Shy lionfish

[persianlion]

Hello everyone!
I bought a lionfish about 3 weeks ago and he was the only "healthy" looking one out of the bunch at the fish store. when i took him home he swam upside down and in different styles. I was told he had a bladder infection or something (i can't remember the name) so the store gave me medicine to treat him in a bucket. i treated him for a week and put him in. He seems to be healthy he is eating live fish (i know i need to ween him) but he is always hiding, i never see him. i have a 150gallon tank with two triggers and 6 damsels.the triggers don't bother him when he is out for eating or if he is changing hidding spots. Is this normal do you think he is still sick how can i get him to get out and stay out.
thanx

 

[sistrmary]

It depends on the kind of lionfish that it is. large lions, like the Volitans and Russells will usually hang out within the water column. Smaller lions (most dwarves, the radiata and antennata) will usually stick to the rockwork. They like to hang out under ledges and behind rocks. It's just normal smaller lionfish behavior

 

[persianlion]

It is a small to medium Volitan lion. and what do you mean by the water colum.

 

[fmarini]

the water column is anywhere not in the rocks.
The large lionfishs, when they are adult size, fear no other fish, and therefore hangout in plain sight.
when they are small they fear being eaten and hide. Also as mention dwarf lions will also hide a bit.
what not helping your lion is the fact that you have some very busy fish (those triggers) and this might subdue the lion considerably.
Give your fish some time and allow it to adjust to his environment, it will start hanginout in plain sight

 

[persianlion]

Thanx for the advice!
do you think that my lionfish will do fine in a trigger tank. i plan on getting a few more (niger, emperor, clown) and maybe some other fish including an eel.(all the other is up in the air) i Keep all my fish well feed so they live as best they can together and i keep as much rock to provide each fish its own home.

 

[fmarini]

In general term triggers and lions usually don't mix.
triggers love showy fins and are known fin nippers, lionfish, especially P.Volitans have beautiful showy fins.
The aggression might not happen immediately, but one days you'll find your lion w/out fins.... then its too late.
Clowns, retic, undulate, huma picassos have all been known to do this.
If you must have triggers w/ lions consider the pkanktonic feeding triggers: pinktails, bluecheeks, sargassum, niger, etc they tend to play better.
frank

 

[reeferdude]

Well maybe next time you should research fish a little more before you go and buy them, if not you should just go buy a goldfish