Jason the filter freak's 47 column reef tank

[davelin315]

I have never seen lionfish fight each other. They tend to hang out in large groups in nature and they seem to be more tolerant of each other than of other fish. It's been a long time since I've had a lion, but that's my experience and also my observation.

[bigJPDC]

With that tank being so tall and narrow, don't you almost have to go with a rockscape like a christmas tree, otherwise you block a lot of coral real estate below?

[jason the filter freak]

With that tank being so tall and narrow, don't you almost have to go with a rockscape like a christmas tree, otherwise you block a lot of coral real estate below?

 

It does look like a christmas tree and I'm not really that worried about coral in an agressive tank it's just simple

[jason the filter freak]

Well I may or may not have jumped the gun here. But I got my first serious fish tonight on dave reccomend. There has been a damsel in the aquarium for days now and if he won't come to my net some time soon, due to my stock list he's gonna be a goner.

Still looking for suggestions on a clean up crew.

 

 

 

Here is the best picture I can get of the wide open space behind the rock work. (It's the area in shadow)

 

Unfortunate damsel.

Right after adding (45 mins of acclimation (drip))

 

Gone explorin

 

And more images random ( I think the B&W pics came out exceptionally well)

 

Lion Upper right, damsel lower left

 

 

 

Feeding time (He did eat though since it was a mix of frozen I'm not sure what it is that he ate)

 

I also must say I'm now very happy with the sound output I'm getting from the c-remora (not silent but well with in tolerable the skimmer and the cooling fan on the sun pod make about the same amount of noise)

[mexicanjavafish]

The damsel has a bit of a death wish--I watched him swim towards the lion a number of times (then of course as soon as the lion moves the damsel darts for cover ) but the lion really is beautiful to watch, I think he's happy

[treesprite]

the lion really is pretty... shame it wouldn't work in my tank

Edited November 25, 2007 by treesprite

[zotzer]

He's a beauty!

 

Someone here said he had damsels with a lion (can't remember who), and they were just as good at evading the lion as they are at evading us! Maybe it stands a chance.

 

Tracy

[davelin315]

I give the damsel a 95% chance of surviving. I used to keep them with lions and if they have spaces to hide, they'll survive. They are smart little fish. That looks like a blue devil damsel, too, and it will come out and nip at the lion to keep it honest as well. It'll be fun interactions. The most vulnerable time for the damsel will be when it is eating, it may get lazy and then get snorked up...

 

Watch out for ammonia on this tank, by the way. It's a very young tank and lionfish are very sensitive to any ammonia and nitrite in the water. They can go south very quickly if there's anything amiss in the water. Has the tank fully cycled yet?

[jason the filter freak]

I give the damsel a 95% chance of surviving.

 

You loast that bet as of 7:55 this morning. I saw him hovering against a rock this morning against the front glass and mistakenly thought he was suck. I reached in with a turkey baster to blow water at him to free him and he freaked! He dove into a very tiny hole (well compared to his body size) and I thought he was going to be a goner for being suck. He wiggled his was back out about 20 seconds later, and sure enough had the damsel in his mouth... oh well.

[treesprite]

awww poor little damsel. Do you think larger variety damsels would be ok with lions (not planning to keep them, but just wondering)?

[mexicanjavafish]

awww poor little damsel. Do you think larger variety damsels would be ok with lions (not planning to keep them, but just wondering)?

 

I thought the damsel in this tank was just a little bit too big for the lion, at least for the time being--but apparently I was wrong...

[davelin315]

No fair, you spooked the lion (would have thought it would be the other way around!)! The fix is in...

[jason the filter freak]

Ok soooo, how do i feed this sucker?

I want to make the least amount of mess possible

I'm having issues

 

One I have a package of frozen krill and a package of frozen silver sides. How do i get just one with out defrosting the whole block?

 

Two last night I let the whole block slightly thaw got one out and attempted to feed with it, just one silver side, the lion never took but crud went every where in the tank even though I didn't let the silverside fall loose in the tank.

 

Lastly how do you make the prey item look realistic. I tried feeding again today on a piece of 3/16 ridgid airline tubing (one the piece kept falling off (is there a better tool to use)) it was going great the lion was tracking and everything but the accidently bumped the airline tubing and he decided it wasn't for him.

 

TIA all help appreciated

[bigJPDC]

you are cracking me up.

 

when I feed the rbta krill I break a small section off and just toss whatever I don't feed it. Most of the time I get one thick krill and then 2-3 halfs of other krills so it helps me select the best one. I don't think it's good to thaw and freeze that food - you could do a one time chopfest and store the chunks in a container so you can just get one at a time each time.

 

You're gonna have to learn the whole hand-feeding thing for when you get that eel anyways, the lion will give you practice.

 

HTH

jp

[jason the filter freak]

I'm at a loss here, any one else have good feeding techniques?

[zotzer]

Do you have a pair of reef tweezers? I'd try holding it in the tank with those and seeing if he goes for it.

 

t

[davelin315]

Keep the food suspended in the current. When it's swirling around, it should attract attention. I also used to feed mine freeze-dried krill that floated on the top. This led to it eating everything that was on the top, including spirulina sticks by tetra.

[AndrewB]

One proven method is to put a damselfish in the tank and then spook the lion...

[jason the filter freak]

He's not going for anything? How long should I wait until say adding a damsel or something? Maybe a gold fish, I know you're not supposed to feed those in the long run but he's not up for silver sizes nor krill...

[davelin315]

Use mollies instead.

 

You can also train the lion to eat and then pull a bait and switch. Feed it mollies and then start to dangle them in the water over the tank so that it comes up to snap at them at the surface. When you have it hitting at them at the surface, switch to a piece of shrimp or something else and dangle these at the surface and let it hit those instead. It's not always easy to wean a lionfish over, and sometimes it won't happen, but this method is pretty useful if you can get it to eat the same way at the surface. It's kind of like Pavlov's dogs, you're trying to train it to hit at things at the surface so you can dangle anything there and have it strike.

 

By the way, I hope you're checking your ammonia and nitrite levels. Like I said before, this is a young tank and you'd be surprised how much waste is put out by a lionfish (and also how dangling foods in the water can dirty your tank).

[Rascal]

You can also acclimate guppies to saltwater and use those. Might be cheaper than mollies.

[gastone]

You can also acclimate guppies to saltwater and use those. Might be cheaper than mollies.

 

 

Or acclimate mollies and breed them.

[jason the filter freak]

 

 

Or acclimate mollies and breed them.

 

 

I knew mollies could be acclimated over but they'll breed in saltwater? Any one have a good link to the acclimation proscess and how to have successful breeding in salt water? I've found scattered articles but nothing spectacular

[Brian Ward]

I knew mollies could be acclimated over but they'll breed in saltwater? Any one have a good link to the acclimation proscess and how to have successful breeding in salt water? I've found scattered articles but nothing spectacular

 

I think it best to work on moving the lion over to frozen. I believe Scales makes sure all their fish eat frozen or pellet, so you might want to check with Juan about how he goes about converting them - even my scooter blenny from there ate frozen immediately.

[jason the filter freak]

Well here are some updates at the moment, since school is a drag