predator tank

Imtheguy35 · Nov 21, 2013

Anyone have a predator tank? I am looking to transfer my tank 72 gallon bow.. I am thinking 2 zebra dwarf lion fish, snow flake eel, what I was thinking a trigger... But having trouble finding one for the seize of my tank? Also anyone have trouble keeping corals with these fish? Any suggestions?

JohnnyScholtz · Nov 21, 2013

I just switched my Predator tank over to a reef tank, when I first started I thought it would be cool to have all thos fish (trigger lionfish puffers) and honestly I was cool for a few weeks to a month, then U relize how much you have to feed them and then your bio load is way up and your running into problems keeping your water quality up and fighting GHA. and all for what? just a few cool fish. Dont get me wrong if you are seeking these fish I think you should do it. I'm jsut telling you my experince. For me the fish wasnt worth the work of keeping my water quality good, and also not being able to add any sort of crabs snails shrimps and corals...

and no you cant add any corals with the triggers and puffers, they will go after everything also starfish.

Imtheguy35 · Nov 21, 2013

That's what I was looking for... Thanks for the advice.. I knew they produced a lot of waste didn't know exactly how it would affect the water quality.. Thanks again..

JohnnyScholtz · Nov 21, 2013

Yea no problem, I'm no expert I've only had my tank going for about 5 months and before then I had no clue how to even mix saltwater, Ive quickly learned this the hard lesson and took a major loss selling my Predator fish on craigslist, I'm just trying to help other ppl not make the costly mistakes I made

EnLight · Nov 23, 2013

Same situation as Johnny. My first tank was a predator tank with a puffer and lionfish. Didn't go so great.

teddy13 · Nov 23, 2013

i have a predator tank that became one out of soft heartedness.. anyhow they are right maintaining water is OMG miserable, i had corals in there but have since moved most to a diff tank. not because of being ate but because a coris wrasse won't quit playing football with them. i have learned to lower how often i feed them and how much. in order to keep the stats fairly stable. it was a tough road but worth it i love the tank and it is my husbands favorite.. inhabitants include: dwarf lion, puppy puffer, marine beta, red coris, mated hawkfish, red king damsel, 2 gold domino damsels, shrimp goby, lawnmower blenny, purple tang.

JohnnyScholtz · Nov 23, 2013

Your puffer doesn't eat the shrimp? I had a blue dot and a porcupine and they would eat anything that moved

Palting · Nov 23, 2013

I guess I am a minority here, looking at the above posts. I would encourage you to have a predator tank, specifically for beautiful but non-reef safe fish.

In addition to the reef tank you see in my sig below, I have a 110 gallon that started out as a predator tank. I have a blue throat trigger, a Russelli lionfish, then just had to have a blue face Angel. Oh, plus two damsels that somehow have avoided being eaten by the predators. Maintenance of water quality s not an issue, it all depends on how you set it up. In fact, I use my discard water from the reef tank to do the water changes in the predator tank.

Here's a photo of the tank:

How can you resist this? Meet George:

Here is the tank thread. Technically it is no longer a predator tank, since it has non-predator fish like the blue face angel and the damsels:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/128522-paltings-110-fish-only-live-rock.html

SeahorseKeeper · Nov 23, 2013

I keep a fuzzy dwarf lionfish in my 55 reef. It does not bother my corals and eats very little. It will eat shrimp and small fish.

Small triggers · Nov 23, 2013

i will soon again have a predator tank...mainly triggerfish...had a fowlr for 7 years before moving and doing my first full blown reef...now i think there are easily a few corals i will mix with the trigger when i redo anoth fowlr...but i rarely worried about water quality...fish dont worry about nitrates to much just making an ats really keeps any gha and phos issues at bay...

Small triggers · Nov 24, 2013

becca10 · Dec 19, 2013

I currently have a 180 gal with a lion, black stars n stripes puffer, niger trigger, snowflake eel, raccoon butterfly and a rock beauty angel. I absolutely love my tank. I've never had a water quality issue. Just don't over feed and do water changes. My lion and eel are trained to eat off a stick and are a joy. The ease of this style of tank is what appeals to me. Ultimately you build the kind if tank you will enjoy for years.

AwesomeDempseys · Dec 19, 2013

becca10 said:
I currently have a 180 gal with a lion, black stars n stripes puffer, niger trigger, snowflake eel, raccoon butterfly and a rock beauty angel. I absolutely love my tank. I've never had a water quality issue. Just don't over feed and do water changes. My lion and eel are trained to eat off a stick and are a joy. The ease of this style of tank is what appeals to me. Ultimately you build the kind if tank you will enjoy for years.

Would like to see a pic if you have one available.

becca10 · Dec 19, 2013

Sure thing. Will try n get a pic up tomorrow.

Imtheguy35 · Dec 19, 2013

I as well would love to see a pic

becca10 · Dec 20, 2013

Predator pics

ImageUploadedByREEF2REEF1387593273.590239.jpg

ImageUploadedByREEF2REEF1387593290.798108.jpg

ImageUploadedByREEF2REEF1387593306.254371.jpg

tyler1503 · Dec 20, 2013

I love a good predator tank

I have a valentini puffer and a snowflake at the moment. I'm thinking of adding either a zebra dwarf lion or fuzzy dwarf or some kind of awesome scorpion.
Maintaining water quality is pretty easy with a large protein skimmer, at least 3x the size of your tank and a low bio load.
Most predator tanks I see have a huge bioload. I could be wrong here but I think most of these over stocked tank owners think something like "I kept 10 gobies in this tank before, so I can keep 10 predators in here now". It doesn't work that way.
Most ambush predators are very messy eaters.
If you can keep up with water quality maintainance and a feeding schedual, they're more than easy to look after

puffermike · Dec 21, 2013

Hmm... I don't know if I'd take everything that everyone is posting as a 100% truth to your specific tank. For instance, I have a predator tank with a Porc Puffer and 4 l Green Spotted puffers and they all live happily with a pencil urchin, chocolate chip starfish and some random hermit crabs ect. It's shrimp who get hunted the most with the random hermit crab getting yanked out of his shell by a GSP.

What it comes down to is the size and personality of your individual fish. I advise you to try out whatever you please. You can ask around all you like but you'll never know until you try.

Heres a video of when I first got my Porcupine!

Porcupine Puffer Learning To Hunt Shrimp - YouTube