Volitain lion tank mates

teds tank

teds tank

Member
i i'm thinking of a volitain lion for a 120g 48"24"25"
as for tankmates I would like another lion but
i think a russels would be to big
a radiata would be nice but it would probely have troble competing fo food
and I'm worried an Antenneta would be a little on the small side
a large scopion fish would be great but aren't to common in the trade it would never be avalable in my lfs
so no wrasses,triggers.large angles and puffers
this leaves tangs so a larger tang would be great i was thinking a sailfin
also I was looking at foxface and think it would also work
ty for all advise
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
You could have the porc puffer. A foxface would be fine. A sailfin would be fine also. All 4 together would be fine if you could handle the load, IMO.
Well actually, in my husband's opinion.... he kept them together for 10 years.
EDIT: He also had a snowflake eel.
EDIT #2: And a soldier fish.
EDIT #3: And a trigger!
Dang honey, nice bioload.
You know yourself how much time your gonna spend with water changes and filter cleaning.... choose your bioload accordingly.
 
nicetry

nicetry

Active Member
Be careful of not overloading this tank. It's 4 feet in length so not a lot of horizontal room for an active fish like a large tang. I'd nix the sailfin; too large.
Foxface might work. For an interesting colorful tank, the volitans, a snowflake eel and a pair of large domino damsels would be pretty. These damsels put some size on and are aggressive enough to stand up to a lion. I had a pair of volitans in my 120 long. Pretty fish but not very active most of the time.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Why would they have to be aggressive enough to stand up to a lion? Lion's aren't aggressive. Nor should their tankmates be.
 
G

gwhunter

Guest
It's too bad your not closer to me. I've got an 8" foxface you can have. And he's big enough for any aggressive tank mate.
Matt
 
teds tank

teds tank

Member
Be careful of not overloading this tank. It's 4 feet in length so not a lot of horizontal room for an active fish like a large tang. I'd nix the sailfin; too large.
Foxface might work. For an interesting colorful tank, the volitans, a snowflake eel and a pair of large domino damsels would be pretty. These damsels put some size on and are aggressive enough to stand up to a lion. I had a pair of volitans in my 120 long. Pretty fish but not very active most of the time.
how big do domino damsels get i've been avioding them because of aggression aggression only gets worse on slow moving fish but my aunt is looking to give away some so i could get them
this is also why i've avioded a sfe i like them and they would be a cool addition to the tank but again i'm worried about aggression i read they can get aggrisive during feeding
you had two volitian in a 120! how big were they? and how was aggresion?
EDIT: He also had a snowflake eel.
EDIT #2: And a soldier fish.
EDIT #3: And a trigger
what kind of trigger was it? i've always liked triggers but i like lions more so they've been out of the question
also whats a soldier fish? i've never heard of them
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Large lionfish are peaceful critters. Like zero aggression unless provoked. You can have multiple multiple lions if you had the room. We plan on a multi lionfish tank when we move early next year.
The trigger was a Picasso.
A soldier fish is those red squirrel looking fish.
I personally wouldn't do the damsel. They are mean and don't chill with age. There was a large one at the LFS the other day beating the snot out of everyone else in the lion display. We didn't even notice his ugly butt at first but noticed everyone gilling and hiding... then out he came. Ugly and mean.
When I was going over what my hubby had paired with the Lion, it wasn't a stocking suggestion for your tank in it's entirety, just suggestions of different ones that worked for him. Don't put all of that in a 120g.
Presently we are putting a couple of Rhinopias in with our volitan. One is with him now, the other is waiting until the bigger tank is cycled... and cycled well. They can look at each from across the room until that time... LOL.
 
salt210

salt210

Active Member
blue throat trigger, that what I had with my lion
yes damsels are evil. I had some in the tank with the lion and he just would not do his job and eat them
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
Id be be careful with the porky puffer. They get hige and love to nip at slow moving fish. It will eventually bite your lion.
 
teds tank

teds tank

Member
trigger was a Picasso
intresting aren't these highly agresive i thought the trigger would be a blue throat or maby a peaceful niger trigger but i don't plan on having a trigger in the tank i was just curious.
Large lionfish are peaceful critters
i must i've gotten large lions and small lions behavior confused
Presently we are putting a couple of Rhinopias in with our volitan
those are really cool fish! i would love to have one how much did you pay for it?(not trying to rude) but the cheapest one i could find was a purple Rhinopias for $950 and it was out of stock
so if i were to have a russels and a volitain would i need a biger tank?
i would have to have a super filteration
also if i could have both i wouldn't add any other fish
also i know live rock is good and it is recomended to have 1lb per gallon but would a lion apperecate the more swimming space i would need rocks for the lion to perch but should i get less rock?
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Did you happen to see my volitan tank I'm putting up? We left the rock open as much as we could. Our guy will definitely appreciate the space. Our tank is also 24" deep and 46" wide, which is great for these guys. And If I had those extra 5" on top that you have.... I would have a Russel's in a nano second. The volitan doesn't move around to much anymore.... not like when he was young. It's real slow pace, broken up by mucho begging.
I would also put a nice bottom dwelling scorp in there with the 2 mid column fish. There are some options that show up every now and then. But they usually show up as juvie sizes and need to be "grown up".
The Rhinopias were pricey, but they were the fish we dreamed about. There just comes a point in the hobby were ya have to go after the things you dream about. My husband has been around cubes of water for 52 years... he deserved to have his Rhinopias.
 
