Lionfish? :help:

wildman3170

wildman3170

Member
Will someone please help with some compatibility issues? We have a 4-5" Lion. Beautiful fish but we are wanting to aquire a couple more fish and was wondering what would be good to go with him? We have had our tank about 3 years and the lion for about 2 years. All we have in our 55 gal. tank is the Lion and a pencil urchin. What about a grouper? Or a scorpion fish? Some colorful and pretty for the kids to look at! Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Bill
 
fishy411

fishy411

Member
i am seeing a sailfin scorpionfish in there! great fish.
I cant believe no one has asked this but what kind of lionfish is it> if its a volitan return it whiole its small because they probly wont take it back when its huge.
 
wildman3170

wildman3170

Member
It's a Volitan Lionfish, and I can not take it back, my wife would kill me. I think we are going to try to get our 75 gallon tank going, but we have to convert to salt first. Then we'll have to salt tanks. Thanks, everyone for the help! Just wish more people would advise!
Bill
 
harlequin

harlequin

Member
Thats a dwarf lion of some kind, from the back my guess would be fuzzy dwarf. Your wife might not like the idea of having a 15 inch long fish in even a 75 gallon a few months down the road. Get at least a 100 gallon if you want a volitan, personally I would go bigger. In addition yoiu will be hard pressed to find a fish for a 55 or 75 gallon tank that a full grown volitan(provided stress from the small tank doesnt kill him) wont eat. They will eat even other scorpionfish (incuding other lions)if they can get away with it. I recommend a smaller pterois species such as an antennatta or radiata lion. They have the same personality and habits of vols, but brighter coloration that does not fade with age like a volitans....and smaller size means more options for tankmates.
 
harlequin

harlequin

Member
It would get along because the body shape is one of those thats hard to swallow. Problem comes in again with tank size and the small scorpion is toast once the lion is big enough to eat it. The volitans will hit full size (15" long) within 18 months.
 
wildman3170

wildman3170

Member
We have had our lion for about 2 years now and he's only grown about 2-3 inches? I don't understand, I thought the fish will only grow as big as their surroundings? That's what I have been told anyways, just curious!
 
harlequin

harlequin

Member
Is that a picture of the lion you have in that pic that was posted, if so thats not a volitans and you can ignore everything i have said above as we enter a whole new ballgame lol. Saltwater fish do not grow to there surroundings like freshwater fish supposedly do. Although as my ichtheology professor will tell anyone "everything I tell you is untrue, because there are exceptions to everything." I had a pair of filefish whom I kept in a small tank and they grew slowly in the 10gallon tank I had them in , but when I stuck them in a 65 they grew fast. Most fish do not do this however and will keep growing to their maximum size or die from stress from being in a small tank. So was that fuzzy dwarf pic the lion in your tank?
 
wildman3170

wildman3170

Member
No, I don't have a picture of our lion, as soon as our digital camera arrives I'll take one and post it! That picture that I posted I found by typing in scorpion fish in google images, but I didn't think it was a scorpion that is why I was really asking! Our lion settles on the rocks and watches TV. He eats good, or I think good, we feed him a mixture of frozen shrimp sometimes or shrimp pellets, he likes both and seems to be doing great. He's a great fish he will watch your finger and follow it, he know my wife and I really well, but we are still cautious around him because of his fins on the top, I would hate to get poked by one! I'll post a picture when I get the camera in, sorry to mislead you! I think I would like a scorpion fish but am not sure?
 
harlequin

harlequin

Member
Something else. Thats an antenatta lion. A much better lion in my opinion. Keeps its colors when fully grown and doesnt get near as big. Anything that will fit in its mouth as usual will be food. I had a full grown one for awhile in my 55 with a full grown percula clown and orange spotted goby with no problems. Fast fish with places to hide and escape are good too. I had a 6 line in there as well but after 3 days of trying the lion gave up on eating him, it reminded me of nothing so much as a roadrunner and wilycoyote cartoon. The wrasse would go into a hole and the lion would follow trying to ambush it when it came out but then the wrasse would come out somewhere else completely throwing the lion off. Not saying they all would do this but mine did.
 
fishy411

fishy411

Member
you could keep a maroon clown in there. The fish u posted is a fuzzy dwarf lion im pretty sure. Here is a Leaf fish. a type of scorpionfish. most can pretty much change colors at will. Do a search on this site and u will find lots of good info and a lot of good pics too. Just dont get a stonefish. If u get stung by one of those u will have a big problem
 
harlequin

harlequin

Member
The lion he posted a picture 4 posts up is a Spotfin(antennatta) Lion. Almost 99% sure.
Just dont get a stonefish. If u get stung by one of those u will have a big problem- LOL yeah, big problem as in if you dont stick the affected part in boiling water or boiling tea within a minute or so of being zapped then you will only have about 15 minutes or so to live.
Provided the maroon clown is initially big enough to avoid being eaten I dont see any problems since your lion sounds full grown.
 
wildman3170

wildman3170

Member
Well to all of you thanks, how big can this guy really get??? We use to have, key word use to have other fish! They just disappeared and we didn't know what happened until a while back and we found out the lionfish likes to eat things! We lost a Two clowns, a coral banded shrimp and some crabs! As far as I could tell our water was good, we ran tests and everything appeared normal. We thought they fell out for a while and the cat ate them but we are not so sure of that now we have read more about the lion! He's an awesome fish gentle when you clean the tank but we are still nervous because of his back fins being poisonous! Thanks for all the suggestions, and if you alll could tell me how big he can get that would be great! And anyother fish suggestions just send them my way!
Wildman
 
wildman3170

wildman3170

Member
I have another question, what does everyone else feed their lions, and how often. We have been feeding shrimp pellets and frozen brine! Is that sufficient? We give him a couple of little pellets daily and then the frozen brine once every other week or so? Is that right, he seems to be doing good but I want him to do excellent! Just curious!
Wildman
 
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