Lionfish Triggers Puffers Tangs

jamirlima

jamirlima

Member
Hi I have a 125 gallon tank cycled for putting aggressive fish. I really like lionfish and all the other mentioned on my title. Someone said triggers can nip the lion fins. Another said lion will eat the other fish if they are too small. Now I am confused what to do.
Can I put a medium size lion like around 6-8 inches and have triggers, puffers, tangs that are like 3-5 inches?
Thanks
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
With that sized tank, you probably don't have the room from lions, triggers, puffers and tangs. Maybe a tang, a mellower trigger like a blue jaw and a dogface. Or a couple lions and a tang. But not all of the above. I did see a picture of a lion who had been torn up by a niger trigger on this site the other day, but I don't remember whose thread it was in.
 
jamirlima

jamirlima

Member
Ok so you all are saying the triggers are more aggressive than lionfish? Gosh that petstore told me the lion would eat the triggers if they were small.
 
S

saltman23

Guest
Lionfish are docile fish. BUT they will eat ANYTHING that can fit in their mouth.
Triggers are aggresive and very territorial.They will bite at anything they dont approve of.
IMO it's one or the other. I have seen tanks with lions and triggers together, but triggers most likey will eventually "snap" and start going crazy.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Yeah you are talking two different behavioral traits. A trigger is mean, and will fight with fish. A lion on the other hand is more of an oportunistic feeder. And not agressive in the normal sense of the word.
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
Triggers and Lions do not mix well. The triggers can and will nip the fins of a lion. I had a 2.5 inch humu humu trigger tear apart a 9 inch volitan lion before I realized that they shouldnt be kept together.
 
lightfrommoon

lightfrommoon

New Member
On the other hand, I enjoy my porcupine puffer, Mack. He has so much personality, and he's compatible with others, although i'm still learning who. The store told me that he can be with smaller fish too, as long as they are fast. He doesnt bother the damsels or the hawkfish, and i think he was in a tank with a lion at the store.
 
sk8shorty01

sk8shorty01

Active Member
puffers are known lion fish fin nippers, along with the triggers. I would think a blue throat and a Volitan would be ok together, and then maybe add a dogface or a smaller tang (yellow). I would not do all four though, as the tank most likely would not be able to handle 4 big fish.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
So this question comes from a person with no aggressive marine fish knowledge at all so please be gentle. I though lionfish were venomous and this was to keep predators at bay, how can another fish bite it?
 
sk8shorty01

sk8shorty01

Active Member
Lionfish can sting and do pack quite a punch, but this sting has to come from the spines coming off of the lions back. In order to sting a predator (or a pest fish in this case) they have to "hit" them with those spines. This is not easy for a Lion to do when it is being messed with by something as fast as a trigger. A puffer is a little bit more sluggish so it would probably be able to get it if the puffer wasn't paying close enough attention, but they come and take a bite from one of the fins when the lion is preoccupied most of the time. Hope this makes sense.
 
jamirlima

jamirlima

Member
Well I see a trigger huma huma and niger trigger with lion at the pet store and they seem like they are doing fine together. Thanks for all your suggestions and ideas. I am still deciding. Definitely lion will get in, maybe with dogface and a tang.
Can butterfly go in there too?
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
Originally Posted by jamirlima
http:///forum/post/2544010
Well I see a trigger huma huma and niger trigger with lion at the pet store and they seem like they are doing fine together.
Just a quick word of advice, dont go by what you see at the LFS. The fish in their tanks are rarely there long enough for aggression problems to arise and you also dont know that the trigger didnt already kill another lion at the store.
 
jamirlima

jamirlima

Member
Lion and puffers? Do they eat macro algae in case i put them in a marine planted tank. I want to do a marine planted tank with some lions and puffers.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by jamirlima
http:///forum/post/2544792
Lion and puffers? Do they eat macro algae in case i put them in a marine planted tank. I want to do a marine planted tank with some lions and puffers.
The puffer might tear some stuff up.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2543375
So this question comes from a person with no aggressive marine fish knowledge at all so please be gentle. I though lionfish were venomous and this was to keep predators at bay, how can another fish bite it?
The spines are to ward off being eaten by larger predators in the ocean.
They do little to protect it from fast, aggressive fish.
Lionfish are much like Groupers. They are not typically an "aggressive" fish. They just sit around and very peacefully swallow anything they can get in their mouths
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by jamirlima
http:///forum/post/2544792
Lion and puffers? Do they eat macro algae in case i put them in a marine planted tank. I want to do a marine planted tank with some lions and puffers.
Neither would bother plants.
If you have a lot of plants in a display tank be sure to watch your pH and oxygen at night. Plants absorb oxygen when they are not undergoing photosynthesis. They can suck the O2 out of a tank that is poorly circulated.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by stdreb27
http:///forum/post/2544944
I've personally had my puffer tear up some planted macro algea in the first night in the tank.

Well, there you go... I would never have suspected that. So I guess it very well might not work.
 
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