I wanted to do something simple with my custom 90 that has been sitting dry since I moved last year. I have a mixed reef tank too, but for many years I've always kept a secondary tank with something "weird" in it. Originally I bought the tank for dwarf cuttlefish (sepia bandensis) which I hatched out a couple of times. I then moved onto keeping a couple of Octopus (O. Briareus). They were both a lot of fun but with short lifespans and expensive live food eating habits I moved on after their short lives ended. I ended up keeping garden eels for several years in this tank and made the difficult choice to give them away when I moved. It was just too much to move the 100s of lbs of sand in the tank + my reefs ect.
Now that I am more "settled" I wanted to put something else in. Something easy that was probably going to live a long time since I am now far from the LFS shops I used to frequent weekly at times. I had live rock in tanks with no end in sight so it was time to either use the rock that has been wet for 10 years or so or dry it out.
I went with a more common Volitan Lionfish. I realize he may outgrow this tank as most recommend a 100 gallon and he's in a 90 but maybe I will get a 12" cube and not a 15" cube. I could always move out more live rock if need be, or just get a bigger tank if it comes down to it. The only other inhabitant is a small snowflake eel. I have no further plans for additions to the tank.
I managed to piece most of the stuff needed for this tank. I am running a drastically oversized ATI bubblemaster 250 skimmer since it would not fit under my reef tank anymore. Other than that a couple of heaters a single powerhead and return pump. I will probably eventually add some marinepure blocks since I don't have a ton of live rock in here but so far everything is running smooth.
The tank gets indirect sunlight most of the day and direct sunset light which makes for some beautiful viewing of the Lion and the Eel. I use a single par38 for nighttime viewing.
One of these days I should take that ammonia alert badge out...
The Lion is really photogenic but also beautiful to watch slowly swim or just perch. I had a red dwarf years ago but this is my first big boy. The snowflake eel is also pretty interesting to watch as he does seem to come out and swim every couple of days. Feeding them uncooked shrimp a couple of times a week and LRS once to make sure they are getting enough nutrition. Once the shrimp runs out I'll mix it up with something else. Finally I have a reason to try LRS chunky too..
I took some footage with my gopro and although it hates the blue led some of it's pretty good. Eventually I'll get around to editing it and posting. The lion went right after it the first time.
Now that I am more "settled" I wanted to put something else in. Something easy that was probably going to live a long time since I am now far from the LFS shops I used to frequent weekly at times. I had live rock in tanks with no end in sight so it was time to either use the rock that has been wet for 10 years or so or dry it out.
I went with a more common Volitan Lionfish. I realize he may outgrow this tank as most recommend a 100 gallon and he's in a 90 but maybe I will get a 12" cube and not a 15" cube. I could always move out more live rock if need be, or just get a bigger tank if it comes down to it. The only other inhabitant is a small snowflake eel. I have no further plans for additions to the tank.
I managed to piece most of the stuff needed for this tank. I am running a drastically oversized ATI bubblemaster 250 skimmer since it would not fit under my reef tank anymore. Other than that a couple of heaters a single powerhead and return pump. I will probably eventually add some marinepure blocks since I don't have a ton of live rock in here but so far everything is running smooth.
The tank gets indirect sunlight most of the day and direct sunset light which makes for some beautiful viewing of the Lion and the Eel. I use a single par38 for nighttime viewing.
One of these days I should take that ammonia alert badge out...
The Lion is really photogenic but also beautiful to watch slowly swim or just perch. I had a red dwarf years ago but this is my first big boy. The snowflake eel is also pretty interesting to watch as he does seem to come out and swim every couple of days. Feeding them uncooked shrimp a couple of times a week and LRS once to make sure they are getting enough nutrition. Once the shrimp runs out I'll mix it up with something else. Finally I have a reason to try LRS chunky too..
I took some footage with my gopro and although it hates the blue led some of it's pretty good. Eventually I'll get around to editing it and posting. The lion went right after it the first time.
