Dwarf lionfish with clowns?
- Thread starter Raven1645
- Start date
Hey.
I kept a 34 gallon solana for over a year with a Dwarf Zebra Lionfish, 6-line Wrasse, 2 False Percs and a Coral Beauty....NO issues. He didn't even come close to trying to get any of them, and none of them were full grown (all less than 1 year). Just keep them well fed!
Hope this helps.
I kept a 34 gallon solana for over a year with a Dwarf Zebra Lionfish, 6-line Wrasse, 2 False Percs and a Coral Beauty....NO issues. He didn't even come close to trying to get any of them, and none of them were full grown (all less than 1 year). Just keep them well fed!
Hope this helps.
Raven1645
New member
Thanks, this helps alot with the issue! I suppose I should just try it and see how it goes.
It'll probably work out just fine, I just wanted to be a little more secure
.
ocellaris123
Active member
I would be very nervous mixing the two. I once had a fu man chu lion and he ate a sixline wrasse the same size he was. Clownfish would make an easy target.
Raven1645
New member
That's hard to believe, as the lion's mouth would be way too small for that, and lions don't do messy feeding. Did you see it happening?
ocellaris123
Active member
You would be surprised at how large they can open their mouths. I didn't see it happen but the lion had a large buldge in his stomach and the six line was no where to be seen.
Raven1645
New member
Haha sounds fascinating.
Now I'm wondering if it's possible again.
There's still the reefkeeping rule 'you can't be sure of anything', so I've seen (not personally, but pics) a brownbanded cat shark being eating by a grouper smaller than itself. They both died, but the shark actually died later than the grouper... But this is obviously rare.
So actually I really need someone who actually is keeping/has kept these certain animals together who can tell me if it's a good or bad idea.
andrewkw
Active member
I would say if you're adding the lion after the clowns it's probably going to be okay, and by probably I'd say 80-90% chance of success.
The lion needs to be eating, and kept well fed at all times.
The clownfish need to be healthy.
I've kept a dwarf lion for about 3 years. he was about the size of my clownfish when I first got him but now he's much bigger then them.
In all the time I've had him he's eaten one fish. It was a tiny yellow wrasse that wasn't in the best shape and he picked up on this. This only happened recently and I never thought he'd actually turn. For about 2 of the years I had a tiny mandarin and he never so much as looked at him.
Since then he's gone back to his normal ways. When I feed the fish they all eat together. Clownfish and Lion side by side with no issues.
And yes they can open their mouths pretty big, but it seems to be more for yawning then eating.
The lion needs to be eating, and kept well fed at all times.
The clownfish need to be healthy.
I've kept a dwarf lion for about 3 years. he was about the size of my clownfish when I first got him but now he's much bigger then them.
In all the time I've had him he's eaten one fish. It was a tiny yellow wrasse that wasn't in the best shape and he picked up on this. This only happened recently and I never thought he'd actually turn. For about 2 of the years I had a tiny mandarin and he never so much as looked at him.
Since then he's gone back to his normal ways. When I feed the fish they all eat together. Clownfish and Lion side by side with no issues.
And yes they can open their mouths pretty big, but it seems to be more for yawning then eating.
andrewkw
Active member
My male naked clown is only about 2.5" he's fine. They eat side by side without incident. At first I didn't like the way he looked at him, but years have gone by.
A couple of factors which likely helped my case :
My lionfish was tiny when I got him about 2.5" himself. He ate my peppermint shrimp then went on a diet of PE mysis which is what my other fish eat. Since he was so small he did not spend years and years in the ocean stalking fish. I was really surprised he did eat the yellow wrasse and I'm only 99% sure he did because he didn't eat for 2 days after he disappeared. The wrasse was in really bad shape though, I never noticed since he came from a tank of at least a dozen, I just let the guy at the reef shop grab whichever.
All my fish are always fed frozen. The lionfish was initially shy and he had to be target fed, but eventually came around to eating with the rest of the guys.
If I add new small fish I always feed the lion heavily first. When something drops in he always thinks it's food.
ccalabro
New member
I have had a dwarf fuzzy in my 65g with two ocellaris for a couple of years and its been fine. They are both considerably smaller than him and in my opinion, also considerably more aggressive. For instance they will both attack my hand whenever its in the tank for maintenance. The DFL still shies away.
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