Fish Survey: Volitans Lionfish

[Marcelo_Brasil]

Great thread!

Used to keep 3 of them in a very large tank at a restaurant...just waiting to move to a new home to set up a tank large enought to keep at least one Volitans, and other fishes... If i have to chose only one fish to keep for a hole life, Volitans will be my choice ever...

 

[Beandawg]

Sorry, my ADHD won't allow for such an intense survey. I would like to explain my reason for no longer owning a Lionfish. After 2 years of ownership, I felt the need to get rid of my favorite fish because it was too friendly for *my* own good. Whenever I stuck my arm in the tank, it would swim over and perch on my arm. Had it been more skittish and stayed away, I'm sure I would still be the owner.

 

[LPino]

Great fish to keep. Was lucky enough that mine ate whatever I put in the tank. Including pellets or flakes. Unfortunately he died when I took to long to do a water change. (took my wife out to dinner in the middle!!).

 

[keezdiver]

caught one locally....invasive here.

setting up my tank up to give him a home so i can use him for education.

he's about 15cm long
still waiting for the big tank to cycle before i stick him in there

 

[Caliburst]

Does anyone have any insight/advice/info on the red volitan or "russell's lionfish"- the smaller species? Ive read up on them and it appears they grow to about 8-10" making them an intermediate size to the dwarf and the volitan. It seems they would be a more agreeable tankmate for a lot of fish and more manageable in size.

 

[namxas]

Does anyone have any insight/advice/info on the red volitan or "russell's lionfish"- the smaller species? Ive read up on them and it appears they grow to about 8-10" making them an intermediate size to the dwarf and the volitan. It seems they would be a more agreeable tankmate for a lot of fish and more manageable in size.

they're actually a bit larger than what most people classify the "medium" lions (P. antenatta and P. radiata), but are a whole lot more hardy, generally speaking. like the volitans, they eat well, and tolerate poor water conditions much better than the "medium" lions.

they're great fish...a volitans in a slightly smaller package. tankmatewise, i'd say there won't be a whole lot of difference between what you can keep with a full-grown russelii and a volitans as both species are voracious feeders.

 

[iluzhun]

we loved our lion fish. He was named Fred. Used to come to the front of the tank when we got home. we had him for 2 yrs, had to seel him due to moving to new home. it took a few weeks to train him to eat, but was always fun. we would put silversides on a skewer, and make him "hunt" the silverside. he was in a tank with niger trigger and porcupine puffer and 6 line wrasee. He didnt mess with the other fish, but he was well fed.
I had heard that he died from eating the puffer, but I don't think the new owner took care of him.
He and puffy the puffer are 2 fish i miss. they had the best personalities.

 

[duastina]

SELECTION
Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish? Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where?
Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS? What do you think is the ideal size to get? I got one that looked healthyAre there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species?
Is there a way to tell the sex of this fish?

ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION
Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish? Normal
Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen? Had some difficulty get him to eat since he was so little and not a very fast swimmer, fed mostly live brine to start, now eats anything frozen, freeze dried, flake
Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank?

COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank? Reef, tangs, royal gramma (i'm worried out this though) pair tomato clowns
Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school?
Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank? No
What's the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you?
Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)? Not yet
Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)? No
Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)? Have not observed him eating crabs, would not try shrimp

FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first? Live brine
If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food? Feeding station!! Keeps food in one spot, not a very fast swimmer tangs would eat the food right in front of himWhat's the diet?
How much and how often do you feed? freeze dried krill 1-2 times a dayHow does this fish eat?(grazers, active or sedentary predators, sand sifters, etc) sits and waits or stares at the surface

GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)? initial size was about 1" after 5 mo now about 3"What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish outgrow what size tank)? Currently in a 210 gal What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish? If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete? How long did it take? I don't think its complete yet
How long have you kept this fish? If you no longer have this fish, what was the cause? 5 mo
What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported?

DISEASE AND TREATMENT
What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment? Broken spine on side fin from trasport from fish store, it grew back in about 2 weeks

BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances?
How active is this fish? Is this fish shy? Always at the front of tank wanting food unless full then hides in a caveHow territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates? Peaceful with most takemates (that dont fit in mouth), have observed fights with momma tomato clown, may have to move the lion to a different tank
Did this fish ever jump out of the tank? No
How does this fish sleep? no hunts at night
Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often? na
How does this fish interact with human? always looking for food, has associated my fingers with food (not so good) but does hide when arm is in tank (thank god) I have rescaped my rock and he hid the entire time woo hoo!Any other interesting observation of this fish?

