which Lion is easier?

[matt randazzo]

hay, I'm looking to keep scorpion fish and I'm considering a zebra lion and an antenna lion, I was previously considering both but know I'm thinking of just one lion fish... so which lion would be easier to house? Or do you guys think I should go with both?:spin1:

 

[StephLionfish]

How many gallons is your tank? IME lionfish will fight if kept together in a tank unless the tank is very large. I have a Zebra lionfish and have never had any trouble with him. Make sure you have a good filter, especially if you are going to have two lions. These guys produce a lot of waste... I 've never kept an Antennata Lionfish, but again my Dwarf Zebra is rather easy to keep.

 

[bamato]

Tank size does matter a bit more if the two are going to be kept together. But if you're only going for one, then anything over 30-40 gallons and with a sump would be sufficient. These are sedentary fish for the most part, spending a good part of their day in a rock somewhere relaxing.

Antennata's used to be much harder to find in the fish market, I'm glad thats changing as they are a beautiful species. In my experience, both fish are equally easy to wean on to prepared foods, (although I've heard reports of Antennatas being a bit more difficult sometimes) so it's more of a choice on looks than anything else. Personally, I lean towards the Antennatas. More elegant, and they seem to have a more community firendly demeanor.

 

[matt randazzo]

oh ok, would both be ok with each other, and two other scorpion fish in a 55gallon with a magnum canister rated for a 100 gallon tank?

 

[sacremon]

Just to clarify, when you say 'zebra lion', do you mean Pterois volitans, which is the most common lionfish on the market, or the Dendrochirus zebra, which is the dwarf zebra lion? If the former, a 55 gallon tank will not be sufficient for that fish alone after about a year, as they quickly grow to 9" - 13" within 1.5 years. D. zebra gets to about the same size as P. antennata (around 8" max). I think you could do a D. zebra and a P. antennata in a 55, not sure about any additional scorps, especially if you are not going to use a skimmer.

 

[matt randazzo]

Yeah, the dwarf zebra... well if i'm going to get a skimmer, which one would you guys recommend? Would I need a sump? Do "hang on" skimmers exist?

 

[bamato]

Skimmers are highly recommended with dirty predatory fish. Yes, there are HOB skimmers. With four scorps in a 55g, you'll have a fairly high bio load. My personal advice (some might disagree) is to figure out what skimmer is rated for your tank, and buy the next size up if you can fit/afford it.

 

[namxas]

I use a ER RC-180 on our 60 gal "small scorp tank", which is overkill, but not really too crazy to be honest.

That being said, I'm really liking the Eshopps S-150 cone skimmer on our 100 gal. Eshopps makes some pretty nice HOB skimmers. The PSK-100H is their largest HOB model.

Reef Octopus makes the Super Reef Octopus XP 1000S cone HOB protein skimmer. I'm a real fan of cone skimmers these days.

 

[tymon]

i am about to do the same thing with my 55 gallon. i have a kleins butterfly and i am going to add a female and a male fuzzy dwarf lionfish. i also run a canisterfilter eheim pro 3 rated for 210 gallons or something. i run the seaclone 150 skimmer which is ok but i would not recommend it does the job for me however. i was wonder in anyone has experiance with keeping dwarf lionfish in the same tank. i have heard people had success kepping a M-F-F trio.

 

[bamato]

Harems do work well with Fuzzy's

 

[namxas]

Also, unless you can obtain all three fish at once, I'd probably add at least one of the females first, as IME, males are a bit more territorial than females.

 

[tymon]

ya when i get them i will get them all at the same time. but i may only do two would a female female or male female be better.

 

[namxas]

I've never kept a F-F pair of fuzzies...I've raised a F fuzzy and a F barberi together in one of our grow-out tanx with no trouble, and I've kept a M fuzzy with the same F barberi with no issues.

IMHO, either way would be fine, as IME, females seem to have less 'tude than males (if you can say a lion has a 'tude)...

 

[bamato]

^^ "Tudes" include the following among lions - Begging for food (especially after it has a full belly), hanging lazily upside down in a cave for hours, and staring at other fish...

 

[tymon]

would a male and a female fuzzy work in the same tank cuz i would rather have the same type i really like the fuzzies

 

[bamato]

I sort of gave my opinion on this one already in your other thread