Lion / Starfish / Urchin compatible?

[trukgirl]

I am thinking of changing my fowlr tank a bit, to house one of the dwarf Lions or an Antennata Lion. (only one)

But can anyone tell me if any of them are compatible with the inverts I already have, a Chocolate Chip star and a Pencil Urchin .... I've tried researching this compatibilty around the web and can't really find anything.

And which one would be more suitable... one of the dwarfs, fu man chu, or an antennata?

Thanks :spin3:

 

[stangd1909]

My lion doesn't bother my urchin.

 

[namxas]

I'd recommend a fuzzy dwarf, hands down. They're pretty, interactive, and easy to wean.

It should be OK with your inverts, altho I have to say CC stars can be predatory and have been known to take down sleeping fish, esp. if they aren't well fed.

Also, with a dwarf fuzzy, be sure to cover the tank...they can, and will jump.

 

[StephLionfish]

Should be fine. I've kept all three of my lions with different kinds of starfish and urchins. They don't mess with them. It depends on the lion you like most i guess, and tank size. I've heard that the Fu manchu can be a little more difficult to keep....but I'm not sure. I have Dwarf Fuzzy, dwarf Zebra and a Volitans.

 

[trukgirl]

Thanks!!!

Hello again Namxas! The tank I had last time (the one I was considering different inverts for) I upgraded to a 44g now that is the one I want to put a Lion in. The CC star is only a few inches across tip to tip. My kiddos LOVE the star and urchin. It has a good cover on it that it came with. ETA: I usually feed the CC silversides now and then, and he is pretty much the only CUC besides the urchin so he is pretty well fed I believe.

Thanks Stangd & Steph. This will be my first Lion. I tried having a Picasso trigger in there but he is now nipping on the star. He bit my finger once also and almost drew blood LOL! :lol: He would eventually outgrow the tank anyways. Oh, and since its a 44g it has to be a small one, can't really have a Volitan or anything.

 

[anbosu]

The dwarf fuzzy would be an excellent choice, and won't bother your inverts.

 

[trukgirl]

Oh, odd question but what do you guys do if you need to clean or work on something in the tank? Wear elbow length gloves???
Also do they like a lot of flow? I have a Koralia 2, a Koralia Nano 240gph, and a Rena canister filter instead of sump (I think it does 300 gph?)

BTW Steph your new Volitan is very pretty.

Thanks Anbosu

 

[anbosu]

Oh, odd question but what do you guys do if you need to clean or work on something in the tank? Wear elbow length gloves???
Also do they like a lot of flow? I have a Koralia 2, a Koralia Nano 240gph, and a Rena canister filter instead of sump (I think it does 300 gph?)

BTW Steph your new Volitan is very pretty.

Thanks Anbosu

Just be careful whenever you put your hands in the tank and you should be fine. I have kept various lionfish over the years and have never been stung. Gloves would help keep you from being stung, but the best weapon is awareness when your hands are in the tank.

 

[trukgirl]

Thanks. The only other poisonous thing I have is a bubble tip anemone in my reef tank, and I'm sure you already know they don't move too fast, LOL. :lol:

 

[trukgirl]

Is it also possible (later on) to add another dwarf or small lion, or something else agressive that you guys can suggest? (that will leave my star and urchin alone)

 

[StephLionfish]

Oh, odd question but what do you guys do if you need to clean or work on something in the tank? Wear elbow length gloves???
Also do they like a lot of flow? I have a Koralia 2, a Koralia Nano 240gph, and a Rena canister filter instead of sump (I think it does 300 gph?)

BTW Steph your new Volitan is very pretty.

Thanks Anbosu

Thank you! You don't have to wear gloves. The dwarfs like to hide, so whenever you are about to get in the tank, make sure you spot him first. Then be careful, cause he or she will be curious. After a minute the lion should leave you alone. My lions could care less that I'm in the tank when I move rocks/ clean the glass. I just work around them I'm not sure of flow, still figuring that out.

