9 years in the hobby--First aggressive fish.

[speg]

Just like the title says. I've always been prone to enjoying the reef safe fish...today I made a life changing purchase.....a dwarf fuzzy lion.
It's REALLY cute..he had a "normal" browish one for 15 bucks but then showed me a rusty brown colored one for the same price...I took lil rusty brown home.
I was looking at him through the bag and he was just sitting in the bag looking back at me--moving nothing but his eyes.
I really want to let it sting me so I can see exactly what I'm working with...whatcha think?
Any personal experience on these lil guys will be appreciated since I only know the basics for them.

 

[speg]

acclimated for 5 hours. Purchased the lion with an engineer/convict goby. As soon as I released them I noticed that the convict was trying to eat little pieces of floating algae so I decided to try some frozen mysis. The convict ate..and the lion fish ate a bunch! I was pretty excited to see them both eat

I've never had anything even close to the lion fish before..it's really awesome to watch how they hunt and perch...and hunt...and perch... not a bit afraid of me either since he'll come all the way to the front of the glass and watch me.

 

[al&burke]

Hey Speg, Really nice looking lion fish, would like to try them some day. I remember the post (by Florida Joe I think) with the beautiful macroalgea in the tank. Some day. Good luck with him/her.

 

[speg]

Originally Posted by Al&Burke
http:///forum/post/3286271
Hey Speg, Really nice looking lion fish, would like to try them some day. I remember the post (by Florida Joe I think) with the beautiful macroalgea in the tank. Some day. Good luck with him/her.
I'm hoping for the best...it's such a neat fish.
Good point on the him/her...is there any way to tell ?

 

[ibanez]

I have recently joined that and am in love with all dwarf lions. One thing I will say, is the antennata is the most beautiful lionfish I have ever seen. Pictures don't do it justice. I know there are some real pretty fuzzy's with some cool colors, and I love my fuzzy, but the antennata is AMAZING. I just got him this week and he is eating well and doing great, I will post pics as soon as I get the chance. And I consider them reef safe, you just have to have shrimp that aren't to small and fish that aren't too small.

 

[cranberry]

The mombassae beats the antennata... LOL.
That's gonna be a male.
What else are you going to keep with him?
Get him on some nice chunky food. If he'll only take mysis from the water column right now, try some PE mysis. It's nice and fatty and will help the little guy grow nice and healthy.
Congrats!

 

[speg]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3286302
The mombassae beats the antennata... LOL.
That's gonna be a male.
What else are you going to keep with him?
Get him on some nice chunky food. If he'll only take mysis from the water column right now, try some PE mysis. It's nice and fatty and will help the little guy grow nice and healthy.
Congrats!
I have some selcon coming in soon and I'll soak food in that to add to whatever I feed. I have some silversides--you think he'd be interested (and it would be beneificial) in that if I chop them?
Right now there is a convict with him...while I was feeding mysis he saw the convict (they're about the same length but the convict is much thinner obviously) and he swam over and got RIGHT in his face...for a moment I was like "uh oh..." the convict luckily backed away....I had thoughts in my head of what I must look like when I slurp spaghetti....
As for future tankmates.. I'm not sure. The tank will ultimately be a frag tank. Are they bad to pair up? I must have a fish that has zero interest in corals...I've never had a black/white clown so I may toss one of those...we'll see.
Thanks.

 

[ibanez]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3286302
The mombassae beats the antennata... LOL.
That's gonna be a male.
What else are you going to keep with him?
Get him on some nice chunky food. If he'll only take mysis from the water column right now, try some PE mysis. It's nice and fatty and will help the little guy grow nice and healthy.
Congrats!
Themz fight'n words. Like I said, the pic doesn't do it justice, the pectorals are beautiful red with white tips.

 

[ibanez]

and

 

[cranberry]

Yes, I agree very beautiful... but the mombassae is my personal fav.
I don't dip anything in Selcon, but definitely chop some Silversides up and give them a try. If you vary your diet, you'll see him turn into a beautiful adult.
An adult fuzzy would eat a clown.

