Lion King's NPS Predator's Reef

[lion king]

It is still a pleasing looking tank, although I can't find anything to put in it. Maybe I'm just impatient, it's only been 9 months. There is a place I might be able to get a tunicate, I'm jsut not available for deliveries right now.

 

[Goodair]

Have you dealt with a high phosphate/ low nitrate issue before? After some research, seems silvers are very high is phosphorous, and its causing a inbalance.

 

[MombasaLionfish]

Nice fish. I really like the orange lionfish.

 

[lion king]

Have you dealt with a high phosphate/ low nitrate issue before? After some research, seems silvers are very high is phosphorous, and its causing a inbalance.

When you say "silvers" do you mean silversides.The thing about predator tanks is you should be target feeding, what ever food that escapes you should easily be able to remove it before it degrades. So chunks of dead food that get by or ghosties or mollies that die before being eaten should be removed immediately. This wasted food is likely the cause of a high phosphate issue. Regular waste from the predators while high in nutrients, appears to be more balanced in nature.

 

[Goodair]

Silversides yes, and I do target feed. Sometimes a piece will flow into a crevice that I can't get to, but for the most part I try to remove any uneaten food. Not sure what else could be a cause.

 

[lion king]

Silversides yes, and I do target feed. Sometimes a piece will flow into a crevice that I can't get to, but for the most part I try to remove any uneaten food. Not sure what else could be a cause.

Do you use any coral foods or reef additives, any pelleted or flake foods for other fish. You may want to test your initial water source, some rock has also been known to leach phosphates. Sometimes you may have to use something like Brightwell phosphate e to get it in check, then determine and eliminate the cause.

 

[Goodair]

Besides a small montipora, there is notjing but fish, snails and macro algae. A good chunk of the scape is dead coral, if that could be a factor.

 

[lion king]

Besides a small montipora, there is notjing but fish, snails and macro algae. A good chunk of the scape is dead coral, if that could be a factor.

Did the coral die in the tank or is it dead bleached skeletons you are using for decorations. I'm not sure if corals dying would throw off the phosphates or not. I had rocks I got from lfs once that I had to throw away because of leaching phosphates. Are you using ro water to make your salt water.

 

[Goodair]

RO water yes, filters have been replaced. the coral skelton is from someone who sold me his dry rock and coral skeletons from a tank crash he had years prior. They had nice shapes and it was a good deal, did not ask how the tank crashed though, I should of but didn't think much of it since I just got into the hobby.

 

[lion king]

We've covered all the bases of where the phosphates are coming from, I would be inclined to think it is from those rocks and such. What happens is you will get a saturation where the phosphare level of the tank water will equal the rocks. You do water changes and the rocks leach back out to equal saturation. You will eventually bring them down that way, if you have the patience.

 

[Lucasuka5006011]

hey I know this is an old post but I saw that some said to ask you if you might have an idea of where I could find a fuzzy yellow dwarf lion ? Any ideas ?

We've covered all the bases of where the phosphates are coming from, I would be inclined to think it is from those rocks and such. What happens is you will get a saturation where the phosphare level of the tank water will equal the rocks. You do water changes and the rocks leach back out to equal saturation. You will eventually bring them down that way, if you have the patience.

 

[Devaji]

hows the tank going? Still up?

 

[lion king]

hows the tank going? Still up?

Hi, thanks for taking a look, because of the impossible task of finding nps corals to fill the tank out, I did shut down the nps reef. The build worked flawlessly, feeding and water change systems where a grand success. I literally could not find nps corals and when I did they were usually in terrible shape. No lfs carry them because they would usually die before they were sold unless some unsuspecting person bought them. I had to special order everything and take what I could get, and pickings were beyond slim, like usually nothing. The maintenance was just too high for what I could find for the tank. All the preds were relocated into other tanks and this tank now serves as a qt.

 

[Zionas]

Sorry to hear that it didn’t work out. I know I won’t be trying NPS corals any time soon. So which tanks do you have right now?

Sorry if you’ve gone over this but you have a Lemonpeel Mimic Tang right? How big is yours and how long have you had it? What size would you expect they get to? Some have told me they’ll outgrow a 130.

And have you kept Genicanthus angels? If so how have they done for you?

