Predator Tank Equipment?

[Sticks And Stones]

Hi All,

I'm going to be building out a 90 gallon predator tank soon and am looking for equipment advice. If you were starting a new predator tank today, what would you be looking for as far as equipment? The tank will mainly house smaller species of lion fish and an eel.

 

[ahiggins]

I’m going to tag along for this :)

 

[lion king]

Is this reef ready for a sump, or will it be hob. Obviously a good sized skimmer, and I like to include macro algae. You add add a refuge or a reactor, and even plant some in the display. Unless you are doing reef, lighting doesnt have to be fancy, I keep my non-reef predator tanks dimly lite minimally timed just for my observation enjoyment. And all the basics; ato, temp controller.

 

[Sticks And Stones]

Is this reef ready for a sump, or will it be hob. Obviously a good sized skimmer, and I like to include macro algae. You add add a refuge or a reactor, and even plant some in the display. Unless you are doing reef, lighting doesnt have to be fancy, I keep my non-reef predator tanks dimly lite minimally timed just for my observation enjoyment. And all the basics; ato, temp controller.

Thanks. This will be a reef-ready tank. If I do any coral, it would be soft coral so not overly concerned with lighting. Anything special I would need for filtration other than a skimmer? I understand predator tanks typically have higher nitrates. Is a refugium sufficient to handle that?

 

[William Norman]

This is what I have done in addition to the oversize skimmer and mechanical filtration. I have added as much pond matrix in mesh bags as I could fit in my sump. I also have a brightwell nitrate brick in fuge and a bio plate in sump. I use filter floss for my mechanical filtration and I try to change every 3-4 days.

 

[flabryth]

Hi All,

I'm going to be building out a 90 gallon predator tank soon and am looking for equipment advice. If you were starting a new predator tank today, what would you be looking for as far as equipment? The tank will mainly house smaller species of lion fish and an eel.

I Prefer a solid set of circulation pumps to get the flow going so that waste gets into the filtration system...these guys are messy eaters so you have to be able the handle the waste.

 

[lion king]

Thanks. This will be a reef-ready tank. If I do any coral, it would be soft coral so not overly concerned with lighting. Anything special I would need for filtration other than a skimmer? I understand predator tanks typically have higher nitrates. Is a refugium sufficient to handle that?

A well planned refuge can mostly take care of all your needs. The problem with most manufactured sump/refuge designs is 1:the refuge section is not large enough, and 2:the flow is too fast as it is coming from your tank return pump. If you can get the volume of refuge to about 10% of your tank volume and get the flow down to 250/300gph, you'll get great results.

Carbon dosing is another option, but that's down the line, and I can't remember why, but I do remember it's a good idea to wait for the tank to get a bit mature. I'm currently running nopox on my 90g Pred, currently 3 lions and a filefish, but has housed 3 lions and a ribbon eel, and 4 lions.

Target feeding eels and lions appropriate size foods will cut down on mess. If you cut the eel's food into chunks or slivers he can get down without ripping and shaking, it cuts the mess dramatically. Nassarius snails are great to eat left over food, they bury themselves in the sand and only come out when they smell food. So pretty safe since they will only be oiut when you are feeding the eel, so the eel will be eating your food, not the snails. Not so bad to add a dozen hermits from time to time, if the eels hunt them, well good for them. Lions won;t bother hard bodied inverts, but shrimp are yummy.

Check out some of my threads on lions and predator care and feeding.

 

[DaneGer21]

Lots and lots of filtration!

 

[Sticks And Stones]

A well planned refuge can mostly take care of all your needs. The problem with most manufactured sump/refuge designs is 1:the refuge section is not large enough, and 2:the flow is too fast as it is coming from your tank return pump. If you can get the volume of refuge to about 10% of your tank volume and get the flow down to 250/300gph, you'll get great results.

Carbon dosing is another option, but that's down the line, and I can't remember why, but I do remember it's a good idea to wait for the tank to get a bit mature. I'm currently running nopox on my 90g Pred, currently 3 lions and a filefish, but has housed 3 lions and a ribbon eel, and 4 lions.

Target feeding eels and lions appropriate size foods will cut down on mess. If you cut the eel's food into chunks or slivers he can get down without ripping and shaking, it cuts the mess dramatically. Nassarius snails are great to eat left over food, they bury themselves in the sand and only come out when they smell food. So pretty safe since they will only be oiut when you are feeding the eel, so the eel will be eating your food, not the snails. Not so bad to add a dozen hermits from time to time, if the eels hunt them, well good for them. Lions won;t bother hard bodied inverts, but shrimp are yummy.

Check out some of my threads on lions and predator care and feeding.

Great information! I will check out your threads too. Thank you @lion king!

 

[acepilot121]

Anyone ever use a bioreactor to help control nitrates with or without a fuge in a predator tank?

 

[lion king]

Anyone ever use a bioreactor to help control nitrates with or without a fuge in a predator tank?

If you are talking biopellet reactor, I tried biopellets and it didn't work for me. If you do research you'll find many negative experiences. But they are designed to reduce nitrates, the problem is they don't reduce phosphates. Too low nitrates and too high phosphates, you get cyanobacteria.

I converted my bioplellet reactors into macro algae reactors. Using them in this manner they work fantastic. While most people like chaeto, I prefer caulerpa and ulva. An algae reactor is great in smaller tanks, the big aquamaxx reactor can handle a 90g. The smaller one for a 40Bor smaller. An algae reactor is a great alternative to a refuge, if you don't have the room or configuration for a fuge.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Hard bodied CUC are your friend, but even that isn't enough protection.

I had 3 nassarius to clean up after my eel. During feeding the other day one came up a little too soon and the eel ripped it from its shell. Cool to watch, but dang that was a $2.50 snail. Down to 3 hermits from 5 too. Such is the life of one who keeps predators.

Macro algae is also definitely a good idea. Since I chucked a ball of chaeto in my eel tank it's helped lower the nitrates.

 

[William Norman]

I am also using a bioreactor. It helps in my predator tank. I use BRS biomedia. From my observations the fuge is most effective, nitrate brick is second and biomedia third. Melev- swears by his. He has a few videos where he talk about it.