 

[stangd1909]

My lion always moves to the other side of the tank when I'm cleaning...so no problems here. As for flow, my lion hates heavy flow....he sits in the rocks when I have my power heads going. I have to turn them off every now and then for him.

 

[ashtree68]

I didn't know that about the chocolate chip stars taking down sleeping fish, interesting to know.

On that note, in my 125 I have 2 chocolate chip stars, and a variety of urchins that my volitan ignores. I had a couple urchins in with my fuzzies but the mantis took those out one day while I was on vacation and my friend was feeding the tanks. But the fuzzies never paid any attention to them.

As others have said, just be mindful of your arm is in respect to the fish. Mine know me as the food person so will be very active while I'm near and will swim around my arm, I've never been stung but got scratched once (didn't hurt just scared the crap out of me) and then bumped into the sides of them before. Basically be careful and go slower esp. with newer fish as they tend to spook easier.

 

[namxas]

JoAnn,

Until you and your fish come to an "understanding", maybe you can make a game of it with your kids by having them play "fish spotter" for you. Lions can handle a bit of flow, but need areas where they can chill if they want. If there's too much flow, they won't swim around as much, altho a fuzzy is the most "out and about" dwarf species by a longshot.

I use a fair amount of flow, but I typically use a SCWD to alternate the flow and avoid a constant laminar current.

 

[DoubleM 10]

JoAnn,

Until you and your fish come to an "understanding", maybe you can make a game of it with your kids by having them play "fish spotter" for you. Lions can handle a bit of flow, but need areas where they can chill if they want. If there's too much flow, they won't swim around as much, altho a fuzzy is the most "out and about" dwarf species by a longshot.

I use a fair amount of flow, but I typically use a SCWD to alternate the flow and avoid a constant laminar current.

my fuzzies are out all the time. always hovering rocks for potential food or something. then when i walk up to the tank they are right at the top of the tank swimming back and forth along the tank as i move around.

i keep a fair amount of flow just to keep problems down. a 700gph and a 250gph and a mag 9.5 return dialed down quite a bit on my 55gal

 

[DoubleM 10]

when you add another lion to an existing one it will be difficult. i added 2 fuzzies at the same time and it almost ended ones life after 6 months of happy living. just want postal one week.

i have 2 fussys in a std 55 now. they have an unwritten rule that after they eat the go to opposite sides of the tank everytime without fail. i am always nervous that one day...........one will turn on the other.

 

[trukgirl]

Thank you guys so much!!!

What about putting 2 different species of small ones in there, such as a fuzzy and an antennata? I don't think I could do a small eel because of the inverts, right? Any other suggestions? I keep thinking its going to be really bare with only one fish. But I definitely want at least one lion.

 

[trukgirl]

Just for reference and fun, here is the tank. 44g corner pentagon.
Has a Rena filstar canister (not ever planning on having anything that eats pods or any corals in this tank) Red Sea Prism HOB skimmer, Koralia 2, and Koralia Nano 240. (Everything came used or I recycled from another tank) The K2 is not pictured, these were taken right after I transferred everything over in March. I put an Actinic in the 18" fixture it came with, and we DIY-d a fixture with 2 - 6500k CFL's. Hubs is going to eventually make a hood like he did for our reef to hide the lights and skimmer.

 

[namxas]

You could keep a GDM (golden dwarf moray) in that setup and it should be OK with your inverts.

If you keep a fuzzy, you could keep a waspfish or two, or a smaller scorp species (Scorpaenodes sp.). Leaf fish are nice, but are tuff to wean (altho you can wean them to take live food from a net pretty easily).

To get some ideas, take a look HERE to see a few pix of most of our charges. Each photo is "clickable" and opens up additional pix.

 

[rayn]

I have a green wolf eel and he so far hasn't bothered any inverts. Im actually surprised too. Doesn't bother.my pencil urchin either.