Diver's Predator Paradise - Mixed Reef Predator Tank

[FeliciaLynn]

I already have a thread for this tank in the members' tanks section, but since its a predator tank, I decided I should have a thread in this forum. Anyways, here's my 40 breeder mixed-reef predator tank that houses three species of lionfish and a snowflake eel.

Marine Depot Feature Video!


FTS 3/12/16

Fu Manchu Lionfish (Dendrochirus biocellatus) - Mushu

Dwarf Zebra Lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra) - Draco

Antennata Lionfish (Pterois antennata) - Seraphina

Snowflake Eel (Echidna nebulosa) - Falkor

Specifications

Tank

• 40g Breeder Tetra glass aquarium (36"W x 18"D x 17"H)
• Drilled 700 gph Glass Holes overflow kit and 3/4" return kit
• Aqueon black pine stand

Rock and Sand

• 28 lbs of KPA cured live rock
• 10 lbs Real Reef rock
• 40 lbs of CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink sand

Lighting

• Maxspect R420R (Razor) 27" 160 watt 16k

Flow

• 2 Vortech MP10's

Filtration

• Sump - 20g long Tetra aquarium (30"W x 12"D x 12"H); Jebao DC-3000 return pump
• 4" Felt Filter Sock
• Phosban 150 Media Reactor with TLF NPX Biopellets
• Reef Octopus NWB110 skimmer
• Refugium with chaetomorphia, rubble rock, and Maxspect Razor Nano 10K light

Heating

• Finnex Deluxe Titanium Heating Tube, 300 Watts
• Finnex Max-300 Digital Aquarium Heater Controller

Auto Top-Off

• JBJ ATO Water Level Controller
• Tom Aqua Lifter Vacuum Pump

Dosing

• Jebao DP-4
  • Channel 1: Acropower
  • Channel 2: B-Ionic Mg
  • Channel 3: B-Ionic Ca
  • Channel 4: B-Ionic Alk

RO/DI System

• BRS 5 Stage RO/DI System
• Purtrex 5 micron sediment filter
• Catalytic carbon
• ChlorPlus 10 carbon block
• 75 GPD Dow Filmtec membrane
• DI resin (color-changing)

Livestock

Fish

• Fu Manchu Lionfish (Dendrochirus biocellatus) - Mushu
• Dwarf Zebra Lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra) - Draco
• Antennata Lionfish (Pterois antennata) - Seraphina
• Snowflake Eel (Echidna nebulosa) - Falkor
• Darwin Ocellaris Clownfish (male) (Amphiprion ocellaris)
• Standard Ocellaris Clownfish (female) (Amphiprion ocellaris)
• Tomini Tang (Ctenochaetus tominiensis)

Inverts

• 2 Fighting Conchs
• Squamosa Clam (from Gena May 27, 2015)
• Squamosa Clam (purchased Oct. 2013)
• Tiger Derasa Clam (purchased March 2014)
• Turbo snails
• Ruby red mithrax crab
• Serpent starfish
• Scarlet and blue leg hermit crabs

Sump Design

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Fun angled FTS from March 12, 2016
IMG_2630 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Left side
IMG_2335 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Center
IMG_2343 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Right side
IMG_2349 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr


I also took some photos of the sump and equipment. A few of these got used in the video, but I wanted to share them again since I don't photograph the sump often. Its dirty, but oh well! I wanted people to be able to see how my system is set up.

IMG_2210 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2217 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2223 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2220 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2226 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr



Ok, now for some coral shots!

Tyree neon green toadstools.
IMG_2308 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2363 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Gorgonians
IMG_2310 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2298 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Yellow Fiji leather
IMG_2295 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Green nepthea
IMG_2291 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr


The giant squamosa is doing wonderfully and still growing!
IMG_2302 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2355 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr



And how about a few top down shots?

The duncan colony is getting huge!
IMG_2564 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

BTA island
IMG_2565 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

All three clams are doing great!
IMG_2567 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Ok, now its time for some photos of the fish!

First off, the clownfish.
IMG_2325 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2552 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2537 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

And finally a halfway decent photo of the tomini tang! She's always moving too much

IMG_2429 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Falkor was being a ham as usual.
IMG_2359 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2477 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Mushu was out front demanding food. He was all like, look lady, you've been near the tank for like the last hour taking photos. Get us some food, NOW!
IMG_2912 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2890 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2868 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2486 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Of course Draco was striking a pose as always!
IMG_2387 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2497 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

The antennata even decided to come out and have her photo taken

IMG_2733 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2784 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2753 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2798 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr




Drumroll please! And for the grand finale....

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Draco and the Antennata were posing together for some awesome shots!
IMG_2677 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2688 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2844 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_2854 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

 

[FeliciaLynn]

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I guess it's ok if you like awesome stuff....

