Bamboo sharks killed my lionfish

[rafajara1985]

Anyone ever heard of that happening? Every person i consulted said that a lionfish would be a good tankmate for a couple catsharks. Apparently not so much. The sharks always left the tangs alone, I wonder why they would pick on the lion? And no they are not hungry. I feed them regularly. And the lion was not sick or dying either.

 

[jjk_reef00]

I'm not experienced with sharks but I had a friend who's bamboo killed a tang so maybe it just happens from time to time. Could it be territorial?

 

[rafajara1985]

I doubt it, they have been getting a long for a while now. Plus they usually stay at opposite ends of the tank.

 

[nonstopfishies]

I highly doubt that your sharks killed the Lion. Their mouths are not really made to take down something that big and they aren't overly fast. I would think that your lion died and the sharks just saw it as food. I could be wrong however, because they are opportunists and will each pretty much anything they can get their mouths on. I never had problems with eels, tangs, or groupers when I had a bamboo.

 

[jarrod13]

Did you see it happen?

 

[helicoprion]

I highly doubt that your sharks killed the Lion. Their mouths are not really made to take down something that big and they aren't overly fast. I would think that your lion died and the sharks just saw it as food. I could be wrong however, because they are opportunists and will each pretty much anything they can get their mouths on. I never had problems with eels, tangs, or groupers when I had a bamboo.

Did you see it happen?

I 3rd this. Requiem and Mackeral sharks may be the bad asses of the ocean, but benthic sharks like these rarely bother anything in aquaria; in my experience it's always been the other way around.

 

[rafajara1985]

I was sitting on the couch watching the sharks swim around when I saw one start to go after the lion's fins. It was taking chunks out of the fins not the body. It looked extremely stressed out and went to hide behind some rocks where I found it dead a few minutes later.

 

[rafajara1985]

I might not have explained myself too well, the sharks didnt eat the lion or bite half of its body off or anything. In fact, the lion was rather large and the sharks are small-ish. What happened is they kept on attacking its fins and stressed it out to the point of death. They would grab its side fins and do the little shark head shake thing they do when they eat something and drag the lion around the tank.

 

[helicoprion]

Wow. I'm genuinely blown away by that.

 

[DoubleM 10]

did we ever think that they went after the lion cause it is a poor swimmer and moves usually very slow? i can not really imagine the shark chasing down the tangs

 

[rafajara1985]

usually during feeding time the sharks would swim around and occasionally bump into the lion and the lion would bolt away quickly. This time it was not just clumsy bumping, they were in straight up attack mode going right for the lion. Like I said they have been together for quite some time now and never had an issue.

 

[epaulette13]

wierd i was going to put a lion with my epaulette sharks then i decided against it. because my buddy had a lion with some bamboo sharks and the lion killed them because they tried to eat it and the lion stung them. and that was that. my sharks will try biting anything that smells like food. so if a fish has a piece of food in their mouth they will chase it until the lose the sent or get a bite on the fish. at night my sharks will chase small fish. but thats the extent of it.

 

[rafajara1985]

Exactly I always thought the sharks were in more danger than the lionfish since they are always bumping into it.

 

[namxas]

And you didn't yank the lionfish the FIRST time you saw problems? Just saying...

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Are these listed as compatible in any reefkeeper's livestock guides?

Not a marine aquarist yet, but I wouldn't think of anything good coming from two semi-aggressive species in close quarters.

 

[rafajara1985]

And you didn't yank the lionfish the FIRST time you saw problems? Just saying...

My setup isn't that easy to access and by the time I got to them the lion was stressed and died shortly after. Just sayin...

Are these listed as compatible in any reefkeeper's livestock guides?

Not a marine aquarist yet, but I wouldn't think of anything good coming from two semi-aggressive species in close quarters.

I dont go by reefkeeper's livestock guides, I go by personal experiences from fellow reefers that I know personally. There are too many sources that say triggers and lions are good tankmates.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

That's the thing about experience, though - it's not a fast-and-loose rule. It is merely that which has already happened without incident, and to varying degrees of timespan. I'll stick with livestock guides and refrain from putting my friends in the very awkward position of explaining to me why my clown trigger did poorly with the rest of my tank. However, I do hope you can resolve the issue with your sharks. Maybe a nice Zebra lion next time?