Lionfish in reef

[jmb42]

Hey ,I had my take running for 9 months now.I am really intersted in lion fish and puffers.But puffers for sure wont work.What I have read for a long time now lionish are great fish,meaning hardy and can be hand tamed{with a stick of course,i know they are poisonus}I been doing greAt with corals and crabs.Snails are doing excellent.I ave babbies al over.Coraline is like crazy.The problem is i cant keep fish.All my fish are dead.The only thing I could find wrong was salinity was high.I rather corals than clownfish.I want to put a 3 inch lionfish in my 75 gal tank.When it gets too big i will get rid of it a course.Heres my question.How will it do with my crabs and i plan on getting a tang and wrasse?Will it eat my crabs?My lfs said it will do great in my tank but i ahve to fed it.i really want to do that.Keep it away from smallfish .Thats no prob.Give me input.

 

[dburr]

I think you need to find out why your fish are dying first! Do some water tests and post them.
Lion fish are slow movers, but they need some room to turn around. They might knock over corels and other stuff in your tank.
Why would you want to buy one, train it, and then take it back to the store when it gets too big?
IMO, don't do it.
But if you do maybe look into a dwarf that will fit in your 75gal better.
Post your results.

 

[panhead]

I agree, my favorite fish is a clown sweetlips, has been for years but my tanks arent big enough.
why get a fish that you know you cant keep.
I learned my lesson with a orbiculate batfish
I bought it the size of a quarter and it quickly
outgrew my 55 but only after I had it eating out
of my hands, he/she would actually let me pet its
nose. talk about heartbreaking.
I will never have another fish I cannot keep.

 

[stacy]

I agree that you need to determine the reason behind the death of your other fish before adding anything else. A lion can be kept in a reef. I have a volitan in my 80, and when he gets a little bigger I'll setup a new tank for him. He doesn't bother any of the other inhabitants, ie fish, snails, and crabs. The fish are to big for him to eat right now. They do require plenty of room to swim around and move. You could keep a dwarf without any problems in a tank that size.

 

[fshhub]

i hate to sound like abroken record, but you definitely need to find the cause of the other fish dying
you suspect salinity, what was or is your salinity??, i keep mine at about 1.025(or a little over)
hwo are your other water parameters?
also give us a bit more info on your set up, maybe we could help to solve the puzzle
]and what fish are you talking about?
how long did you have them?(hours days, or weeks)
did anyting happen or was anything noticable just before they died(like ick)?
if so, how long after this did you wait to add more fish?
after all that has been answered, i think you could keep almost any lion in a 75 gallon, if it were by itself, but you may definitely have a problem keeping shrimp and crabs alive, however he would be well fed too

 

[jmb42]

75 gal,ozone,4 110watt w/icecap,5olbs of LR.Salinty was at 28 now at 23,The fish would live a month then they would start breathing heavy,sometimes they would just disaper.Help me wit lionfish eating crabs or corals?

 

[fshhub]

do you mean your salinity was 28 and is now 23, fi so i would vote, if anything low(even at 28)
or did you mean specific gravity was 1.028 and is now 1.023, if so it was high but is now fine
if you do not know for sure, look at the test kit, if it is specific gravity, it will read 1.0--,
if not, the number will be a simple 2 digit number
and i did mention the diet, lions will eat crabs and shrimp, but i don't believe corals
which fish, and what were the other parametrs?
ph and alkalinity
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
also other than breathing heavy, did you notice anyting like spots or parasites on the fish, if so, oculd have been ick or something similar, and if you add fish to soon after loosing one to ick, it will find the new host(must wait one month minimum befroe adding any more)

 

[jmb42]

it was 1.028 down to1.023 my nitrates and so on were perfectlfs checked it.will a lionfish eat my crabs in a reef

 

[fshhub]

again, YES, if the crab is small enough for him to get into his mouth, he will eat tehm, they love crustaceans (don't we all)