To Lionfish or not to Lionfish....

convictblennie

convictblennie

New member
So I have a 110g saltwater reef that has been set up since April of this year. I've recently had ich in there and have lost a few fish so I'm wondering what to do with the tank after it's all said and done. The only saltwater fish that my husband likes is Lionfish so I'm considering getting one... or 2.... or.... I do like the fact that they are predators but they don't eat corals from what I understand.

So far I have a Exquisite Fairy Wrasse, a pair of clownfish that are hosting 2 Anemone's a bicolor blenny, a zebra dartfish, a male lyretail anthias, a scooter blenny, and a yellow watchman goby... none are showing signs of ich but this thing ain't over yet and I'm not ready for more fish right now.

Like I said I have a 110g, no sump, Reef Octopus BH-2000 HOB Skimmer, over 100 pounds of crushed coral and over 100 pounds of live rock. A ton of corals including some sps, lps, softies, etc. and 2 green bubble tip anemones.

What do you guys suggest??? I'm thinking maybe 2 dwarf lionfish? I can sell my fish, whatever would be left, but I would like to keep the clowns... do you think I could with the safety of the Anemone? or would I have to sell those too. Do any of you keep Frogfish in with your Lions? I would love a Frogfish but need to do more research on them as well.

Have any of you been stung but your lionfish?? What happened?? Any and all advice welcome :)
 
I was also thinking of just getting 1 Volitan but then I know everything would need to go and I'm not sure I could put anything else in there with it at all... what do you think?
 
Pretty much the rule with Lionfish is that "if it can catch the other fish, and that fish fits in its mouth, then it is dinner."

They will eat almost anything that moves.
 
Yes I have one Cleaner Shrimp on there that I don't mind selling, I like him but it's ok... I have a couple more in another tank... that may need to go as well if they bother the seahorses that are coming in this week.... I never collect many inverts as I have a longnose Hawkfish that I forgot to add up there.

I read that some lions do well with Foxfaces? what other tankmates are they ok with?

The clowns are the only fish that I would be sad losing :(
 
Even with a dwarf lionfish like a fuzzy there is a definite possibility pretty much all of your fish could be eaten, since it seems like you have mostly torpedo shaped fish aka easy fish to swallow. That being said like most things in this hobby it varies from fish to fish, I've kept plenty of lionfish with smaller fish and no ill affects.

They do well with fox faces because for the most part it seems like they are very mild mannered and stick to themselves. They will do well with any fish that is too big to eat and won't pick on it. Puffers, triggers, angels, tangs generally aren't good tankmates because they have a hard time not chewing on the lions.

I've never been stung but from what I hear it isn't that bad, kinda like a bee sting or a little worse, unless of course your allergic to the venom.

If you do decide to get a lion I would stick with a dwarf (Dendrochirus brachypterus, Dendrochirus zebra, Dendrochirus biocellatus, or Dendrochirus barberi) because you would have a wider range of fish you could keep with them. If you like the looks of a volitans go with D. zebra, they look like mini volitans.

Anything I missed or any other questions just ask away
 
Thanks for the info so far... I would like to have 2 in such a big tank.... I was doing a bit of reading today and they said that fu manchu are easy to sexe and if you are going to keep more than one to make sure you don't get 2 males so make sure you get some that you can sexe... the fuzzy dwarf you can't??

If I got a Volitan I would keep it alone or maybe with a foxface....

My clowns both have an anemone and the both sleep in their "little anemone bed" I wonder if a small lion would go after them in there or my biggest concern would be during feeding time... But I would rather sell them than see them getting eaten by the lion....
 
No fu man chu's and zebras can't be sexed, fuzzies can, but not so much when they're young, it's much easier when they have a little size on them. I would get two different dwarf species or even three, I kept a fuzzy, fu, and zebra together with no problems at all. There is a far less chance of aggression when keeping different species together. There's a ton of good info in the lionfish care sheet:
http://www.lionfishlair.com/careguides/lionfish.shtml

How big are your clowns? If they are mature sized and you got juvenile lions I think it would be ok. But there's always a chance.

I wouldn't keep a frog fish with anything else, I've personally seen them eat fish that you would think they couldn't, it's amazing actually.

Here are my three amigos, I don't have the fuzzy or fu anymore though.

A1BB7924-1F47-49E9-A70F-AE67F2B18E03-707-00000075403A9468_zps4d33384c.jpg
 
A P. volitans in a 110 gallon is a huge mistake... the animal will not be able to turn around in that size aquarium.
 