Thanks.

 

[lion king]

@Zionas Right now my current tanks are a 210g with a 40B display refugium, this tank houses
miniatus grouper
yellow belly dogface puffer
flagfin angel
majestic angel
orangeshoulder tang
scopas tang
onespot foxface
picasso trigger
Indian black trigger
the refugium has an Antennatus nummifer, aka spotfin frogfish

90g venom tank which houses
rhinopias frondosa
red fuzzy lionfish
radiata lion
in a 40B observation tank growing up to be added
antennata lion
zebra lion
fu manchu lion
the 40B observation will be turned into another display and the fu manchu will stay adding
Scorpaena brasiliensis, aka barbfish which is currently in a 90g observation

BC29 nano venom
Hawaiian leaf fish
trio of red rooster pygmy waspfish
flame hawk

All tanks are fowlrs and each run a refugium, you can probably find old pics of my reefs, I'm just not interested anymore in caring for corals.

I have not kept Genicanthus angels, as far as the mimic goes, I think a 125g would be fine for this fish. As I mentioned I did give mine away when the 90g proved too small, these guys do need the 6' tank. People think 2' is no big deal, when you able too see it in real life, it really is. Mine grew rather fast compared to a friend's, but still a slow growing fish. Mine reached about 6" in a few years, my friend's was much smaller and they had him for several years, theirs was in a very large tank with other tangs and was stuck in change for years. Tank dynamics caused these 2 fish to grow and change differently, mine was the only tang.

 

[Zionas]

Thanks. You have a very nice list of fish. It seems the Mimic grows bigger and is more active than the Scopas and other smaller Zebrasoma. Is yours still 6”?

How do your Majestic and Flagfin Angels do? I hear they’re the harder angels to keep.

 

[lion king]

Thanks. You have a very nice list of fish. It seems the Mimic grows bigger and is more active than the Scopas and other smaller Zebrasoma. Is yours still 6”?

How do your Majestic and Flagfin Angels do? I hear they’re the harder angels to keep.

I would say the scopas and mimic were very similar in growth rate, I've had the scopas longer than I had the mimic. It's been at least 2 years, probably longer since I gave him away, haven't seen that friend's tank in a long while,

Those angels are notoriously difficult to keep. 1st rule you must treat for internal parasites, immediately whether showing signs or not. The flagfin literally took me months to clear. If you qt, and you should because they need internal parasite treatment, your qt must be at least a 55g, they will not tolerate being cramped. I've had both of these fish for several years, the flagfin is a beast, eats very well and can be kind of bossy. I believe she is one that has chewed up the orange shoulder's tail and got herself spiked in the chin by the foxface, it has 100% healed now. The majestic is a somewhat shy fish that even after several years is a finnicky eater, doesn't really grow and really I am always worried because she doesn't seem to eat much. I have a suspicion she is getting sponge that is growing behind the rocks.

 

[Zionas]

I see. That’s good to know. I am a beginner so I won’t be considering those angels. How big do you see the Scopas getting? Would it outgrow my tank?

What are some large angels that are easy to keep and won’t outgrow a 125-130 tank? Thanks.

 

[lion king]

I really dont see the scopas getting much bigger than 6-7", I seen them around others tanks as well for years and never see them larger than that. One thing to be aware of, when you see this max size listed, that's the max size these fish have been seen at, if you dig deeper you will find a common size to be much smaller. Add with this that in captivity most fish never even reach the common size. There are exceptions obviously, and I do find liveaquaria to be the most honest source for tank size recommendations.

I don't really consider any angels to be "easy", and all of the small large angels are difficult. The large large angels need a much bigger tank. Considering a dwarf angel would likely be your best bet, the flame or coral beauty are good choices. There are some dwarf angels that are also notoriously difficult, like the potters, golden, or rock beauty. You will find with all of these angels, internal parasites is what makes all of them difficult. Initial feeding can also be challenging, but that's solved with offering them food more closely to what they eat in the wild.

 

[Zionas]

Ahhh thanks that’s really good info. You also seem to have a very cool collection of predator fish. Which ones are your favorite?

I see, what is it that makes you think no angels are “easy”? And with your Tangs have you tried mixing 2 of the same genus together?