Time to switch it up: Help me stock my reef pred tank!

[NeiDan]

So I recently added a ribbon eel to my reeftank because I was lucky enough to find one that was eating frozen foods. Since I've added him he's been picking off my fish pretty reliably. I even just found the remains of my midas blenny, presumably fatally injured by the eel even though he was too large to eat. So I'm going to switch gears, rehome the rest of my fish, and turn it into a dedicated predator tank!

Fish 1: The Ribbon Eel

Fish 2: The Marine Betta

Fish 3: ????

The tank is 100g, 40b sump, with chaeto in the fuge. It's a mixed reef tank. Most of the SPS is various kind of monti, so water quality is an issue but there is some wiggle room. No ornamental shrimp, some emerald crabs but I could stand losing them, and an urchin. I've been thinking about a lionfish and a scorpionfish, though I'm not sure which species would be best. Russel's lionfish seems like a good choice, but I'm not sure if the Marine Betta is large enough to be safe from one of those. And I'm not even sure where to begin with the scorpionfish, an Orangebanded stingfish might be a good fit but I'm not sure. @Lionfish Lair I think you could probably help me out better than most on this one (also, the scorpionfish careguide link on your site is currently broken)

I'm extremely open to suggestions too.

 

[reeftank220master]

So I recently added a ribbon eel to my reeftank because I was lucky enough to find one that was eating frozen foods. Since I've added him he's been picking off my fish pretty reliably. I even just found the remains of my midas blenny, presumably fatally injured by the eel even though he was too large to eat. So I'm going to switch gears, rehome the rest of my fish, and turn it into a dedicated predator tank!

Fish 1: The Ribbon Eel

Fish 2: The Marine Betta

Fish 3: ????

The tank is 100g, 40b sump, with chaeto in the fuge. It's a mixed reef tank. Most of the SPS is various kind of monti, so water quality is an issue but there is some wiggle room. No ornamental shrimp, some emerald crabs but I could stand losing them, and an urchin. I've been thinking about a lionfish and a scorpionfish, though I'm not sure which species would be best. Russel's lionfish seems like a good choice, but I'm not sure if the Marine Betta is large enough to be safe from one of those. And I'm not even sure where to begin with the scorpionfish, an Orangebanded stingfish might be a good fit but I'm not sure. @Lionfish Lair I think you could probably help me out better than most on this one (also, the scorpionfish careguide link on your site is currently broken)

I'm extremely open to suggestions too.

Pack it like this

 

[rayn]

Blue zoo just had a inimicus, they are awesome scorps if you have a deep enough sand bed.

Russels are a large bodied lion, and can get big. Try a medium bodies like a mombasae, radiate, or go with zebra or group of fuzzies.

Scorps you could do a large variety. Remember these guys are messy!

 

[NeiDan]

Now that I think about it a trio of fuzzies is really appealing. That Sea Goblin is really cool but it sounds like they spend almost all their time buried up to the eyes, which sounds a little boring...

 

[rayn]

They do spend a lot of time in the sand, but they are cool. When you start talking scorps, besides lions, most are hiders and ambush predators. They are supposed to blend in, it's what they do.

I had a 180 press tank that was full of small rocks, according to my wife. It had 5 different predators she couldn't find. It's what they do.

 

[NeiDan]

Yeah, but spot the fish is a better game than spot the fish's eyes

I was just doing a water change as I thawed out the eel's meal and I turn around. Bangaii cardinal gone -_- I WAS JUST ABOUT TO FEED YOU YOU GREEDY !&$#

I'm gonna have to rehome these last 4 fish soon.

 

[rayn]

Spare tank around? Move them if you can.

Check out Reef Fish Vol 1. They have a awesome section on scorps. Sizes and where they like to hang

 

[NeiDan]

Unfortunately the only tank I have that could house these fish currently has a P. ciliata mantis shrimp in it. I think they might be safer with the eel lol. I've talked to my LFS and they're willing to give me half store credit for what they'd sell the fish for, which is fair enough. I have to a pretty limited amount of time during store hours between work and class though, so hopefully I can get them out today or tomorrow, but I don't have much flexibility until Thursday.

So thankfully Lionfish Lair's scorpionfish caresheet is up and running again Looking over all of them the Red Barbfish (Scorpaena brasiliensis) strikes me as one of the more interesting fish and seems like it's a good beginner's scorpion. My concern though is: Would it be generally safe with a dwarf fuzzy lion? And are they fast growers? My marine betta is about 4", which is roughly half it's adult size. If I were to get a 4-5" Red Barbfish is it likely that it would grow fast enough to become a danger to the Betta?