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as long as you keep these guys fed regularly, they will not harm any fish. Not entirely true. I had one, that I kept extremely well fed, just for that reason. Then I added a golden head sleeper, which evidently he couldn't resist. This was the first time that he actually ate one of my fish, so I decided to give it another chance (I also wanted to replace the sleeper, before my wife noticed my latest purchase was missing). Bam, he ate the next one also. So, my recommendation is don't purchase any fish that lay around the bottom (I guess they don't call them sleepers for nothing) or are easily preyed upon.

John

I would not put a Volitan in anything less than 100 gallons. They get quite large.

im thinking of a 75 g but would this be enough to accomadate a volitan lionfish and a snow flake eel. dthurs- the lionfish as the center piece is the idea
besides the two species allready mentioned what other critters make intesting and striking inhabitants?

live aquaria says a 50g lol, any other smaller lionfish that are equally as attractive?

dragon wrasse would be awesome 2. good suggestion. well im gonna get to work with the organisational side of it.
1 dwarf lionfish
1 dragon wrasse
1 snow eel
1 h. tusk

thanks guyz

well the tanks all planned out now. im going to go with a snowflake eel in a 55g by its self. im going to glue live rock to hang from the top of the aquarium to give it the cave feeling. do snowflakes move around much or do they prertty much just sit still in their cave?

Snowflakes do come out and are one of the more active morays.



Dan

in your perspective are they interesting enough to have by themselves in their own tank?

Personally, I love morays, but I'm not that interested in the snowflake, mainly because they are so common. But putting that aside they are beautul eels, great coloration, they come out during the day, and stay small enough for a smaller tank, but are still large enough to be impressive. They also tend to leave tank mates alone, so you could still add another medium sized fish to the tank. Some people keep 2 or 3 snowflakes in a tank that size. But you will have to watch your water close. One last thing. I strongly suggest having a tight fitting lid, or the eel will get out of your tank.



Dan

Yes these guys are escape artists. They will get out of the smallest hole. As for temperment, as long as you keep these guys fed regularly, they will not harm any fish. You can even keep some of the smaller fish with them. I have kept schools of chromis with them, clowns, fairy wrasses, ect. They prefer the crustacea for foods. So I recommend against any shrimps or crabs, as these will probably come up missing.

Depending on what you feed yours, you may want to add some other fish, to help clean up the mess, lol. I fed all of mine shrimp. Usually small shrimps. But, sometimes I put large chunks of tiger shrimp in for them. If they cannot fit the foods into their mouths, they will take a large bite on it, and tie themselves up into a knot. And then pull the large chunk of food through the knot, to help break off the bite they have in their mouths. Sometimes, this ended up shredding part of the shrimp, so there were little chunks flying all around the tank. The other fish then got fed, lol. It is a very impressive site to watch.

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There is always a bigger fish...

What are you looking to have? My predator tank will have a zebra moray once it arrives. volitan lions are very nice as a center piece fish. There are many to choose from. Pick the one fish you really want, then build the tank around that fish.



Dan

Shrimp are bad news. The only shrimp that was not eaten by my snowflake is a coral banded shrimp. I fed mine squid. Just buy a pack of frozen squid from the grocery store, then cut it in to small strips, lay on a cookie sheet and cover with water. Freeze it, then break the sheet in to small chunks. Then when it's feeding time you grab a chunk and thaw it in a cup of water.



Dan

how thick do they get? im thinking of setting up a pvc pipe cave system/thingy and i was wondering what measurements to get. would a snowflake and a blue ribbon eel be compatible?

theres nothing more fun then planning a new tank.....

A snowflake will be fine with a 1.5" ID PVC pipe.

I would STRONGLY suggest agenst a blue ribbon eel. These are VERY difficult to keep

Dan

whats the cons of a blue ribbon eel?
gorgeous looking.
also would the snowflake bother it?

If memory serves, they don't eat and tend to die. I agree, they look great. But if they starve to death, it's not worth it.



Dan

hmmmmm so tempting to get one though! any one had any success with the blue ribbon eel?
also should i go with a deep sand bed or bare bottom? bare bottom would allow me to syphon any excess food off. any pros / cons? what would u guyz recommend?

Deep sand will be better. more area for benificial bacteria. As for extra food, just add soem brittle stars, and hermit crabs.



Dan

hermits are a pain in the *** allways knocking things ova or eating my turbo snails. ohh well there still so cute.
what sort of flow should i go with? ive got 2* ph2000 powerheads that do a massive flow rate but are just a hassle ie falling off and blowing a coral to hell. im thinking of a doing an external pump thats plumbed to feed back into the tank at 2 or more places. need some help with this one..... do i need a sump or could i hook up the external pump to drain the main tank? is this system called a "closed loop system?"

hey dthurs , thanks so much for the help