Predator tank change over???

[silentcivilian]

Ok.. so ive had my tank up for awhile with this fasination with a predator tank.. a long standing one.. and well diving in Hawaii only made that worse seeing all the scorpion fishes and eels.

So I need to gage a few things.

1: Tank size, I have a 4x2x2 tank, is that big enough for what I want to do, I would ideally love to do a member of the scorpion family wether that be a rock fish, scorpion fish or frog fish. I would like to do a snowflake eel, and lastly a lionfish.

2: Light reduction, as I would part with my corals so I can reform the rock better for a eel and scorpion fish, I dont think I would need a 8 bulb tek as the only thing I would keep are my beloved sun corals, which as we know are nps corals. So what would be a good option there?

3: Fish, would any of my current stock be retainable, I would like to keep my figi foxface at least, but im assuming I would have to part with paired clowns, yellow tang, mandrin, B-cardinal, lawnmower goby and chromis?

4: Topper, where would be a good place to get a topper for a tank this size so I can contain the eel so he doesnt try to test his air breathing ability??

5: Any other info, im pretty set on doing this, just no timeline yet.. but I need info!

[tgoeujon]

tagging along on this one
ive been thinking about doing the same thing with roughly the same size tank. looking forward to what kind of suggestions you get.

[silentcivilian]

Ya, good call... best get the info before the tank tear down commences.

This guy here that set me off and wanted me to do it.. I sat down on the ocean shooting pictures of him and his 3 friends for a good 15minutes!

[lorenz0]

why not just keep your coral

[silentcivilian]

This is what I got from another site:

well the route you are going now is the route i have had from the beginning.

1] you could do all scorps with the acception of the largest lions(Volitians and Russels) so IMO that is a great tank. I would find a golden dwarf moray if money is not a huge issue, or one of the smaller ones. From what i have read the SFE will become agressive once it gets bigger. do some research on eel before purchasing one. im glad i did(i have a ghost ribbon). mine is calm cool and collected. has a small mouth so he cant eat my live fish lol. Lions i would do one of the medium body ones if you can. they do not ship very well from what i understand. or a couple of the dwarf ones(what i would do). fuzzy dwarfs are the easiest to sex. frogfish are neat. i have seen them at the store. they would do ok in ur tank. just make sure nothing is small enought to fit in their mouth.

2] lightsing, all you need to get is something that looks good to you. Unless you are keeping some sort of coral then you need whatever they require.

3] the only fish you might be able to keep in the Foxface. all other fish are to small and will sooner or later end up food for one of the preds.

4]personaly i use a glass top. on my original cheap tank i used lexan and it worked great. if you need air echange than you might use small gap egg crate. i have also heard of people putting acrilic or something to make the tank higher so the eels cant come out.

5] i would just recommend a great skimmer if you dont already have one. my skimmer is great and its rated to 5 times the DT.

and have fun with it. i love the danger factor with it thats what keeps me coming back

Here's the best stuff I've found for covering tanks. they even have an instructional video. IMO, glass tops trap to much heat and inhibit gas exchange. They're also usually tough to make escape proof......http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...ing-7-x-3.html

Anyone else have any tips or ideas..

Also, how best to go with the Coral and Fish sell off, ill need to remove coral first, then fish I think.. My fish are very good at hiding. Then ill sell off equipment and restart on the sump with a brand new ass kickery skimmer.