Predatory Fish for A 55 Gallon

[discthrower]

Me again. I need some ideas for this marine tank.


I have a 55 gallon I wish to make marine. Preferably predatory,

What are some fish that will go well in a tank this size that are carnivorous? I would like to put 2-3 different fish together, or 2-3 fish of a single species.

Any ideas on puffers, eels, lions, triggers, would be greatly appreciated.:fish: :fish: :fish: :fish:

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

While a 55gal tank might be a good starter tank for marine, it is not appropriate for most of the larger predators. 55 is too small for any of the eels and triggers. If you want a Lionfish for that tank then you need to be looking at the dwarf species such as Dendrochirus zebra, D. brachypterus, or, D. biocellatus. Volitans Lionfish are completel inappropriate for a 55gal tank, they need to be in something in the 125gal range. As for puffers, the only ones I would consider for a 55gal tank would be on of the Toby species. A 55gal tank is really too small for 3 predatory marine fish. These fish will foul your water quality in a hurry with their eating habits. Your best bet would be to consider just one of these fish for that tank. I have friends who had a 180gal tank with 3 puffers in it, and they were doing 30% water changes every other week on that tank, and those 3 puffers were all the bioload that tank could handle.

[MCHRKiller]

Your options are very limited for a predatory 55G tank....you *could* do 3 Valentini pufferfish as they top out around 4". Or a single Dwarf Zebra Lionfish at 8" or a single Radiata Lionfish which tops out at 9". I personally wouldnt do any species of triggers as they are active fish which obtain a minimum of 9-10" so they would find your 55G restricting. I also wouldnt do any eels either as they just get to large.

[JaredCBell]

You can do a Snow flake eel just fine in a 55. max length is 2 feet and thats the largest they get in the wild. thats about it. And maybe a dwarf lion alone... Or a hawaiin spotted puffer. You could do two of those granted lots of rock work.

I have two Banngai Cardinals in a 29 and they are savages! Love watching them eat. You could get a few of those and have a school.

[.: JaCkPoT :.]

yepp i agre with the snowflake aslong as you have somewere for them too hide. thumbs2:

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

You can do a Snow flake eel just fine in a 55. max length is 2 feet and thats the largest they get in the wild.

Ummm.... not quite Jared. Snowflakes get to be 30 inches at least. Any snowflake that does not reach 30" in length is stunted. It's kind of like Goldfish, many people think a Comet Goldfish has a max length of only 8" or so simply because so many of them get stunted. Same thing with Snowflake Eels, people get the crazy idea that somehow a 30" Eel is fine in a 36-48" tank. Even the width of those tanks is not a good idea. If you can, go grab a current issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist. There is an article on page 103 all about Moray Eels. He answers the question of tank size for Snowflake Eels. Mike Maddox, the author, is extremely knowledgeable about these creatures.

[MonkeyPox]

I think the 30" snowflake is quite a rarity, even in a 200+ gallon environment. That being said, I believe 55 is ok to grow out a snowflake, but I would not permanently house one there. I would want a minimum 6ft tank.
Congrogadus subducens get a little smaller, but still 55g would be a tad too cramped for him at adult.

A lot of people put Volitans in 55s. Not what I would personally recommend, but lot of people have success with them.