Lion fish in reef tank

aidos

aidos

Member
i dont know if this is a question for reef or aggressive tank people so i'll post it on both.
i want to know the compatiblity of these fish in a reef tank
1x FuManCh Lion fish
1x Blue Hippo Tang
2-3x Lyretail Anthias
1x Cleaner Common Wrasse
1x Yellow Longnose Butterfly or copperband butterfly
1x Oriole Angel
i know that these fish will have to be as big or bigger than the lion when i buy them, aside from that will they get along fine??
is there enough room for these in a 64 gallon tank??
will the lion eat CBS, or pepermint shrimp?? im guessing they will so what type of inverts can you have in the tank with a lion?? what would happen to my clean up crew??
in the case of not being able to have shrimp because of the lion would i be able to get a Snow Flake Eel aswell, considering there is enough room??
any help is greatly appreciated
 
chandler04

chandler04

Active Member
Chill, Fu Manchu lions are small and fairly docile. There is a 50/50 chance that it might eat inverts, but I doubt it myself. No butterflys allowed in Reef, NONONO. LOL, bad idea. Eel will eat inverts. Blue tang is good I believe, Ive seen plenty of people with reef tanks and blue tangs. Anthias are great too, but for a group, you need at least a 100 gallon I have heard. So, only one anthias. I dont know about the angel though. Someone else could answer that for ya. Anyway, good luck:yes:
 
aidos

aidos

Member
wat are some other fish that are reef safe and large enough to not get eaten but a fu manchu lion, remerbering i have a 64 gallon??
 
wakeskater

wakeskater

Member
i would keep an eye on those little fish you have swimming around and see if any of them do any disappearing acts.
 
reefer44

reefer44

Member
you can put a copper or longnose in a reef tank chandler.......................but aidos may i suggest something a bit easier to take care of..this is your first tank right...i would go with maybe a large clown, yellow tang, and the lion fish....those will be easy to take care of and will be a good amount of fish for your tank......just some suggestions
Brad
 
slowest is fastest

slowest is fastest

Member
I know this post is from a few days ago but i thought I would share.
Currently in my 120 gal reef (softies) I have a rapidly growing black volitan lionfish, 2 purple queen anthias, 1 bartlett anthias, and a sixline wrasse. I had a yellow headed sleeper goby but the lionfish got tired of the goby eating out of his mouth and well....
Anyway, due almost entirely to the feeding requirements of the anthias (namely 2-5 times per day) the amount of phosphates that end up in the water is enormous by good(my) reef keeping standards. Between the excess nutrients from the pig of a lion I have (mine eats frozen brine cubes) and the phosphates from all the feedings, controlling the algae is a full time job.
Before you decide to put those fish together make sure your husbandry routine is second nature and you have the extra time it will take or you may end up with a green tank. It is not impossible just a lot of extra work IME/O
FWIW
SiF
 
aidos

aidos

Member
what sort of clean up crew is then gonna be the most effecient to control the algae if it get to such a point.
just as many crabs, snails as possible and maybe a starfish??
 
msd2

msd2

Active Member

Originally posted by Aidos
what sort of clean up crew is then gonna be the most effecient to control the algae if it get to such a point.
just as many crabs, snails as possible and maybe a starfish??
I have a cleaner worm, for lack of the correct term, they are usually pink and black and do nothing but eat algae, I cant imagine anthing bothering it. I also have 4 large snails and 8 or so smaller ones for cleanup. They all do a pretty good job at keeping it down.
Side note you may want to rethink the blue hippo. From everything I have been told and read these fish really really really need large tanks (over 100gal and 4 feet in length) to be content. I have a purple and he seems content, also you may want to think of a yellow, I believe but not 100 percent sure they are more tolerant of tanks under 100 gal. I suggest this because from my own experience is the hippo will do okay for a short while, get stressed cause an ick outbreak then finally perish.
Good luck :D
 
aidos

aidos

Member
yeah cheers that sounds good, think i will get a starfish aswell.
i'm thinking of getting a yellow tang but they sell for around $200 down here in australia, so i might even skip a tang altogether, but i have been told that they are also great algae eaters
cheers
 
krishj39

krishj39

Active Member
Aidos, do not buy a common cleaner wrasse. These do not eat anything but parasites they pick off of fish. Therefore, it is impossible to keep them because they starve to death. Look into a 6-line wrasse, they are a much better option.
The yellow tang is a good algae eater, mine has even been eating maiden's hair algae which is supposed to have a terrible taste or be toxic or both.
msd2, your description of your cleaner worm sounds like a sea cucumber, but they don't eat algae, they eat mostly detrius.
 
reefrobber

reefrobber

Member
would it be ok if i put a dwarf lionfish not a fuzzy dwarf in a 40gallon reef with a 6 line cleaner wrasse potter's angel mandarin flame hawk and 2 maroon clowns? :confused: thanks
 
harlequin

harlequin

Member
Two many many fish. I wouldnt put that many in my 65. Plus NO CLeaner Wrasse. They Die. They deprive the reef of a vital resource. DO NOT GET ONE! A 6 line wrasse, potters and dwarf lion might be ok, a 6 line, potters and the two clowns might be ok but unless you have a crapload of LR (60+ pounds) do not get the mandarin or if you do you wont have room in there for much else. Remember this is not freshwater, you cant add alot of fish without messing things up. Of the fish you listed the clowns both get pretty big, the lion gets big and the angel is medium sized, you cant have that many fish of that size in that smal of a tank. Sorry
 
harlequin

harlequin

Member
that would be pushing it but much better than the original list. Why a Potter's Angel? They have a bad track record for simply dieing for no reason i have noticed in conversation with LFS and other people who have had them. Now that I think about it a prominent online importer said that to me too when I inquired about them(yes an LFS which tells the truth about fish, go figure) Just for some reason a month or two down the road they just wither away and die even though they seem to be eating fine. This doesnt happen to every case but does occur to enough fish to keep me from getting one. Flames and CBs are a little tougher I think or one of the many other dwarf angels.
And remember if this is a reef tank you are doing, the fewer fish the better, thats the big difference between a reef tank and a FOWLR tank.
 
aidos

aidos

Member
well after all of ur helpfull opinions and information i have decided to rest on this list of fish
1x Zebra Lionfish
3x Scalefin Anthias
1x either a Hawaiian Flame or Laboutei Fairy
or Tricolor Fairy Wrasse
1x Tiger Watchman or Sleeper Gold Head Goby.
aside from the Hawaiian Flame wrasse and the Tiger Watchman goby these are all Australain fish. thought that it would be cheeper for me to buy australian and that when the fish arrive they will be in better condition.
i may also add a yellow tang but i think it will be to crowded, maybe a small one then traded it in with LFS.
cheers for all the help
 
reefrobber

reefrobber

Member
nice choice:D i have had a potter's angel before, and it lasted about two months then it started to have popeye and i fed it normally the popeye went away then around it's fin it had a case of scale rot and died i wanted another try because i had all the right parameters AND IT DIED!!! or would it be ok if i got the lion the clown the flamehawk and after about a year i get a mandarin i will have about 40-50 lbs of live rock would that be ok? thanks
 
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