illumnae's 4x2x2 "Predator Reef"

[illumnae]

Hi all, it's been really quiet in the hobby lately, so I decided to spice things up a couple months back by replacing my living room 4x2x2 tank with a marine tank of the same dimensions. Been in the wild discus hobby for coming 6 years already, and I've done all I set out to do since the start of that hobby, so it's about time for a change!

The tank specs are as follows:

Tank: 4x2x2 120 gallons with 40 inch sump (inc refugium compartment)
Return pump: Eheim 1264
Lights: Maxspect Razor 300W
Chiller: Hailea HS-90a with Eheim 1260 pump
Skimmer: Bubble Magus c9
Wavemakers: Jebao WP-40 x2 with twin controller
Sand: Caribsea Aragonite Reef Sand 80lbs
Hardscape: Aquaroche ceramic designer live rock
FR: Enductor FR-45 with Eheim Compact+ 2000 pump running NPX biopellets

Cycled the tank using 4 different types of BB products and a large whole raw market prawn. The BB products worked, and ammonia/nitrites tested at 0 and nitrates tested positive by day 4.

The plan for this tank is to have 7 different species of lionfish (all the common dwarf and medium body species) with some tankmates in a mixed reef tank - NPS, LPS and some hardy SPS.

So far, I've managed to gather 3 of the 4 dwarf species, and am still trying to get the 3 medium body species. Pity I won't be able to keep the majestic volitans lionfish, but it grows too large to be comfortable in a 4x2x2. Perhaps I will be able to keep it next time if I get a larger saltwater tank!

Here's a FTS of how the tank currently looks - the lions are very small but 2 of them can be spotted in the picture if you look closely.