9 years in the hobby--First aggressive fish.

speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by saxman
http:///forum/post/3286463
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.
Thanks!
Every thing I read says it's like a bee sting. I'd just rather know what it's like because it is a frag tank and my hands will be in there.. I don't want to be freaking out later when I could be freaking out now :p
Also, I don't know if I missed it, but I was wondering if trying to pair them is a good idea or will be a mistake now that I've already placed one in? What's the thoughts if I were to go that route?
 
ibanez

ibanez

Member
The sting is not as much the problem as the infection that can set in or if the stinger breaks off and lodges in your hand. If you get stung you should get an x-ray to make sure there are no fragments of stinger in your flesh. I wouldn't do it, and I doubt you will ever have problems if your cautious.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
I guess I'll try not to get stung then. I don't feel like taking off work to get xrays.
I got home today and couldn't find the cute lil cupcake...decided I'd try to feed and see if he'd pop up... sure enough he came out and hunted down each lil mysis and then ducked back into his cave.
ps...does anyone else like doing commentary when they eat?? lol

 
ibanez

ibanez

Member
My fuzzy insists upon chasing down his food, I feed him shrimp or silversides on a feeding stick since my hawkfish are such aggressive eaters and he wrangles it back and forth across the front of the tank until he is satisfied and then he eats.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
It's not like a bee sting.
You should be able to add a female at a later date..... should..... We put a female in with our established male and he chased the heck out of her. We are now going to move him to another tank, let her establish herself, and then put him back. It's a risk, so you have to have a Plan B if what happened to me, happens to you.
Make sure you know the difference between a male and female. And don't get a second one that is overly small. Besides the eatin' factor, sometimes the little ones are hard to s.ex. You don't want to end up with a male on accident.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
It's small isn't it? Male.
Females, for whatever reason, are hard to come by. A good 80% of what I see, if not more, are males.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3286604
It's not like a bee sting.
You should be able to add a female at a later date..... should..... We put a female in with our established male and he chased the heck out of her. We are now going to move him to another tank, let her establish herself, and then put him back. It's a risk, so you have to have a Plan B if what happened to me, happens to you.
Make sure you know the difference between a male and female. And don't get a second one that is overly small. Besides the eatin' factor, sometimes the little ones are hard to s.ex. You don't want to end up with a male on accident.
I'll probably stay away from another dwarf then since my only possible plan B would be returning it to the fish store..and we know that wouldn't be a good idea.
I don't know the difference in a male or female, but I'll do some searching and find out..I'd like to know the difference even if I don't get another...I'm pretty interested in the lil dudes.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I really need to get my pictures together that compare the two.
Female:
  • Pectoral fins does not reach the caruncle.
  • 4-6 stripes on pectoral fins.
  • Small head when compared to the male.
    Male:pectoral fins drape down past the caruncle.
    6 or more stripes.
    Large head when compared to the female.
The caruncle is the narrow area where the tail joins the body... look up caruncle for a nice diagram.
A young specimen is harder to s.ex.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
"Adult male Fuzzy dwarf lionfish are readily identified by having a larger head, longer pectoral fins, and have between 6 to 10 bands (or stripes) on their pectoral fins. Female Fuzzy dwarf lionfish have only 4 to 6 stripes. In the wild, Dwarf fuzzy lions live singly or in groups of three to 10 individuals, but in a large home aquarium (100 gallons or greater) it is possible to keep a large dominant male and several females. In smaller tanks only one specimen is recommended as Dwarf fuzzy lions will harass conspecifics within a size-limited tank habitat.
"
 
speg

speg

Active Member
If this is the case then mine looks female and IbanEz looks male...am I wrong? Mine may be too young to really get a positive id?
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Keep an eye on the faint lines between the larger stripes... I suspect they will turn into full fledge lines as he gains size.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I feed the adults Mon, Wed and Friday. But while he is growing, feed every other so you don't have that 2 day stretch. I give little vitamin packed frozen ghost shrimp on some of the off days when they look empty (and too cute).
 
speg

speg

Active Member
I fed him again today... let me first say that I've no experience with this type of fish so its every moment is fascinating to me...
I fed chopped silversides... let the head float in the tank and he came out from his hiding spot and swam up to it..as he got to it the head came to a stop and so did he...wouldn't touch it but just sat and waited...finally the water moved it slightly and Alejandro (unofficial name for him) sucked it up...
Another piece of the silverside laid on a rock and little Alejandro swam up to it and stopped right next to it and waited for it to move...but it was stuck and wouldn't budge...10 or so seconds passed...finally Alejandro NUDGED it with its mouth!...nothing....nudged it again and the piece started floating around and it got gobbled...
So fun to watch.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Convert to stick feeding at some point if you want to ever keep other scorps/lions.
They have great personalities. Make sure he can't jump out.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3287075
Convert to stick feeding at some point if you want to ever keep other scorps/lions.
They have great personalities. Make sure he can't jump out.
jump eh? Wasn't aware of that...he could totally jump out.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I've had 3 fuzzies go carpet surfing. They pick up a lot of dog hair flopping around down there! We just found one on back of the tank.... that's the second one we've lost that way. The third jumped 3 times but was recovered. You think I'd learn, heh? I actually have no idea how the last one got out. The top is covered with egg crate inside of a hood. He must have hit it hard enough to raise it up and it fell back down as he vacated. Weird.
 
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