Zebra dwarf lionfish

[giambi4343]

i wanted to get one og these guys at my lfs. the smallest fish i have is a male clownfish. do you think he would eat him? the clown is pretty fast while the lion is very slow

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[snorvich]

Yep, I think the clown will be toast.

 

[giambi4343]

bump

 

[budbreak96]

You should be ok. Its a dwarf lion, As in it doesnt get that big. Should be fine

 

[billdogg]

im with snorvich - the lion can and will attempt to eat anything that that MIGHT fit in it's mouth.

 

[Indymann99]

Any fish small enough to fit in the Lions mouth is fair game...

 

[tbar]

The slow Lion will hypnotize the clown in a corner with his fins then after slowing move closer the clown might disappear before your eyes if you blink.

 

[andrewkw]

I disagree. My dwarf lion is now much bigger then my male clownfish and has never even looked at him. Sometimes he eats mysis that falls out of their rbta and the lion will pass within an inch or 2 of the clowns and ignore them. The clowns don't seem too afraid either. After all they will take on my powdered brown if he wants to pick algae from the rock the anemone is on.

Lions are slow and as long as he's fed he should have no interest in fish. They will however eat shrimp.

 

[shovel]

the lion will catch and kill any fish that can fit into its mouth. unless it is trained to eat from your hand my vote is for

 

[andrewkw]

I would think a big part of it is how often do you feed your fish?

I feed my guys frozen once a day and the lion eats with the other fish, and I also target feed during the night 3-5 times a week and he collects scraps then too.

I've also had my lion since he was very small at first only eating peppermint shrimp now moving onto PE Mysis which is what the rest of my fish eat.

I suppose one day he could eat a small fish, its not something that worries me unless I'm adding new smallish fish.

 

[giambi4343]

ok well i got the smallest dwarf today. he doesnt seem to be interested in the clown but we will see as time goes on. he didnt eat today which i was kinda expecting being just added to the tank. should i start off with feeding him krill or something else would be better? thanks

Andrew

 

[giambi4343]

is it normal for them to hide? i see him behind the rocks in the back of my tank. do you think he is unhealthy?

 

[giambi4343]

bump please help. how do i know when to add my first feeder fish into the tank if he is hiding

 

[andrewkw]

Yes it's normal for them to hide. They are nocturnal. I'm surprised you did not at all look into their characteristics before buying one.

You never want to feed him feeder fish. One fresh water feeder fish are not healthy for them to eat, Two if you plan on keeping him with other small fish how is he supposed to tell the difference between the feeders and the show fish? Feed frozen shrimp kill ect. In time they will eat frozen mysis and or pellet and perhaps even flake food.

If you are seriously concerned about him ie not eating for a couple of weeks I suggest saltwater feeder shrimp or worse case a peppermint since they aren't very expensive. This will give him enough time to adjust to captivity and then turn to frozen / prepared foods.

 

[giambi4343]

thank you. great point on the feeder fish info too