Lionfish+peacock mantis shrimps

[Leechofdestiny]

Hey this is probably an extremely noobish question, but I was wondering, would it be possible to keep a peacock mantis with a large volitans lion? would it be an uneasy peace, or would they kill eachother as soon as they get hungry? thanks for your help.

 

[Leechofdestiny]

btw it'll be in a 55 gallon aquarium, no other animals or corals

 

[Pea-brain]

No. I've read one situation where it turned out well, but usually at least one (and in some cases both) of them dies.

Dan

 

[Leechofdestiny]

alrighty. I was just wondering.

 

[DanInSD]

Mixing predator and prey is always dicey. Shrimp make up a substantial portion of many lionfish species' diet. I just had an immature scorpionfish inhale a cleaner shrimp 2/3 its size (doh!). I would imagine that for a full-grown Volitans (12-16" long), a moderate-sized peacock mantis (5-6") would look like a tempting meal.

In short -- I wouldn't do it.

Dan

 

[Diet Plain]

I've done it and it worked out perfectly fine.

 

[DanInSD]

It may work, it may not. But with large Volitans lions and peacocks being somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 shipped, it's a risk I'm unwilling to take.

Dan