lion vs blue hippo

donnal

donnal

Member
help my blue hippo will not leave my lion alone. when we first got the lion the hippo started bothering him so we turned off our light for about 30 hours and he still wont leave him alone i love the lion and the blue hippo. will the lion sting the blue hippo and if he does will i kill him i know lions are venimus?
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
If the blue hippo in simply laying against/next/on the lion, then you shouldn't have any problems. Mine does the same thing to my black volitans lion. The only thing I can think of to explain this behavior is that the tang is looking for something to pick parasites off it, and due to the vibrant colors of the lionfish, it may mistake the lion for a cleaner. When I put a CBS in the tank with them, the tang has since ignored the lion and now lets the CBS clean him.
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
Is the tang actually trying to nip the lion or slap it with it's caudle fin spike? If so, the tang may be showing true signs of aggression and it may kill the lion. If it comes down to a real aggressive battle, the tang will most likely win, and the lion will most likely not survive.
 
donnal

donnal

Member
no he's not slapping it he's pushing i would say its almonst like he's snuggling. this is so hard to explain
 
korgull

korgull

Member
i didnt know you could mix a lion with a tang. could i put a dwarf lion in my tank with the fish i have listed below or no?
 
donnal

donnal

Member
your other fish must be to big to fit in the lions mouth they will eat smaller fish my tang is about 4 to 5 inches a lion can open his mouth larger then you think i also thought you had to have odd number of tangs do your fight. if they do i would love to get an orange sholder
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
Yes, this is what I explained in my previous post. Neither of the fish should be harmed by this, as long as the lion is not retaliating in an aggressive manner, ie. biting or lunging in an attempt to sting with the dorsal fins. Have you noticed any whitespot on the tang? If so, you may consider either treating the tang, or getting a cleaner species of some kind, such as a cleaner shrimp, coral banded shrimp, neon goby, or cleaner wrasse, although the cleaner wrasses do not fare well in the aquariums, and often starve to death as their mouths are too small to accept typical fish foods.
 
donnal

donnal

Member
i dont thing the lion is trying to sting im just afraid the tang will make him sting him i have not notice any white spots but i will go take a good look
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
Oh, hey, silly me! You already have a CBS! I'm a dork. lol Yes, lions and tangs are fine together. Lions won't always eat any fish it can fit in it's mouth, although it is a possibility. Most lions are picky eaters and lazy hunters, preferring the prey to come close enough for the lion to make a short dash and lunge for the food, as opposed to acctually chasing it. Faster, more frightenable fish are less likely to be eaten. The tang could just be lonely, and wants someone to hold it. ;)
 
donnal

donnal

Member
so would you sugest i get another tang if so i would love a orange sholder tang my tank is 55 gallon right we are looking for a 150 to 300 reef
 
korgull

korgull

Member
Shadow,
I think you have me mixed up with donnal, the original poster of this thread. but thats ok, you guys are helping me out together :)
i always thought that lionfish were very aggressive, so i guess i could get a lionfish as long as it isnt too big, which is why i was interested in a dwarf one. my tang is only an inch long, and my dottyback is maybe 2 inches
 
donnal

donnal

Member
korgull are you allergic to bees this is what my husband and i have been told by some of the lfs is that if your are it can be very dangerus if not deadly if you get stong by your lion depends on how allergic to bees you are. for us i dont have as bad of a reaction to bee stings as my husband does he is very very allergic to bees so we disided to bye a larger net when we got our lion by the way we got a red so i could net him when we have to do tank main. so he wont get stung. i tease him and tell him im going to raise the amount of life ins. we have on him it is a joke i have only been told the can be deadly if you have a real bad reaction to there venum dont know how true it is you may wont to get some advise from this sight
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
Lions are one of those species that are on the aggressive list because they eat live feeders, not because they run around attacking everyone. It is true that lionfish venom is almost identical to bee venom, therefor if you are allergic to bees and you get stung by a lionfish, you are in very real trouble. Moral:don't get stung by lion. ;) Donnal, I would not suggest getting another tang, as tangs are very aggressive to other tangs, especially if they are the same species. Blue hippos are one of the least aggressive tangs, but being that yours is already established in the tank, it will declare dominance over any new additions, and if you put another tang in, the hippo may kill it. To make it easier for tangs to get along, you must have a large tank and put them all in the tank together, at the same time.
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
As I had posted before, but was confused as to who I was posting to. rofl If you get a cleaner to pick the parasites off the tang, he will likely leave the lion alone. Cleaner shrimps, coral banded shrimps, neon gobies, and cleaner wrasses are all good parasite eaters, although I would tend to discourage the cleaner wrasse as they often starve in aquariums, since htey can't eat typical fish foods.
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
I meant to suggest this earlier, but got sidetracked by my girlfriend and forgot.. lol You already stated that you were wanting to upgrade to a larger tank, which is a good idea considering the minimum tank size for an adult blue hippo tang is 100 gallons. When you get the larger tank and move your fish into it, you could get another less-aggressive tang such as the orange-shoulder. As long as you put them in the new tank at the same time, they will likely be fine. Especially since hippos and orange-shoulders are both more peaceful tangs than some.
 
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