What do you think of this arrangement????

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vTEC

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 4, 2005
Messages
37
Location
Ontario, Canada
Okay!!! I am working on slowly adding creatures to my 35 gallon SW tank here and there. And I have slowly pryed myself off one of our 5 120g tanks at work, and have stopped drooling over our Picasso trigger.

So far i just have a red dwarf Lionfish (who is now eating) and a domino damsel, and on order is a Marine Betta and a maroon clown.

Those will be the only larger fish in the tank, give or take with the clown(im still debating)

Now here is a list of what i am considering for the bottom of the tank:

watchman goby
emerald crab X3
scooter blenny
feather dusters
cleaner wrasse
a few small blue legged hermits
brittle sea star


If anyone has any other ideas (and please note that not all of these will be going in my tank) for what to have along the bottom, speak up..pm or post :p and lemme know

Thanks in advance
-Lauren-
vTEC
 
Lions and Triggers dont mix, a Picasso can pick your lion to death and while trying to pick at the lion your trigger can be stung which could result in death of the trigger......

Most Triggers, Puffers, EEls & Angels do not mix with Lions, any fish that like's to pick, if they are together in that tank keep a close watch on the situation.

Kaye
 
Your hypothetical tank is filled with things that do not belong in there and would be majorly overstocked. The marine betta would never be happy in a tank that small (which I told you in another post). The maroon clown is one of the most, if not THE most, aggressive of the clown species and they can be real nasty when in a smaller tank. The dwarf lion, even though it is a dwarf, would most likely eat the blennies, cleaner wrasse and any other small fish you put in the tank.

I think you are courting disaster......a 35 gallon cannot hold that many fish unless they are all small.
 
I think you are courting disaster
I Agree. Vtec you really should take a step back, relax :lol: and check out the recommended reading list here- http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=17 -to gather more info and go from there. A marine betta in a 35 is definitely not a good idea. You would be setting yourself up for aggravation and failure from the get-go. Good luck.
 
i wasn't going to put all that in there.... they are all just considerations meaning that I might put one here and there in the tank..... lol i have common sense :p i'm just giving myself some variety...

marine bettas dont get that big :p the one we had at work was full grown.. we got him in on a trade in... he was about 5 inches and the guy had him for over 3 years.. and the fish hadn't grown....

but yesh.. my 35 gallon is my temporary tank ATM.. i have a 100 gallon tank at work that the boys and I are building... so we're going to make that our after hours work!!! But for now... my damsel and lionfish are going to be the owners of my 35g right now... and all those other creatures i listed are my alternatives...
 
the marine betta is too big for that tank. you asked us to comment on what you were considering putting in THAT tank, not a future 100 gallon. We did. The fish that you already have, or claim to have on order, will wreak havoc with what you have listed as possible alternatives or else are just flat inappropriate to your tank size. Yes, the betta can live in there, but it should not have to. ... I have used this analogy before, imagine living out your life in no other room of the house except the bathroom or a closet.

I realize that you had all kinds of ideas as to what can go in your tank but take the time to do some research on these fish before placing your orders.
 
It is never good to stock a tank with the intent on upgrading to an acceptable size for the livestock at a later date. This is because thigns always come up and that tank upgrade will most likly take a back burner and your fish will suffer.

Since you have the lion already I would stop with that. The lion WILL eat any fish that will fit in its mouth. If the fish's you intend on getting now wont fit they very well may once the lion starts growing. The 120's that you have seen at work are a far cry in the stocking abilities than the 35 your talking about.

We dont intend on sounding so negitive but if you progress down the same road your going its going to be a very hard fight to have a happy and trouble free tank.
 
I agree even with the best intentions, it's to much. Hold off til after you get a bigger tank.
Also, the fish you have listed for the bottom would be a snack for the lion. Lionfish are gulpers and can and will eat whatever it can fit in it's mouth. Even your damsel isn't safe unless it's a good bit bigger than the lion. Lions grow fast too so keep that in mind. :) Also, lions are considered messier than most and you have to factor in bioload. Your lion, bioload speaking, pretty much fills that 35g tank himself.
 
I think everyone missed the point that it was a dwarf lion. Now no disrepect, but these things are tiny, shy individuals that perch on rocks and hide in corners. Also that it appears that wherever this person works has lots of tanks (ie. a fish store). These on-order fish could always be something the store is ordering and dumping into their tanks... *shrug*

Another missed point - the alternative options. Anyone would be *nuts* to think that everything listed would even fit into a 35g with water. Hah.

However, with that said -- I wouldn't house anything else in a 35g other than the Lion. We have a dwarf in with a dozen damsels, a picasso, a large faerie wrasse, and an undulated trigger in a **210g**. This is reasonable. A 35g? No.

