Tanks with tassle filefish or antennata lionfish?

[dendro982]

Looking for examples of making tank for tassle filefishes and antennata lionsfish not boring for inhabitants and comfortable for them.

If you kept them or know links to such tanks, post, please.

I have 90g tank at my disposal, for 2 tassle filefishes an lionfish, now babies, but will grow up in a half of year. Who else should I add to the tank, in their best interests in mind?

It seems, that tassle filefish lives usually in weedy areas and is busy all day, picking in the rock. But: it will need place to swim, and tank is borderline small. How arrange this the best way? I also can set a planted refugium or cryptic refugium for rotating live rock for picking by filefishes.

For lionfish it seems that shaded caves and a perch mountain top are a must.

Are there any fast reproducing marine organisms, that could be used as food? I'll do my best with amphypods, but even in refugium they are in lesser numbers, than mysids. Maybe they prefer the larger food?

Tassel filefish once picked a small bristle worm and ate it. Are there anything more digestable, alive, easily obtainable and cheap, for freshwater organisms?

Anything else, that I missed?

My examples with previous fish (now I'm better prepared):
http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/52/552/0/90/7/2547090070081040121VUyVKO_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2547090070081040121VUyVKO) http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/63/563/8/55/93/2259855930081040121YTDUhf_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2259855930081040121YTDUhf) http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/69/669/1/55/83/2551155830081040121GToGhN_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2551155830081040121GToGhN) http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/73/73/6/54/46/2738654460081040121dYEQTQ_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2738654460081040121dYEQTQ) http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/52/552/2/11/6/2863211060081040121EzXqTm_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2863211060081040121EzXqTm) http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/30/466/7/0/24/2355700240081040121KEKRmg_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2355700240081040121KEKRmg)

[FMarini]

BTW-- your old lionfish in the photo is a P. Mombassae, not an P Antennata
(http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/index.php)

anyway, my experience w/ tassled file fish is they eat everything you put in the tank and constantly pick on the rocks. The were non-stop motion. Additionally, as an adult they are huge (~1 foot)
AS for the lionfish, they are pretty much lazy except for feeding time, so a few caves and hiding spots are all you need.

[rssjsb]

Your layout looks pretty good for the file. As said above, mine pretty much eats anything I put in (pellets, frozen, flake) and is constantly grazing (well biting at) the rock. He's much more interested in the rock than in open water - not a strong swimmer anyway - so lots of rock with spaces to swim in and out are ideal.

One piece of unsolicited advice: I would keep an eye on that sharpnosed puffer to make sure he's not picking at the file. I think those tassles might be pretty inviting to a nippy little fish.

[Juice It]

I have a 4 inch tassle and a lion with triggers, puffers, tangs etc. and no one picks on him at all. He pretty much chills in certain spots and doesn't constantly swim back and forth like a tang. Eats spectrum pellets and loves shrimp. Very cool fish!

[rssjsb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13844678#post13844678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Juice It
I have a 4 inch tassle and a lion with triggers, puffers, tangs etc. and no one picks on him at all. Good to know, since I may need to move mine to a tank with a dogface puffer when he outgrows (or starts misbehaving in) the 90 reef he's in now.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13844678#post13844678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Juice It
He pretty much chills in certain spots and doesn't constantly swim back and forth like a tang. Mine is all over the tank, but sticks pretty close to the rocks. My favorite thing is to watch him grab onto some plant material and sway in the current when he sleeps.

Dendro - I just noticed that your original post mentioned two tassles in the same tank. Are they together now? I wonder if they'll get along when they are bigger. I think they don't tolerate conspecifics well. Don't know enough about breeding to know if they even form pairs long-term.

[dendro982]

Previous photos were for the old setup with fish, that died an year ago, for a different reasons: internal infection for the tassle filefish, unrecognised until it was too late, lionfish jumped through very narrow gap, valentini puffer didn't wake up after 3rd full anaesthesia for dental surgery. Only chromis and clownfish are outlived them all.

