55 gallon predator stocking

SerThor · Jun 13, 2019

Hey everyone! I have read here a lot but haven’t posted much. I was thinking of starting a 55 gallon FOWLR tank this fall. I have a small reef tank but have no experience with any predator fish. I was hoping you guys could help me out with some stocking ideas!
So far my ideas are:
-fuzzy dwarf lion
-valentini puffer
-golden dwarf eel
-maybe a scorp?
I’ve seen a lot of tanks do well with the lions and valentini puffers but have also read that all puffers nip at their spines. Any advice?
Would I be better to get a pair of lions?
Any and all advice is appreciated! I plan on running an oversized skimmer and was thinking about the reefer 250. Thanks so much in advance!

lion king · Jun 13, 2019

Personally I don't care for keeping valentini puffers with lions, they are notorious nippers. The other 3 would work good together, please read through my thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/an-arguement-for-feeding-live-foods.582822/. If you want an interesting and active predator tank with long term success, please consider planning to feed live foods.

2 lions could work, I would prefer a fuzzy and a fu, the fu stays a little smaller and are a little less active than the fuzzy, so the 55g seems to be a ok size for the 2. While you could do 2 fuzzys or a zebra and a fuzzy, but you would have to get them large enough to sex them, 2 male fuzzys in a 55 would likely be a problem. If you do a fuzzy and a zebra, I would get a female fuzzy. They have to be about 4-4.5" to accurately sex them, and they usually come in much smaller.

Seeing a valentini and a fuzzy together in a pic or vid doesn't mean it ended well. While you are doing your research try and find some honest reports of long term success. If you really pay attention, you'll find many post of small lions and tanks well under a year, but you will rarely find documentation of tanks kept for years.

SerThor · Jun 13, 2019

Thank you for all your help! There’s definitely always more research to do. You’re right, sometimes it’s difficult to gauge the age of a tank so I’m trying to get as much input as I can. I really appreciate your advice!!