 

[rayn]

Awesome looking reef @FeliciaLynn!

Any worries about the lions and clowns? Or did you already mention that? Debating on trying to mix some as well, maybe if the lions start out small enough.

 

[Baby Ray]

I have always LOVED your tank. I would be happy if I could get mine to look half as good as yours
Just out of curiosity....... do you know much about dwarf golden moray eels? I have been thinking about adding one to my 29 reef. I have heard of a lot of success stories with them not bothering small fish, cleaner shrimp, and even sexy shrimp (I have all 3)
In your opinion, to risky? OR should I go for it?
Thanks, always looking for expert opinions

 

[FeliciaLynn]

I guess it's ok if you like awesome stuff....

Haha! Thank you

Awesome looking reef @FeliciaLynn!

Any worries about the lions and clowns? Or did you already mention that? Debating on trying to mix some as well, maybe if the lions start out small enough.

Thank you! I knew the clowns were definitely a risk when I decided to add the lionfish, but I decided to give it a try. I'd had the clowns for a while at that point and they were already hosting in the BTAs. Even though they're not very big, my lionfish are pretty small, and I thought the anemones might offer protection. They're been together with no problems for 10 months now. The dwarf zebra and antennata are really on the smaller size to eat the clowns, but my fu manchu is plenty big enough if he wanted to. I keep the lionfish well fed, which I'm sure helps, but I honestly credit the success with the clownfish to them having their huge cluster of BTAs for protection. They have 8-9 large BTAs which they only come out of for food. They can completely disappear down into the anemones. I don't think it would work with only 1 or 2 small anemones, and is dependent on being a large cluster for them to live it. Its actually very cool to see because that's why clownfish live in anemones in the wild is for protection and it seems to be working just like that in my tank. The lionfish don't go close to the BTAs, so the clownfish have a nice safe zone around where they live. At feeding time, they'll come out a bit more, but at that time the lionfish are focused on eating the food I give them instead of hunting clownfish. I've honestly never even seen any of the lionfish acknowledge the clownfish.

I have always LOVED your tank. I would be happy if I could get mine to look half as good as yours
Just out of curiosity....... do you know much about dwarf golden moray eels? I have been thinking about adding one to my 29 reef. I have heard of a lot of success stories with them not bothering small fish, cleaner shrimp, and even sexy shrimp (I have all 3)
In your opinion, to risky? OR should I go for it?
Thanks, always looking for expert opinions

Why thank you! That's very kind

I don't have any personal experience with golden dwarf morays, but they're beautiful eels! My snowflake eel is the first eel I've ever owned, and he's really not difficult to care for. I think that a golden dwarf moray should be very similar in its care requirements. I do know that they stay much smaller and therefore can be in smaller tanks. I honestly think its just up to the individual eel what its going to do in terms of small fish and shrimp. My eel doesn't bother any of my fish, although none of my fish are tiny and I don't have any shrimp. I've heard of people with eels that completely ignore shrimp and others with eels that ate all their small fish and shrimp. The golden dwarf morays are probably a bit less of a risk since they stay smaller, so I'd probably venture to guess they'd be safe with small fish and larger shrimp. I doubt I'd trust one with sexy shrimp though. Those are just way too tiny and obvious food. Small wrasses even eat sexy shrimp. Otherwise, I think golden dwarf morays should be similar to the care requirements for a snowflake eel. I have heard they can be a bit more reclusive, so you may not see it much at first. Also, keep in mind that eels are escape artists. You have to have a snug lid with no gaps, and especially with a tiny eel like a golden dwarf, you want to make sure they can't get into your overflow (you'll need a lid on the overflow and narrow teeth or screen behind the teeth). The other main consideration is that eels have horrible eyesight, so they don't do a very good job grabbing food out of the water column. Therefore you need to spot feed eels for them to get enough food. I use long tongs and hand food to my eel.

 

[ScottMyers123]

Your tank looks great. Way to think outside the box and do both coral and predator fish.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Your tank looks great. Way to think outside the box and do both coral and predator fish.

Thank you! I was a bit burned out and wanted to try something different to get excited about the hobby again. I'm really glad I decided to get the lionfish and eel. They are my favorite fish! So much personality and really very hardy and easy to care for.

 

[michellejy]

I thought I already posted to say how much I loved this, but apparently I just got so caught up in looking at everything, I forgot.

This is amazing!

 

[FeliciaLynn]

I thought I already posted to say how much I loved this, but apparently I just got so caught up in looking at everything, I forgot.

This is amazing!

Why thank you!

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Sorry that its been so long since I've posted. I finished my PhD and then started a new job all in the last several months, so I've just been really busy. I did get to go to MACNA though and I wanted to share photos from MACNA. It was a blast!