Valentini puffer never created troubles nor for tassle, nor for lionfish, very considerate. As filefish grow, it become aware of larger fish in the tank and stayed well away.

I promised myself never have fish again... until yesterday I met in LFS tassle files again. No other fish ever induced such strong attachment ever.

So here we are, new fish: two tassle files and red lionfish babies, and an empty 90g tank with all necessary equipment.

I completely forgot about possibility of intolerance to own species of the same sex, maybe because the previous adult filefish was tolerant to anything and everything, maybe because these two looked to me like possibly different sexes, one with intense colors and longer dark colored abdominal fin, and another pale to transparency, hint on spots, no actual color. Today it looks better.

Anyway, I already have them both. If they will not go along well, then I will try to give one away, but not now yet. So far everything is good, see photos:

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov29_08ffface.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov29_08ff3.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov29_08ff.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov29_08ff8.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov29_08ff9.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov29_08ff5.jpg

I was asking about ideas for the aquscaping and maybe plant something in the tank for them as omnivores. Pure water and rock FOWLR tank may be not be so interesting or comfortable for them. Any specific structures for them, unusual for other fish.

During the summer I will protect tank from insects flying insects ans will use mesh cover (transparent top in cold season).

Old filefish was 10.5-11" long, including tail.

[dendro982]

Mr. Marini, can you identify the new baby lionfish:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov30_8lf.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov30_8lf2.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov30_8lf3.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/Nov30_8lf4.jpg

Comparing to lionfishes, that already were identified as mombassas, it has longer body, volitan-like, medium red color (not orangeish oe brownish), free rays of side fins are much longer, only one line of spots, not short face, no "banners" on the ends of dorsal fin, no enormous eyes.

Slightly older mombassas for comparison:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Fish/LionAug27.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Lionfishes/aug05_07f.jpg http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Lionfishes/aug05_07c.jpg

[mborn]

How about planting some corals? My P. antennata and P. radiata both appear very comfortable in my reef, and like to hang out in the soft coral dominated section.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/357911.jpg
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/357912.jpg

They especially like to sit on the lobophytum.... P. antennata.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/357913.jpg
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/357914.jpg

P. radiata taking his turn.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/357915.jpg

[FMarini]

dendro-
the top photos of the younger lion is a P antennata, the lower photos are correctly ID as P Mombassae. Yopu picked out the difference, usually the easiest and quickest way is the multi rows of eyespots on mombassae Pec fins.

Great photos of the antennata and radiata in a reef tank. like i say these fish are reefsafe-but really reef-limiting, in that you can only keep larger fish w/ the lions, all the small fishes become food over time

[rssjsb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13845479#post13845479 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dendro982
Anyway, I already have them both. If they will not go along well, then I will try to give one away, but not now yet. So far everything is good

Well, just keep an eye on them. They seem fine - maybe you'll get lucky and end up with a pair.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13845479#post13845479 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dendro982
I was asking about ideas for the aquscaping and maybe plant something in the tank for them as omnivores. Pure water and rock FOWLR tank may be not be so interesting or comfortable for them. Any specific structures for them, unusual for other fish.
I think they would love some macros. Otherwise, I think they'll be happy cruising the rock looking for whatever it is they're hunting.

Good luck with them. I love my filefish too. He was barely an inch long and nearly transparent when I got him. He's about 3" now and has colored up a lot (well, for a fish that's basically silver and brown).

[dendro982]

Thank you all, Mr. Marini especially :)
The good news: if mombassa was practically impossible to wean on frozen food, antennata already started to eat frozen food by itself - just like volitan did.

mborn: I can only imagine, that size of these "trees" is, comparing to the size of lionfishes :D . What is your impression from radiata, comparing to antennata? Just curious. It was initially~3 yrs ago my first choice, but it was very difficult to find.