Extra aggressive Lionfish

[ratzman]

My lionfish has killed 2 of my angler fish and 1 damsel in the past month. Anyone else ever have a problem like this? He is only about 5 inches long. My wife watched him follow one of the anglers, then tag it. I love the anglers, but at $75 a pop, I am tired of losing them. It's my wife's tank and the lionfish is hers, so getting rid of him isn't going to happen.

 

[snakeman50]

that sucks man

 

[ssg_mm]

Tough loss!
Opposite for me though less expensive.
My lion vs. her bi-color blenny and a few fire and cleaner shrimp
MATCH...GAME...SET!!!

 

[liontamer]

Well, the thing is hungry...fish fit in mouth....fish will eat fish. Thats kinda their nature...
Its hard to find tankmates for lions but the rule of thumb is...buy sumthing that wont fit in its mouth. Do that and yer fine. Also, u gotta find fish taht wont hurt the lion either. Now, anglers are slow moving, easy to gulp down...damsels are natural food. I would go with tangs, wrasses, other lions, eels, some triggers, butterfly fish and angels. Anything else, it probably wont work out.
Also, anglers arent really a community tank species, they are more of a species only creature. Cuz they are kind of like lions as well: they eat wat fits in the mouth, or are eaten...except u seldom keep afish in the normal home aquairum that can chow down a lion. Anyway...hope that helped

 

[fmarini]

I'm lost here, your lion searched out the fish and killed/mamed them or ate them?
No offense but putting anything into a lions tank which can fit into its mouth is asking the lionfish to eat it. Irregardless what it cost
If you get a tankmate for a lion its has to be at least the size of the lionfish. And if you find an angler the size of your lionfish it will eat the lionfish --its nature

 

[cubfan]

Lionfishes' mouth can open really wide. I didn't believe it until I watched my 6 inch lion swallow a 3 inch silverside sideways!!! YIKES! Obviously, anglers aren't working for you. Consider something short and wide, like a big angel or harlequin tusk. I simply have two Volitans in my 150 and it's a blast taking care of just the 2 fish. Good luck!

 

[ophiura]

Yup, the lion's not aggressive, he's normal
That is what they do, except most people don't love them enough to feed them $75 fish If your LFS knew you had a lion, and still sold you these fish, I would find a new LFS immediately. But now that you have the lion, you need to research what fish you can keep...seems like you are mixing inappropriate tank mates together.

 

[fishy411]

yeah in a 125 pretty much anything is possible as far as tankmates. I would stay away from puffers and all triggers except Nigers, Pinktails, and bluethroats

 

[ratzman]

He didn't eat them, just gave them a shot of the ole venom.

 

[ophiura]

How did it do that? They are not aggressive fish, their venom is used defensively and is only in the larger spines dorsally - and also perhaps the pectorals (but definitely the primary dorsal spines).
If they were injected with a "shot" it was because they were going after the lion, IMO. And I really would see this as a defense against larger fish that might eat a lion as opposed to smaller fish...if you have ever "threatened" a lionfish - such as cleaning the tank - it will assume a defensive head down spines out posture which is why people tend to bump their hand into them when they get stung more than anything else.