My suggestions for the 35g, keep your lion in it. Maybe the damsel (pray, hope and pray some more that the lion *DOES* eat that dirty damsel toiletbowl cleaner). Save the rest of your purchases for the 100g and keep the 35g with your pretty lion. :)

And to answer your "what to have at the bottom" question... get lots of rock (preferably live rock). About 40 pounds worth (whatever that is in kilo's). A sandbed if you like, not necessary for housing only a lion (plus it'll make it easier to clean). A barebottom removes the necessity for hermits. In which case I'd suggest some snails (several astrea should do the job).

Let us know more specifically your plans and we will be better able to direct you to your answer. :)

Hope this helps some.
 
Lauren IMO I would keep the lion in the 35 even after the 100 is up & running.
Is this 100 going to be a Reef or FOWLR Tank?

Kaye
 
schoeplein, I did not miss the fact it was a dwarf lion. I have owned them as well and they have huge mouths to gulp with. and they do not remain tiny nor shy, it still becomes a decent sized fish. I also did not miss the "alternative" options, they were listed after the "definites". It is the definites list that I think will cause issues down the road.
 
schoeplein said:
I think everyone missed the point that it was a dwarf lion. Now no disrepect, but these things are tiny, shy individuals that perch on rocks and hide in corners. Also that it appears that wherever this person works has lots of tanks (ie. a fish store). These on-order fish could always be something the store is ordering and dumping into their tanks... *shrug*

No, I think you've missed the point. Dwarf or not, they do not stay tiny, unless you are referring to the fu manchu lion. The typical dwarf can get to 7 inches and I wouldn't call that tiny. And, if your lion is shy, perhaps there is other issues going on. All fish are different of course but my dwarf is not shy at all and never hides. And it has rock caves just for that purpose. The only time it goes in though is at night.

Rather the fish is on order for her, or the store, the advice she was given is pretty standard and sound. The only iffy advice so far was about the toiletbowl cleaner damsel. :roll:
Damsels have their place and are beautiful fish.
 
Hehe. ;) Damsels.... good for one thing: staying out of my tank. I thought it was pretty sound advice. :oops: (unless they're chromis, but these wouldn't make sense in a tank with anything predatory or marginally aggressive) We have over a dozen in the 210g and it looks cool with them all swimming around the Picasso like a small swarm (four stripe, yellow tail, blue devil and yellow).

Regardless, I still said I wouldn't put any other fish in the 35g other than the lion. I also said to keep the 35g with the lion and put everything else into the 110g.

...and what I meant by shy is that it does not school with the rest of the fish. It stays perched on the rock and "inhales" food that comes by (live guppies, krill, whatever). He's about 4" in length - seems small, but that probably has something to do with the size tank and tankmates. I guess "patient in appearance" would have been a better use of words.
 
hey thanks for posting again....
my dwarf is shy at the moment.. he's been in the tank for a week and a bit, and hes still getting used to having someone looking in the tank here and there. But he's eating now (ghost shrimp) so its a step forward from shyness. The dwarf I have is about 4 inches right now, so we'll see if he grows a bit more..

And I always have the fact that I work at a HUGE aquarium with tonnes of space for any tank mates that out grow my tanks.


Also, isnt the Picasso trigger, one of the mildly aggresive of the trigger family? we have one housed with a dwarf lion and they dont bother each other. I know the trigger cant be kept with crabs, and creatures like that... apparently those are their favourite food source ;)
 
It's more with age that the Picasso trigger can get the attitude but I only recommend lions to be housed with Niger, Pinktail, Blue Throat, Sargassum or Crosshatch, these Triggers are more predictable than the others.

My Fuzzy is not shy & hardly ever hangs out in the rocks But it does perch during the day. I have found when my Lions were younger they were more active but as they get older they are starting to perch more.

sent a pm.....
Kaye
 
schoeplein - I think Hara, MT79, Fluff and fishfreak all gave perfect advice considering the vagueness of the initial post. I for one also thought the 'considering for bottom of tank' was the whole list...its certainly worded in a way that infers that.

And I don't think any of our advisors missed that it was a dwarf lion - its a simple fact that this is a relatively small tank and with a dwarf lion, you have room for little else. The information I found on the red dwarf lionfish indicates it'll hit 6"...too large for a 35gal.
 
I appologise for being a bit vague... I more than likely ruined this whole post and peoples likings towards me lol :roll:

I measured my lion today, and he's is officially 4 and a half inches ( i was guesstimating with his length a few posts up)

Anyways, to clarify my origial topic, I put that list down so people could let me know their opinions on each invert. small fish, etc... I know that some aren't compatible with the fish I plan to have in there. Those were just options that I had considered, and had no intentions of placing all those together.

So I hope this makes sense.. and I'll appologise again for the vagueness..

Cheers
- Lauren -
 
vTEC said:
I more than likely ruined this whole post and peoples likings towards me

This is absolutely not true. We are here to help and truely want to see you succeed. :D
 
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