Opinion on tank for my volitan lionfish.

GigaFish · #1 12/31/2006, 02:17 AM

Hello everyone.

I recently bought a 54g corner tank that was already occupied by a 5yr old Marine Betta, a Purple Tang, and a 2yr old Volitan Lionfish. This tank is my first saltwater tank and was a FO tank using a Fluval 405 for filtration. I have since removed the biomax and activated carbon in the fluval's trays and filled them with 4 lbs of live rock sort of making it FOWLR even though I know its not much.

I have been reading alot about how volitan lions get big fast and how they need a tank around 75g to live comfortably and the rep at my LFS seemed to react quite stunned when I told her my setup and said I need to consider getting a bigger tank fast. So I started looking into it more and it looks like what I am seeing is that the big tank requirement is more for fin clearance so he can turn around and the recommended tank size is 18" at its shortest point so he can turn when he is full grown. Is this fact wrong? My lion is probably 8 - 10" long already. I would really like to keep him but there is no way I can afford another tank so soon if not at all and I would probably have to make a trade between a tank and my wife because she is already starting to go crazy with the amount of time I spend working on my current setup.

So my question is, since my tank is a corner tank, the dimensions are L 27" x W 27" x Bowfront 39" which is plenty of room for 18" clearance while turning and he seems to have plenty of room to swim around, can I keep him in this tank?

reefnetworth · #2 12/31/2006, 02:33 AM

your LFS is correct, if its that size now, it would need a larger tank.

you might ask them to exchange for different fish, supplements, food etc. have a safe and Happy New Year!!!

John,

55gSW · #3 12/31/2006, 07:21 AM

IMO I'd keep him. I have seen many 75g FOWLR tanks with volitans that were packed to the gills with LR and the water volumn has to be closer to 35g's of actual water. In your tank it sounds like he has plenty of swimming room and yeah, alot of the recommendations come from the ability to turn around with those long flowing fins, which isn't a problem in a corner tank. The biggest concern is going to be your water quality. You should consider adding a good skimmer, that will help alot. You will also need to watch your parameters (ie ammonia, nitrites, nitrates) and do water changes as needed.
Good luck!

GigaFish · #4 12/31/2006, 11:15 AM

I planned on building a 15g sump underneath since I am limited on space in my corner stand. As far as a rectangle sump shape, my largest footprint for it can be 10 x 20 with a height of 17 maximum. This sump will be fed by a CPR Cs50 overflow box and the sump will hold an aquaC remora skimmer and live rock.

roadracer · #5 12/31/2006, 01:21 PM

125 gal. That's some big fishies. Your other fish risk getting accidently stung in those close quarters.

GigaFish · #6 12/31/2006, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by roadracer
125 gal. That's some big fishies. Your other fish risk getting accidently stung in those close quarters.

I have watched him accomodate them by moving his fins out of their way though. Its weird but think that is really what he is doing.

ram74 · #7 12/31/2006, 07:11 PM

I am a huge fan of lion fish; I have seen large lions in tanks as small as 20 gallons and survived. The main thing is monitoring the levels in the water. Large fish produce large amounts of waste, and depending what you feed and how often you feed them that also plays a big factor. I'm not a big fan of fluval filters for salt water. All glass makes a nice wet dry filter that fits perfectly under the stand.

roadracer · #8 01/01/2007, 02:05 AM

Volitans don't belong (when near adulthood) in less than a 90. 18" finspan is a big dude. People seem to forget that fish swim. Keeping a large lion in a 20 is horrible. I should keep my American Pitbull Terrier in a closet for his entire life & see in the ASPCA kicks my door in (as they should in that case). Fish are no different. Not bashing you Ram74, just the person with the 20gal. Fishkeepers need to consider the fishes well being before their own wants...

ram74 · #9 01/01/2007, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Not bashing you Ram74, just the person with the 20gal. Fishkeepers need to consider the fishes well being before their own wants...

I totally agree with you on that statement, I have a 10" lion that has a whole 180 gallon tank for himself, with a 75 gallon wet dry/refegium with about 150lbs of liverock, 36 watt uv sterilizer, and a corallife protein skimmer.

jamison74 · #10 01/02/2007, 04:23 AM

start saving for a bigger tank, not just for the lion, but the rest of the fish are going to need it soon also, the betta maybe not but a purple tang will get bigger also. imo your lion is crowded right now, and in no time at all will be really crowded, do him a favor and get a 90+