Predator Tank Ideas Welcome!

puffermike

Active Member
Hello everyone. I'm in the beginning of picking livestock out for a predator tank. Has anyone had any awesome experiences with certain types of predators?

I've been fond of puffers and lionfish but i'm thinking I want to break the normal for myself this time. I've been looking at trigger fish but I don't know exactly if that's one of the fish I'd like to have. From what I understand they really kill the general community and limit what I can get. I use to have a 3 foot long ghost eel but I found it extremely boring considering I never really saw it unless I snuck up on the tank under the moonlights in the wee hours of the morning.

I saw a shark egg at the store today and it intrigued me. Has anyone ever had a shark? Are they active swimmers and actually fun to watch? I like a pretty lively tank. I have multiple large tanks so size really doesn't matter at this point. Any advice would be appreciated!
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
...
I saw a shark egg at the store today and it intrigued me. Has anyone ever had a shark? ...

In my opinion, selling shark eggs is one of the things in the hobby that should be discouraged. Outside of a public aquarium or similar institution, few people have the necessary tank size to keep a shark. Even the smallest sharks have an adult size of about 3 feet. Because most sharks need to swim to breathe they require a tank the has a length and a width of 1 1/2 times the length of the shark. You would need a tank almost 5 feet in each dimension to house the fish.

Leave the shark eggs at the LFS, unless you are in a position to provide the size tank they really need.

As for other fish, how large a tank are you talking about? There are some good choices, but some require room.
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
I'm with Dave, while totally awesome (who doesn't want a shark!) unless you have the required tank let the little bugger be happy elsewhere. I like the lionfish and frog fish, anglers, whatever they are called:). Most predator tanks are small but I think a large predator tank allows for more fun because you can keep other fish. Small, fast fish that they can't catch make the tank look better IMO
 

Talon33

Active Member
If we are talking about a big tank like 240 gallons plus you could even probably throw a grouper in there. I agree about the sharks. Unless you have like a 300 gallon swimming pool or cylindrical shaped aquarium don't even try them. Just because liveaquaria says you can have a banded cat shark in a 180 doesn't mean you should. They get to be like 3 1/2 feet. It would take up over half of the aquarium laying on the bottom if it where in a 180. I saw a full grown cat shark in a 8ft 240 gallon tank and it was still to small. Granted they kept it for like 8 years before it died, I saw it move like twice.
 

puffermike

Active Member
I asked around with a few other guys and they also said that sharks can be hard to keep alive once they hatch along with the fact that they are actually pretty boring. I have totally been eyeing up the anglers too! I don't see them often at all and those are the kinds of things I like to have.

What types of small fish do you guys usually house with your larger predators? The angler could pose a serious problem to even the fastest fish I'd imagine haha.

So far, I've gathered this list for what I think I want.

Radiata LionFish
Porcupine Puffer
Foxface
Angler


If you guys think any smaller fast fish could actually work with this setup let me know!
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
The foxface rabbitfish has a peaceful temperament. Not good for an aggressive tank. Just b/c they have venomous spines does not make them aggressive. You will need to be careful handling it, but it will never go after you or other fish in your tank. Plus, you will never see that fish in an aggressive tank b/c it will be hiding all the time - they are very skittish. It can take several weeks for a newly introduced foxface to become comfortable in community tanks and come out from hiding. Depending on the tank mates, when being picked on it may flare its spines at other fish as a warning to keep away, but up against any aggressive fish, the foxface will go hide in a hole.
 

puffermike

Active Member
The foxface rabbitfish has a peaceful temperament. Not good for an aggressive tank. Just b/c they have venomous spines does not make them aggressive. You will need to be careful handling it, but it will never go after you or other fish in your tank. Plus, you will never see that fish in an aggressive tank b/c it will be hiding all the time - they are very skittish. It can take several weeks for a newly introduced foxface to become comfortable in community tanks and come out from hiding. Depending on the tank mates, when being picked on it may flare its spines at other fish as a warning to keep away, but up against any aggressive fish, the foxface will go hide in a hole.

Thanks for the info! I've never owned a foxface so I'm a newb at that particular fish. I have a reef tank though. I wonder if it would be better suited there. As far as it really being coral friendly... I don't know.
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Here's a foxface article for ya.

I had my foxface w/wrasse, trigger, eel, grouper. It did fine, but none of the fish went after it either. When they got near the foxface, it would bend and flare its spines toward the fish. On the rare occasion when it was cont bugged, it took off into a hole. Surprisingly all these fish got along really well together. It was an extra long short tank, so these fish had lots of room to get out of each others way.
 

puffermike

Active Member
That was a pretty in depth piece. Thanks for the info. Now i'm struggling to decide the last couple fish for my reef haha...
 

puffermike

Active Member
Thinking about going with some dry rock from BRS. Has anyone on here had experience with those guys? So far the review on their website seems great.
 

michael_cb_125

Well-Known Member
Puffers and Triggers are great fish, but they dont mix well with lions or any other scorpions. Both Puffers and Triggers are notorious for nipping lionfish spines, resulting in a stressed or dead lion.

I am a huge fan of Scorpions! Provided they are all similar in size, they can be kept in groups.
But always remember that ambush predators often mis-judge the size of their prey. I have personally seen a 1.5" wartskin angler consume a 2" wartskin angler.

~Michael
 

gbose

Member
Saw a Scorpionfish at my LFS the other day. Looked awesome! But admittedly, doesn't move around or do much. Just sits there camouflaged and looks cool! The one fish I'd really like to have if I had a predatot tank is a LionFish.....
 

puffermike

Active Member
I broke and went out and spotted a beautiful Volitan Lionfish... hence to say I took him home. My 110 has been running for months now. So far the livestock is this new lionfish, a target fish, 3 starfish and a rose urchin. I once had a pufferfish living with starfish and urchins before and it never touched them. This was a Porcupine.. but I don't know if I would get that lucky again. He also never touched the dwarf lionfish that I had in the tank either. The lion was something I wanted no doubt.. and so is an angler. Just have to find one that gets pretty damn big.
 

puffermike

Active Member
Heres one of the guys I went with.
20140204_201621_zps3a7c1277.jpg
 

kyle4201

Active Member
I just started/finished my aggressive tank,, I have a dwarf lion(fuzzy), spiny puffer(spike lee) and a huma huma trigger (Tiberius) as well. IT IS CRAZY!!!! everything that enters the tank it attacks. I have a hard time feeding the other fish cuz it tries to get all the food, lol. I even try to keep him at bey with my feeding stick and he attacks that also, lol. Very cool though and beautiful!! good luck with him.
 

puffermike

Active Member
Haha my trigger is actually pretty chill. It's the lionfish that tries to eat every bit of food in the tank. I finally got the lion to take food without the stick and it's working against me now. I can't believe Tiberius attacks the damn stick... haha what a maniac.

Here's a picture of Leonardo by the way... spike lee is an awesome name!! I'm debating on getting a porcupine soon.
20140131_185921_zps70f9b0cd.jpg


These two beg for food like dogs..!
 
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