Its time for the MACNA recap!!!

I got to podcast again! Gary and Christine were podcasting from a booth at MACNA all 3 days of the conference, so they invited me to podcast with them on Saturday, which was so fun! It was even a video podcast this time, which was different than usual! Check it out! I come in at ~28:41.


The Reef Hobbyist Magazine booth was like a whole booth devoted to my tank because they just had piles and piles of the magazine with my tank on the cover. It was fun to see my tank all over MACNA

If you want to check out the electronic version of the magazine, its available for free here.

I wasn't shopping for too many things since my tank is super full, but I did manage to find a couple things to buy. I got a really nice big yellow frilly sponge and purple blade gorgonian from Pacific East Aquaculture. I also got a nice long polyp toadstool from the Ecotech display tank/Aquatica Corals. I also purchased a really cool print of a blue ribbon eel from one of the artists that had a booth.


Right after I arrived in San Diego. The beautiful view from my hotel balcony.
IMG_6295 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6311 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6318 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Steve from inTank wanted me to sign his copy of Reef Hobbyist Magazine

IMG_6309 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Podcasting with Gary and Christine!
IMG_6335 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

In the Reefs.com photobooth.
IMG_6338 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Reefer ladies at the banquet!
IMG_6340 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

The table I was at for the banquet, filled with forum and Bay Area friends

IMG_6345 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

I got to meet Sanjay Joshi at the reception!
IMG_6336 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

The art print I purchased from Prisma Canvas.
IMG_6390 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Pacific East Aquaculture had a gorgeous tank full of seahorses, photosynthetic gorgonians, and sponges. I bought one of the nice yellow filly sponges, which have done well for me, but I've only even been able to get tiny ones.
IMG_6300 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6299 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

I found some predators as well, but didn't have space to take any home

There's a radiata lionfish, a volitan lionfish, a rhinopias, and a scorpionfish in this tank.
IMG_6307 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Volitan lionfish
IMG_6319 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Tessalata eel
IMG_6330 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Also, I finally took a bunch of tank photos tonight!

Alright, its time for the long overdue photos!

Let's get started with a new FTS!
IMG_6476 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Left side.
IMG_6696 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Center.
IMG_6520 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Right side.
IMG_6573 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Now for the new additions. First, the yellow frilly sponge I got at MACNA.
IMG_6434 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

And the long polyp toadstool from MACNA.
IMG_6547 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

The new urchin! Isn't it pretty?

IMG_6421 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6446 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6738 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Ok, now some photos of the fish. Let's start with Falkor because he's a giant ham and photobombs every photo. He's way too photogenic.
IMG_6544 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6595 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6784 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6598 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Check out how long Falkor has gotten.
IMG_6605 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6644 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6612 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

 

[FeliciaLynn]

The melanarus wrasse looking handsome

IMG_6540 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6752 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

The tang is so fast darting around that it is impossible to get a decent photo of her. Here's the best one I got.
IMG_6654 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

And here's the wrasse and tang together.
IMG_6590 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Now for the lionfish. First off, Mushu.
IMG_6746 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6558 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

The antennata was being a lurker tonight. She's actually been being more brave lately and looks so graceful out swimming around, but of course she wasn't cooperating tonight while I was taking photos.
IMG_6733 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

And a shot with all three predators together. Falkor is so ridiculous.
IMG_6717 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

And last but not least, the clowns in their BTA forrest.
IMG_6765 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

IMG_6765 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Now its time for some coral shots!

Duncan, kenya tree, and pulsing xenia.
IMG_6519 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

The nepthea needs to be trimmed again. Its huge!
IMG_6536 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Green fuzzy mushrooms.
IMG_6538 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

The little squamosa clam.
IMG_6532 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

And in fun updates, the BTA's keep splitting and two of the splits escaped BTA rock and ended up on the shell of the big squamosa. I had to take the big squammy out of the tank last night and scrape both anemones off with a scalpel. Luckily, I managed to get them off without damaging their feet and they're not attached to the wall of a deli cup in the tank. There are two in this photo, but they're both small and mushed together so you can't tell where one ends and the other starts.
IMG_6402 by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

Also, I ordered Ken Wingerter's new book on coldwater aquariums because I figured it would be a good read. It just arrived yesterday

IMG_6467-1 (dragged) by Felicia Svedlund, on Flickr

 

[FeliciaLynn]

And for the grand finale, a new video of the aquarium!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Love, love, LOVE this tank!! Thanks for sharing it with us!!

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Love, love, LOVE this tank!! Thanks for sharing it with us!!

Thank you! I love to share the tank and I'm always thrilled when people enjoy the photos and videos