new tank NO experience!

[nurse1]

hello I am new to this hobby- I just bought a nano cube reef and a lionfish. Any suggestions? I originally went to the pet store for a turtle! Can I put a sea horse in with him?

[Diver_1298]

A fish who has pointy, sticky fins and a super small reef tank. You are ambitious!! *
If I had not have found 3reef I would have spent too much, and probably killed everything I ever bought. Look around and read, learn, and then read again. There are people here who will help. You just have to help yourself by learning all that you can. A Nano tank takes a lot more time and care then a larger tank does. Take my advice with a grain of salt and Welcome to 3reef.
Jim

[Scuba]

Welcome to 3reef, I just put up some links about dwarf lionfish, here is the link to that page.

http://www.3reef.com/cgi-bin/yabb/Ya...9239;start=1#1

and some karma for asking questions.

[Birdlady]

Hi Nurse1 and

Welcome to 3 Reef! Its a great site!

A Lionfish is a predatory fish, if it can fit in it's mouth, then it is going in it's mouth! Can we assume it is a dwarf lionfish?
What kind is it?

I love them, they are beautiful fish. You cannot put seahorses in with them. They will be food

Some fish stores will take a fish back in exchange for credit or something.

Have you cycled your tank? How long has it been set up and what do you have in it? Live rock? Sand and what kind?

[Birdlady]

Oh, and could you please go to your profile and in the "Sig" box, could you enter what kind of setup you have. Eg., size tank, lighting, filtration, etc...so it will show each time you post and we can refer to it in answering questions for you! Thanks!

[OoNickoC]

[quote author=nurse1 link=board=Newbie;num=1101582022;start=0#0 date=11/27/04 at 11:00:22]hello I am new to this hobby- I just bought a nano cube reef and a lionfish. Any suggestions? I originally went to the pet store for a turtle! *Can I put a sea horse in with him?[/quote]

Read some books and never do that again..lol. Impulse buys lead to dead fish and frustrated owners. Seriously not to be rude but my best advise is to pick up a good book, i recomend saltwater aquariums for dummies, as it is an awesome reference for those new to SW.

[Birdlady]

Or Mike Paletta's book, The New Marine Aquarium

[nurse1]

Thank you for your responses. OOOhhh I feel so dumb! I absolutely LOVE my lionfish, he is a volitans. I have done some research and I am now looking into a larger tank! I have been looking at a 90 gallon wave tank, any suggestions? The pet store says for about $1100 that tank would be good to go, do I have to spend that much? As for my profile I don't know what to say except that I have a nano cube with live rocks, live sand and alot of creatures!(pics enclosed) The pics were taken about 2 weeks ago and there has been alot of growth since then. There is also a crab that hides most of the time and 2 snails and a bunch of little crabs in shells. The lionfish is doing well for now but he is growing fast! He loves to eat shrimp and goldfish. This is what the pet store said to feed but everywhere else I look it says not to continue with that diet for long, it says I should wean him to dead food, must I do this? I live in south Florida and live food isn't hard to get. I am also reading that he should be fed 2-3 times per week, he is constantly begging for food and I usually give him a fish in the am and some shrimp at dinner time, is this to much? I have also noticed that I have quite a few empty shells in the sand, is my lionfish eating the crabs?

[Scuba]

I do not know if feeding him that much will hurt him, but it will make him defecate a lot more, and could upset the balance in your tank.

[hoodoo]

where in south florida are you from?