new predator macro tank

lion king · Mar 26, 2017

I need a new a beast. I have lions and an angler, so it will be in that vein. It's a 40b, macro algae tank; I've packed it with pods, including amphipods. I already feed live foods to my other predators, and will likely feed this tank live as well.
My 1st consideration is to hatch some cuttlefish, I've already been consulting with an lfs on this project.
I've also considered a pair of scorpionfish but would like some activity. Wondering if anyone feeds their scorps live food, and if so have they have noticed any personality differences. The personality of the anglers I see being fed dead vs live is like night and day.

mort · Apr 5, 2017

I've raised sepia bandensis from eggs to adults and they are really very cool but they are hard to get feeding, incredibly shy and when they end their lives they stop and die in a process called senescence which is incredibly hard to watch (although interesting in itself) and happens far too quickly due to their short lifespans. So for these reasons I wouldn't personally want them again but must say seeing on ink is probably the coolest thing I've witnessed in the hobby.

If this was my tank I'd consider a cockatoo waspfish as they are perfect for macro tanks and entertaining, swaying from side to side.

lion king · Apr 5, 2017

Thanks for the response mort, i did consider the cockatoo and thought to pair it with a leaf scorp. But I want a little more activity. I have 5 sepia bandensis eggs and am hoping they will actually hatch.

roilciuc · Apr 5, 2017

Do you have a video of your old cuttlefish inking?

mort · Apr 6, 2017

roilciuc said:
Do you have a video of your old cuttlefish inking?

Sorry I don't, it's not something you really want to encourage (like making a puffer puff) but when you spook them by accident it's is amazing.

mort · Apr 6, 2017

lion king said:
Thanks for the response mort, i did consider the cockatoo and thought to pair it with a leaf scorp. But I want a little more activity. I have 5 sepia bandensis eggs and am hoping they will actually hatch.

Cool, they seem to hatch ok but it's getting them eating that can be the problem and live mysis was invaluable there. Good luck.

I get what your saying with the cockatoo, they do only really sway side to side. It's still one of my favourite fish and one of the few interesting predators we seem to get over here.

lion king · Apr 16, 2017

I've got hatchlings, i decided to heavily stock the tank with amphipods and let them hatch in the tank. Seems like all 5 hatched and I've been able to find 4 of them all lined up early in the morning way before sunrise. They are so tiny, I search and search just to get a glimpse of them. They are literally the size of a 1/2 of tic tack. The 2 that hatched at the beginning of the week seem to be about double the size of the 2 that hatched at the end of the week, so they do seem to finding food. 2 of them are hanging out alot and it's fascinating when they launch and hover around. I ordered more amphipods although the tank is even now crawling with activity.

mort · Apr 17, 2017

Great news. It took ages for mine to actually hunt anything in front of me. I also kept them in a smaller tank within the display until they hatched, so could easily find them but think it made it harder to feed them.

lion king · May 21, 2017

So a month later and I have 2 left that I can find. They never come out in the day and I find them with a flashlight shortly after lights out. They are about a 1/2" and got them to start taking down live ghost shrimp. I feel good these guys are going to make it now. It has been interesting but challenging, not something I'd do again. Once the hunting ground for amphipods became slim it proved difficult to keep up with re-stocking. I ordered some online that was very expensive and a frankly a bust. I have a friend that owns a lfs that let me harvest some out of his refugiums. I was also able to get some out of my refugium. I was about to give up when I tried the smallest ghostie I could find. Holy cow, watching these guys take one down is wild. Not able to get good pics yet.

mort · May 22, 2017

lion king said:
So a month later and I have 2 left that I can find. They never come out in the day and I find them with a flashlight shortly after lights out. They are about a 1/2" and got them to start taking down live ghost shrimp. I feel good these guys are going to make it now. It has been interesting but challenging, not something I'd do again. Once the hunting ground for amphipods became slim it proved difficult to keep up with re-stocking. I ordered some online that was very expensive and a frankly a bust. I have a friend that owns a lfs that let me harvest some out of his refugiums. I was also able to get some out of my refugium. I was about to give up when I tried the smallest ghostie I could find. Holy cow, watching these guys take one down is wild. Not able to get good pics yet.

They are a challenge aren't they. My first experience was very similar to yours but had two batches of eggs which hatched a little while apart, so had a second chance. With the second batch I changed my approach.
I fed live mysis, which was readily available and cheap, as a substitute first feed. They seemed to dissappear so I assume they were eaten although I never actually saw on get caught. Ghosties were the next food. If you have two you might have already seen some cannabolism and been left with a pair. I only think I was able to keep more because they went in a 8x2x2 ft coral tray but even then I only saw two together.

lion king · Jun 12, 2017

So then there was one, very stupid error on my part and one of them got pulled up into the intake of an ac70 hob filter. I cleared the algae from the intake and just that amount of change sucked him up. The one left is now about an inch, he still seems to be hunting amphipods, eating ghosties regularly, and maybe even a couple of small mollies. I acclimated 6 small mollies and they had been living in the tank, I saw him stalking them one night and preparing to shoot; but didn't pull the trigger. 2 of the mollies have disappeared, he still only comes out at night, and really isn't that active. I can't believe it's only been a couple of months, I'm definitely not cut out for hatchlings. Here's a pic of the macro tank today.