Jarrod love the pictures... I was on LionfishLair all last night... but I didn't know that as long as you keep different species you were ok even if they are male... well there is always a chance but I guess it's a better chance :)

The clowns are full grown and they sleep in their anemone (they have one each) so I would not be concerned of them getting eaten at night.

No Frogfish... check

Fishfirst... how is a Volitan in my 110g a huge mistake... everywhere I read it says a 125g is good.... my tank are the same dimensions as our 125g except not as high.... I'm confused....

That pic of those 3 are cute tho.... man you may have changed my mind about the Volitan...

3 dwarf lions.... 2 clowns... and a foxface.... uhm....

I have a convict blenny and I thought it would die from the ich but today he looks a bit better "miraculously I think" Because he mostly stays in the substrate I wonder if he would be ok with them if he lives.... or just spaghetti??? If he lives I think I would try it...
 
Also, Jarrod did you have a hard time getting your Fu Manchu to eat? I read on the Lionfishlair that they are a bit harder to get on frozen then the other ones
 
I have a dwarf lionfish in my tank and He's been fine with all the fish I've put in. He's been doing great with a skunk cleaner shrimp for the past 5 months. The skunk cleaner cleans his mouth, fins, etc.
He does love ghost shrimp and it was a pain to get him to eat frozen krill but he finally started a few weeks ago. I do occasionally feed him ghost shrimp once a week and he eats about 7-9 at a time! Good thing they cost 1$ for 15 of them. And I feed him about 3-6 frozen krill twice a week. He's only 3". Follows me around and spits water at me when he's hungry. He's also swimmed into the palm of my hand and rested there a couple of times. Very scary, I wouldn't recommend doing it tho.
 
It was a few years ago that I trained him but I don't remember it being too terribly difficult, but it did take a little longer than normal. I think they key is being very subtle with the feeding stick and not shoving it in their face and scaring them with it. They seem to be more timid about it at first
 
fscmocsaj said:
I have a dwarf lionfish in my tank and He's been fine with all the fish I've put in. He's been doing great with a skunk cleaner shrimp for the past 5 months. The skunk cleaner cleans his mouth, fins, etc.
He does love ghost shrimp and it was a pain to get him to eat frozen krill but he finally started a few weeks ago. I do occasionally feed him ghost shrimp once a week and he eats about 7-9 at a time! Good thing they cost 1$ for 15 of them. And I feed him about 3-6 frozen krill twice a week. He's only 3". Follows me around and spits water at me when he's hungry. He's also swimmed into the palm of my hand and rested there a couple of times. Very scary, I wouldn't recommend doing it tho.
Click to expand...

fyi frozen krill has been linked to causing lockjaw in lions. I would try to get him off those and feed another food (silversides, salmon, etc.)
 
Fishfirst said:
A P. volitans in a 110 gallon is a huge mistake... the animal will not be able to turn around in that size aquarium.
Click to expand...

Footprint is indeed most important, esp. with larger species lionfishes. You really need at least a 48" x 24" tank. The 4 foot 100/120's make really great tanks for lionfishes as they do indeed have a lot of room to swim, which they will do. Our 48" 100 gal is one of my fave
setups.

convictblennie said:
I was on LionfishLair all last night... but I didn't know that as long as you keep different species you were ok even if they are male... well there is always a chance but I guess it's a better chance :)

The clowns are full grown and they sleep in their anemone (they have one each) so I would not be concerned of them getting eaten at night.
Click to expand...

Sometimes there can be male-male aggression across species lines...our D. barberi, which is a real brute of a dwarf, can get a bit snotty with our Mombasa. Our breeding pair of fuzzies got a bit punky to the fu after awhile as well, but a breeding pair is a whole 'nother thing.

FWIW, the nem won't make a darned bit of difference to a hungry lionfish, so don't count on that being a protective factor. Some lionfishes actually decide they 'like' a coral and perch on it.

IIRC, our fu took about 3 mos to become a solid stick-feeder, but our weaning skills were still being honed back then. Once a fu is weaned, they're every bit as eager to feed as any of the other lionfishes.

Just a little story...yesterday we decided to feed our juvie P. sphex, bearded ghoul, yellow fuzzy and wispy waspfish some live ghosties. The sphex, the ghoul are so well-trained to the stick, that they didn't even see the ghosties as food any longer. The fuzzy and the waspfish had no such reservations... We've had this happen to several of our fishes tho...they equate the stick with food, and will actually go to the stick if both are offered at the same time.
 
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One more question.... Ghost shrimp are harder to get here, and are $1 a shrimp... and they are not easy to breed from what I hear... could I put in Red Cherry Shrimp? I can get those for free and breed them
 
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