Lionfish Question

kitten

kitten

New Member
Hi all,
My fiance and myself have a Lionfish question. We are looking at the dwarf lionfish and were wondering if the 1-2 inch size desc. was accurate for full grown fish or just juvies. If anyone could let us know we would appreciate at. Yeah I've seen it's difficult to feed em but i seem to have pretty good luck at work so hopefully home won't be too different. Thanks a lot!
Stephanie and Jonathan ^_^
 
jon321

jon321

Member
No, the 1-2" would be the size you receive the lionfish at. This would be a juvi. They could grow to the full dwarf size of about 10", but I rarely see them more then 4-5" in an aquarium setting.
And yes, tiny lions below 2" generally have a low survival record. But its certainly not impossible. Ive found a long acclimation of 5+ hour drip and small, live ghost shrimp and baby guppies a must for small lions. They are a little harder to get feeding off the getgo. So make sure you have, or have access to someone whose breeding gupplies, mollies, etc that you can get a few babies from. Id also recommend putting the lion in a small tank, mabe 10 gallons until its feeding well. A tiny lion is very shy and literally gets lost in the rockwork in a large tank.
I actually got a 1" zebra dwarf about 3 months ago, and a 0.75" radiata lionfish about a week ago. So all this has been tested by me recently.
Jon
 
my way

my way

Active Member
Sorry but I have to hijack your thread for a second. Jon321 Do you have any pics, I would love to see the Radiata.
 
jon321

jon321

Member



Theres a few. Hes still mostly active after lights out, but is getting better. The pictures are taken from my 20g "reef" tank. The lion has since been moved to a 10g holding tank to make feeding easier until its a little more aggressive and bigger. Plan to keep it in the 20g reef until its about 3" then move it to a 55g tank.
Jon
 
jon321

jon321

Member
Oh and about the freshwater feeders, I only ment to use them to INITIATE feeding. ALL lionfish should be trained onto frozen foods ASAP, but a week or 2 of freshwater feeders wont do much damage.
Jon
 
drea

drea

Active Member
i want to suprise my gf w/ that dwarf yellow type looking one.. will it eat my yellow and green clown gobies? and are they reef safe?
and if they are eating, all i have to do is drop food in right? i don't want to like hand feeed him or whatever
thanx guys
 
my way

my way

Active Member
Any Lion fish will eventually grow to a size where it will find your Gobies a tasty snack.
 
drea

drea

Active Member

o well, i guess that will be for the big aggressive.. i want this tank to be peaceful w/ some lil guys n tangs :happyfish
 
crox

crox

Active Member
Jon 123
I love your radiata. I wanted one but they were out of stock when I got mine. I had to settle for an antennata.
 
jon321

jon321

Member
I have an antennata also. It is REALLY shy. It took a good couple of months and alot of phone calls to get this radiata. Most places said they get about 1-2 in a year. Dont know if its any different in the USA though.
Jon
 
jon321

jon321

Member
Heres a much clearer pic of the radiata. Its in a 10g holding tank with an ugly incandecent bulb now, but this pic really showes the radiata pattern.

Jon
 
drea

drea

Active Member
hey, i can;t find where i just asked someone about their yellow colored looking lion fish, its used for their avator....... anyway...
so is the fishy reef safe?
 
jon321

jon321

Member
That yellow lionfish is a rare color morph of the common fuzzy dwarf. As far as I know they can go for as much as a couple $100 a piece. And yes, all lionfish are reef safe. None will harm corals, sponges, tubeworms, etc, BUT they WILL eat ANY crabs, shrimp, small fish and produce alot of waste. So obvioulsy if your keeping a lionfish in a reef you cant have any crabs, shrimp, or small fish. And it would be recommended to either understock or do waterchanges more often to offset the inevitable nitrate spikes after feeding.
Jon
 
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