 

[speg]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3286337
Yes, I agree very beautiful... but the mombassae is my personal fav.
I don't dip anything in Selcon, but definitely chop some Silversides up and give them a try. If you vary your diet, you'll see him turn into a beautiful adult.
An adult fuzzy would eat a clown.
adult black/white percs get way too large for a fuzzy. I'd assume they'd both be growing together. I'm still not sure on the other fish.
I woke up this morning and it's sitting in the middle of the rockwork faced away from the glass...sleeping.

 

[mrdc]

Very nice Speg. I would like to setup an aggressive tank one day. Did you let it sting you? Not sure if that is a good idea to purposely let it do that.

 

[spanko]

Henry sits here waiting for the sting outcome.

 

[cranberry]

I don't agree with the clownfish. I've seen fuzzies slurp them up.

 

[noah's nemo]

I have often thought about getting a lion,but everytime i've seen one anywhere, its just hovering in the corner..leads me to believe they are not very active.I also have wondered why the are considered "aggressive",aren't they more of just a predator...seems like alot of other aggressive fish would not make good tankmates for them ..nothing against lions ,they are beautiful fish,and i have always wanted one,but lately they seem to be kinda boring to me, unless its feeding time..I have never owned one so maybe you guys can shed some light on how active or not they are.My triggs and angel are up a 7 and in constant motion in and out of rock caves till 11....its just that i recently was able to free up a 75 gallon and thought about giveing a lion a home to himself,but not if hes just going to sit in the corner like a kid in timeout

Thanks
note:if this is a hijack let me know,just thought any input would help me and speg

 

[cranberry]

Mine always think it's feeding time when they see me.... so when ever I am in their presence they are all plastered against the glass and very active. But everyone likes something different, and is why you'll never see a clownfish in my tank. A lot of people like them.... I just don't get it.

 

[ibanez]

Once they get comfortable and used to you, they are puppy dogs, they swim back and forth in front of the glass, they play with their reflections. My baby zebra spots me as soon as I come in the door from work and greets me with his tail (top fins) wagging and his ears (pectoral fins) back. I always thought the stock list they limit you with wouldn't be worth it, but now I would like every species of lion. Also, although the differences are subtle at times between species, it is very noticable in person.

 

[saxman]

very cool Speg. welcome to the dark side!

i wouldn't let the fish poke you if i were you, but that's just me. besides all the lions, we have some fish that you REALLY don't wanna get poked by (stingfish, waspfish), so i'm not THAT curious.
i've never understood why venomous fish are called "aggressive" either...they aren't the only fish that will eat whatever they can swallow, but their demeanor is nothing but gentle.

 

[speg]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3286415
I don't agree with the clownfish. I've seen fuzzies slurp them up.
As a baby I'm sure a clown could make a snack. Clowns do get bigger than most people know though and would be impossible for a dwarf to eat. My brother's black/white clown is a SOLID 6 inches long. I'll try to get a pic of it.

 

[speg]

Originally Posted by Noah's Nemo
http:///forum/post/3286429
I have often thought about getting a lion,but everytime i've seen one anywhere, its just hovering in the corner..leads me to believe they are not very active.I also have wondered why the are considered "aggressive",aren't they more of just a predator...seems like alot of other aggressive fish would not make good tankmates for them ..nothing against lions ,they are beautiful fish,and i have always wanted one,but lately they seem to be kinda boring to me, unless its feeding time..I have never owned one so maybe you guys can shed some light on how active or not they are.My triggs and angel are up a 7 and in constant motion in and out of rock caves till 11....its just that i recently was able to free up a 75 gallon and thought about giveing a lion a home to himself,but not if hes just going to sit in the corner like a kid in timeout

Thanks
note:if this is a hijack let me know,just thought any input would help me and speg

Granted, I haven't had him for more than a day, but this thing does some movin around. I'm sure there is times when they hide (like now with the lights off), but yesterday he was out hoppin from rock to rock and doing his little pause/wiggle whenever he thought something was floating by and edible. Tons of personality in these fish--much like clowns--but not at all like a clown.