I would also look into a better skimmer than the one's you listed - I would double the "recomendations" on the skimmers for a predator tank. As stated they produce ALOT of waste and you will really need to overskim the tank. Also puffer fish have been known to nip at and eat anemonies.

I would also vote for a huma huma trigger. They have much better survival rates than the clown triggers long term.

Also most of your tangs will survive quite well in a predator tank - most are very aggressive in their own right and will add a lot of color.

I am working on setting up a large predator tank myself -It stinks because I want to keep alot of the same things you have listed but have found problems with them co-existing. especially the puffer and the lion fish and the puffer with the anemonie. Good luck

[hibye]

salt newbie what about the frogfish or hawkfish beacuse they seem to be quite slow moving

[salt newbie01]

I think that anglers/frogfish need to be in a species tank by themselves IMO. They sit around and don't move much at all - patiently waiting for a little fish to come along. so they can intice the littel guy closer and close until WHAM!! they swallow him whole!! Very cool fish to watch but I don't think it would stand much of a chance at ever getting any food in a predator tank. The one's I have seen in person have been in tanks by themselves.

I think of the frogfish like I do lionfish. They are gracefull and cool to watch but if they have too many tankmates it kills their hunting. My dwarf zebra lion would stalk live prey for 10-20 minutes until he could corner them then all of his fins came out and started fluttering and waving. It would almost hypnotise you. He would slowly get closer and closer until he could dart in and swallow the prey whole. Very cool little guy. Unfortunatley he jumped out of my tank! I ahve never even heard of a lion fish jumping!! Just my luck!!

I think the hawk fish would be ok so long as it wasn't too small. I don't have any experiance with them though just what I have read. I know they like to perch and are supposed to have really cool personalities. I just don't know for sure. I would say yes but with caution due to size.

Have you thought about or looked into the harlequin tusk? Very cool fish - looks super cool and can hold their own. A little expensive but I think they are worth it - they are in the wrasse family.

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_...380&pcatid=380

Biggest thing about a predator tank fish list is planning out what to add and in what order. It can make all the diff in the world. It is the hardest part I am having. Everyone has an opinion - so you just have to read and ask a lot of questions, taking in as much info as you can. Then making your own decision.

[Bifferwine]

Patrick, Yote's lionfish jumped once. He grabbed it with his hands to put it back in the tank. Bet you know how that story ends .

My LFS kept a pair of frogfish (Kermit and Miss Piggy) in a large predator tank for a long time. They were housed with a bird wrasse, lunare wrasse, rays, bamboo sharks, an eel and a lionfish. But the LFS kept plenty of damsels in the tank for them to eat.

[dustin_P74]

well they had to do something with all the damsels they couldnt sell

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, all the damsels that people had been exchanging after buying them at other stores to cycle their new tanks with!