Dwarf Lion in a Reef Tank ?

[jbunda]

I am looking for some cool fish for my Reef Tank ... Just started adding some corals and I am looking for good tank mates.... I currently have 2 Black Onyx Clowns, 1 longnose hawk , 1 Royal Gama and a banded shrimp ... They all seem to be doing fine currently ..... I wanted to add a Lion Fish but I am worried a full size one would mess with my clowns eventually ....

90 Gallon Tank

 

[mikem101]

Not a good idea IMO even a dwarf lion will eat whatever fits in his mouth (even a dwarf gets to 7") and any inverts he sees! so i would steer clear from that also having a predator in your reef tankk is hard because of their diet its hard to keep nitrates down (in a 90 not to bad though). i would stick to some nice reef fish something really colorful! like a Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse, Kole Yellow Eye Tang, a pair of japanese swallow tails/Spotbreast Angelfish, Marine Betta (which i love). plenty of choices!

 

[Edzo]

I have one in mine and its a ***** cat. I have it in a Red Sea max and it eats from my hand, very tame and good with tank mates. I have two ornamental shimp and a few hermits and no casualties. My African Flameback Pygmy Angel runs him. Every animal has a different personality so it's not always black and white. I feed maybe 4 to 5 times a week, my water has pretty stable parameters.

 

[brettinteriors]

A lion would limit your other fish options. As said anything that will fit in its mouth.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Edzo]

Here he is

Here he is

He only swims for food

 

[Dmorty217]

Whatever the dwarf lion can get into his mouth will become a snack so if your ok with that then go for it but IMO I would avoid a predator like that in a reef tank

 

[namxas]

Lions do fine in reefs, in fact, I kept an adult volitans in my mixed softy-LPS reef for several years.

Here's a thread I JUST responded to in this forum a couple of mins ago...

Adding A Dwarf Lionfish To a Reef

What you need to keep in mind is size differential...figure that the usual safe size for a lion's tankmate to be about 3/4 of the lion's SL size, add more for torpedo or eel-shaped fishes, as they're easily swallowed.

The bottom line is that just like with "reef fishes", there are fish that can cohabitate and there are fishes that can't. Lions are not aggressive in the least unless the fish in question is meal-sized. I dunno how big your clowns are, but I'd be concerned about the Gramma. The CBS might be a toss-up...my huge ol' CBS was too big and too mean for a dwarf lion to eat.

HTH