REPRODUCTION
If you have a mated pair, how did you get them to pair up?
Any information of spawning in captivity?

SUMMARY
Your overall assessment of this species - 2How sensitive is this fish to poor water quality on a scale of 1-5?
1 - very tolerant, may survive a cycle in a new tank
2 - quite tolerant, may survive accidental ammonia or nitrite spike
3 - not terribly sensitive to reasonable pH, salinity or temperature changes
4 - sensitive to any significant water chemistry changes, and may show stress during such changes
5 - very sensitive to water quality, may easily get stressed and get sick with any change in water chemistry
Would you recommend this fish to beginners? Yes very hardy fish but with few cautions like beware of spines and keep in mind no small fish or shrimp
Any other recommendations/comments?

If you have any picture(s) of this fish you took, please post it here and share with us![/QUOTE]

 

[namxas]

FEEDING
What's the diet?[/b]
How much and how often do you feed? freeze dried krill 1-2 times a day

the sooner you can get your fish off of the FD krill, the better. besides not being very nutritious, krill (both FD and frozen) has been linked to lockjaw in predatory species, especially lions and puffers.

you really only need to feed the fish 3x a week, and only feed until you see a slight bulge in its belly. the best foods are fresh frozen fish (from the grocery store/fish market) and silversides.

our scorps LOVE salmon and red snapper as well as shell-on shrimp, squid, scallops, and silversides.

 

[duastina]

Great Thanks for the advice! My lion also eats ocean plankton, brine shrimp, alge flakes (meant for the tangs but my lion eats anything) I will get some silversides but man they gross me out but oh well I'll make my hunny feed them, fresh fish isn't an option arround here... unless we go fishing I could save him some but i dont know if panfish would be good for him..?

 

[johnny313]

I have my lion about 6 weeks now and he is cool. He eats silversides right out of my hand!

 

[Allmost]

anyone have any tricks on how to feed them ?

my lion fish comes out of rock work when I feed others, but as soon as I stick my hand or anything else in water, it hides away and donsnt come back out :S

right now, I feed him SW molly's which I breed, but want to get him to eat frozen

he used to eat frozen food when purchased :S

how do I get it to understand I am not danger and he stick is a feeding stick, not a hitting stick lol

 

[Scorpion85]

Hey Seafan,

I just got a black scorpion fish and i believe its a baby. Im new to all this so i think i made a mistake. I think my clown fish (2) are in danger. Should i remove the scorpion fish or leave him and see how they do?

 

[Scorpion85]

Im having a problem too bud my scorpion fish is a baby and i got him three days ago. The store people said they fed him live fish but i dont want to do that cause i dont want my tank to have chunks of fish everywhere. I use a silver stick with a silverside or something like that fish and it is frozen...he would only nip at it but thats it.

 

[Scorpion85]

I have my lion about 6 weeks now and he is cool. He eats silversides right out of my hand!

What other type of fish do you have with the scorpion fish?

 

[tanks4themem]

SELECTION
Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish?
- Brought him in a LFS, I reccomend that is the only way to buy SW fish because you can ask them to feed the fish before you buy it to verify it is eating and what it eats.
Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where?
- I don't know.
Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS?
- Go a few days after the fish come in but before the weekend when they sell everything off..lol Watch the fish for a good 15-30 mins to be sure all is ok, Look for any damaged radials or non uniformity in fins or body, Ask them what he eats, then ask them to feed him one of each thing they claim he eats.
What do you think is the ideal size to get?
- Depends on tank mates. This fish will eat anything that fits in his mouth, best to size him appropriately.
Are there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species?
- They come in Black and Red thats all I know..lol
Is there a way to tell the sex of this fish?
- I dont know
ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION
Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish?
- Drip aclimation then into tank with lights off.
Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen?
- Dont know, got mines at 5 inches
Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank?
- Depends on tank mates. Got mines last cause he had to share tank with Hispid Angler fish.

COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank?
- FOWLR, Cycled tank with 7 Damsels, then put in Angler, then Snowflake Eel, then Lion Fish Lion Fish ate all damsels except 2 dominos, Which for some reason he stopped chasing and wont pay them any mind unless they upset him with thier antics..lol
Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school?
- NO
Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank?
- No
What's the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you?
- See Above
Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)?
- Damsels but this was as planned because they were just for cycling.
Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)?
- No
Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)?
- I feed him live ghost shrimp and Shore shrimp among other things.

FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first?
- Starved him a half a week then started on frozen, for a week then slowly added occasional live foods.
If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food?
- See above
What's the diet?
- Live small shrimp, Frozen fish and squid, clams, frozen shrimp, Live mollies, guppies, feeder minnows
How much and how often do you feed?
How does this fish eat?(grazers, active or sedentary predators, sand sifters, etc)
- Pure savage Predator!!

GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)?
- NA new fish
What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish outgrow what size tank)? What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish?
- Got him at 5 inches, he is still same size, he is in a 47 Tall tank which he will outgrow then I will move him to a 55 gallon and eventually to a 100+
If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete? How long did it take?
- Dont know
How long have you kept this fish? If you no longer have this fish, what was the cause?
- 2 months and counting
What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported?
- 18 Inches, dont know Lifespan for sure.

DISEASE AND TREATMENT
What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment?
- Nope

BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances?
- Just like any fish he is more vibrant when fed and cared for properly
How active is this fish? Is this fish shy?
- Hovers over rocks crusies around tank like a slow moving blimp, when he sees food he takes off at warp speed it is incredible.
How territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates?
- Very curious and intelligent fish, checks out everything that enters tank. Will eat anything living that he can fit in his mouth if he can catch it.
Did this fish ever jump out of the tank?
- Nope
How does this fish sleep?
- Somtimes on the bottom, somtimes at the very top wedged into the corner so his spines are protecting him from all angles, also noticed he likes upside down cause he doesn't like bright light.
Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often?
- Dont know
How does this fish interact with human?
- He can tell the difference between me and other people. Very smart fish.
Any other interesting observation of this fish?

REPRODUCTION
If you have a mated pair, how did you get them to pair up?
Any information of spawning in captivity?
- Dont know
SUMMARY
Your overall assessment of this species -
How sensitive is this fish to poor water quality on a scale of 1-5?
1 - very tolerant, may survive a cycle in a new tank
2 - quite tolerant, may survive accidental ammonia or nitrite spike
3 - not terribly sensitive to reasonable pH, salinity or temperature changes
4 - sensitive to any significant water chemistry changes, and may show stress during such changes
5 - very sensitive to water quality, may easily get stressed and get sick with any change in water chemistry
Would you recommend this fish to beginners?
- Yes for its tolerance, but no because it is poisonous, and also it gets very large, so a beginner might have issues with cleaning tank and also the final size it grows to.
Any other recommendations/comments?

If you have any picture(s) of this fish you took, please post it here and share with us![/QUOTE]

We named him Mufassa

My Journal on this fish and the tank can be found at: http://tanks4thememories.blogspot.com/p/47-gallon-xt-sw-fowlr-predator-tank.html#top1

Hope I filled this out correctly...lol Hope you enjoy our journal pages.

 

[Nathan.Titulaer]

I will add my experience in a quick run down.
I kept a volitan lionfish in a 90 gallon with a porcupine puffer and a huma huma trigger for about 6 months. It was my first salt water tank and all the fish lived in the same tank at the fish store for about a week. I never had a feeding or aggression problem. The lionfish would eat first and got a mix of Krill and Silversides then the puffer and trigger would eat. All fed from a feeding tweezers. I later added a Bursa trigger and a Niger trigger but the Huma kept beating them up so he was moved to a different tank and a new Huma was added. This lasted for two more months till I shut the pump off for feeding while I was doing that a foster dog that i had got in to a fight with my dog and I forgot to turn the pump back on and went about my day. The next morning when I went to feed again I noticed the pump was off and the tank was wiped out. Looking back it was a horrible combo of fish to have in such a small tank and will never try it again even if a tank 10x that size. i never had a issue with disease so no treatment was necessary.

I think the reason it worked out was because the Lion had a cave he would back in to and stay in until feeding and the Triggers were to busy getting other food to mess with the Lion.

 

[Rileys Reef]

My Survey

My Survey

SELECTION
Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish? Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where? Mine were caught by me in florida
Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS? What do you think is the ideal size to get? My lions are in great health size depends on tank size. Smaller would be better to watch them grow easy to feed as well.
Are there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species? No
Is there a way to tell the sex of this fish? Not that i know of


ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION
Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish? Same as any normal fish.
Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen? Wild caught will only eat live food,fish,shrimp and so on. After a bit they get use to frozen foods mysis but they are hunters and wait for the frozen food to drift by to eat. If the food stays still "dead" they wont eat it.
Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank? Any order, as long as the other fish are bigger than the lions mouth.

COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank? Reef tank,tangs,wrasses,benny,angles as long as the size is bigger than the mouth one should be ok. If your lion is well feed he should have no interest in eating tankmates.
Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school? They are peaceful together no problems if full the just hang around. No fights over meals either.
Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank? yes dwarf and volitans
What's the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you? The lion has a bad rap for some reason i think they are great. Very calm fish but as soon as they see alittle feeder fish wiggle by its gone. Ive had more problems with other fish "puffer" messing with them and picking at their fins.
Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)? Puffers sometimes peck at the fins only happen one time. What gets put in as food gets eaten fast silversides "live" and feeders BUT not one tankmate EVER. keep them fed and they know whats for them.
Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)? NO
Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)? Only what i put in for dinner small shrimps with tails cut.

FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first? Live feeder fish, live shrimp
If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food?Yes and No, They are not fans of the frozen but they see the tankmates going nuts over frozen mysis and they might go for it after awhile. Try the frozen foods before you feed the live that way they might go for it if not toss in a little feeder fish.
What's the diet? silversides "live" shrimp "live" most anything they can wrap the mouth around.
How much and how often do you feed? mysis everyday with tankmates, 3-5 little fish a week. I live on the water so i cast net food for them.
How does this fish eat?[/b](grazers, active or sedentary predators, sand sifters, etc) Active, Bang its gone they just suck it up.

GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)? 5 inches up to 8 in 3-4 months
What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish outgrow what size tank)? What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish? 125 gallon min size 20 gallon for smaller fish.
If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete? How long did it take? no change
How long have you kept this fish? If you no longer have this fish, what was the cause? one for 2 years before puffer ate all the fins one day. The others still alive going on 1 to over 5 months
What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported?
One i had got to about 10 inches home aquarium. but i have seen them pretty big 12-15 inches

DISEASE AND TREATMENT
[What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment?none

BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances? tiny bit darker and lighter but not much
[How active is this fish? Is this fish shy? Hungry very active, full not very active.
How territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates? Just fine might push a fish away if they touch or brush by the fins. They have their own space
Did this fish ever jump out of the tank? no
How does this fish sleep? hunts at night if full the hang looking down
Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often? cant say
How does this fish interact with human? just fine had one nip the finer dangling it at the top of the tank. not a big deal
Any other interesting observation of this fish? fantastic home aquarium fish not the mega killer everyone thinks just keep them feed. Dont feed a dog it might eat a cat, same here a full lion is a happy lion.

REPRODUCTION
If you have a mated pair, how did you get them to pair up? no
Any information of spawning in captivity? no

SUMMARY
Your overall assessment of this species -
How sensitive is this fish to poor water quality on a scale of 1-5? 2
1 - very tolerant, may survive a cycle in a new tank
2 - quite tolerant, may survive accidental ammonia or nitrite spike
3 - not terribly sensitive to reasonable pH, salinity or temperature changes
4 - sensitive to any significant water chemistry changes, and may show stress during such changes
5 - very sensitive to water quality, may easily get stressed and get sick with any change in water chemistry
Would you recommend this fish to beginners? yes but owner need to have a plan for feeding.
Any other recommendations/comments? feed live fish, let them get a little hungry over a day or so and start feeding mysis. But that wont cut it its a good snack but a lion can eat a ton sometimes 2-3 feeder fish in a day. Keep a close eye on the stomach as its an easy way to tell if the are full. Lots of swimming means they are hungry and are looking for food again they can eat a amazing amount of food over most other fish.

If you have any picture(s) of this fish you took, please post it here and share with us![/QUOTE]

 

[Rileys Reef]

Here a pic of one this one was caught palm beach county.

 

[StephLionfish]

Will a Black V. maintain its color throughout its lifespan? Does diet play a role?

My volitan kept it's color. He was a dark chocolate brown. My volitan grew about an inch a month. Got him when he was 4 inches, six months later he was 9 inches and growing. Fed every other day, krill-squid-mysis-silversides(chopped up). LED lighting blinded him. I would advise against putting lionfish in a reef. Showed interest in damsels, but never could catch them, so he stopped trying. ( Still watched them though) 1-5 on hardiness, I would say about a 3. Mine died of ich a couple of weeks ago, ich would not go away. The water was perfect, fed him correctly, good size tank, by himself, don't know what caused it...Mine lost his horns around the 7 inch mark. I've read where some loose their horns and some keep them. He tried to eat anything his size that he could catch...so I had to be careful..