teds tank

teds tank

Member
Do you have a skimmer?
Is your present Lion eating frozen
no i do not have a lion this is all just forethought you are ment to do resarch the fish you want so i've done my resarch i've looked at countles articles i've, seen sites say a 50 gallon is a good size for a volitain
, so with all of this information i determined a 48"24"25" tank is the best(but of corse bigger is always better) i was looking at the asm-g2 skimmer for the tank not sure on filter though. i will probaly post a diary when i get the tank
the only problem i had is finding a article on proper tankmates i of course would get no big angles or triggers ect but it seemed very vage on were the size line was
of course with forethought i can get the best possible tank by going on forms like these and get great opinons with people with experence
much better than a lfs opinon
The Rhinopias were pricey, but they were the fish we dreamed about. There just comes a point in the hobby were ya have to go after the things you dream about. My husband has been around cubes of water for 52 years... he deserved to have his Rhinopias
good for him. My grampa use to have a brackish tank that he cared deeply about. he would know absolutly everything about his fish and would find the coolest fish or lobster for his tank.....but then it crashed with the death of there dog=( but now he is thinking of starting salt depending on how well my 30g goes but when i started looking at lights and corals for my tank i couldn't help but look at fish first its i would like a flame angle then a dwarf lion and now "if i'm going to get a lionfish why not a volitain?"
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Originally Posted by Teds tank
http:///forum/post/3138537
no i do not have a lion this is all just forethought you are ment to do resarch the fish you want so i've done my resarch i've looked at countles articles i've, seen sites say a 50 gallon is a good size for a volitain:flame
Ah sorry, thought you already had one when you said
Originally Posted by Teds tank
http:///forum/post/3137761
I would like another lion
But I got it now.
My husband's former volitan stayed in a smaller tank his whole life. He was fed mainly freeze-dried krill. Ours is 3 years old and with an extremely varied diet has gotten HUGE. Our new tank is 48" x 24" x 20". It's 100g.
 
fmarini

fmarini

Member
ditto what Cranberry says.
I had a lions den tank (nothing but lions) in a 180gal (6ft X 2 X 2). Both my red and black form of P Volitans, as well as my P Russelii grew like weeds and topped out the size of america footballs in 1.5yrs. If you feed them well and give them space they thrive.
AS for tanksmates of P volitans- there are only two rules 1) the tankmate can never fit into the mouth of the lion, and 2) the tankmate cant pick on said lion. Other than that any fish you'd like.
I've kept everything from large form angelfish to tangs, to wrasses, filefish, hogfish, wolf eels,planktonic feeding triggers (my faves), pretty much skys the limit as long as the tankmate meet the criteria i listed.
Hopefully you've read the lionfish info sheet-it gives my experiences w/ most species of lions available to the hobby
 
teds tank

teds tank

Member
AS for tanksmates of P volitans- there are only two rules 1) the tankmate can never fit into the mouth of the lion, and 2) the tankmate cant pick on said lion. Other than that any fish you'd like.
I've kept everything from large form angelfish to tangs, to wrasses, filefish, hogfish, wolf eels,planktonic feeding triggers (my faves), pretty much skys the limit as long as the tankmate meet the criteria i listed
ok so a medium tang of a marron clown whould be ok? these are just examples but i don't know how big a full grown volitains mouth is so i would be shooting in the dark
Hopefully you've read the lionfish info sheet-it gives my experiences w/ most species of lions available to the hobby
i have probely read that article over 10 times! it is sipmply the best article out there, most other articles never went to indeph on feeding desiese and behavior.
same puffer with same lion? i cant imagine somebody having a near full grown porky puffer with a lion.
well every fish is different some puffers are big mean tank destroying machines other are nicer. the big thing with adding a fish that could have a problem with the lion is to have a back up, plan put it back into quarintine if it starts acting up or you could play it safe and not add one at all. i saw a add for a tank with a russels and a puffer in a 90g(it didn't say what kind of puffer) that had been set up for 4 years the guy hasn't had a problem.
i'm inclined to play it safe though as not to risk the lions health and well being
But I got it now.
um when i said i want another lion, i ment in the same tank not that i had one before. sorry for the misunderstanding
 
hammerhed7

hammerhed7

Active Member
In my 220 I have
2- 12" volitans
1- 7" Aussie Harlequin Tusk
1- 5" Tomato Clown
1- 7" Toadfish
1- 5" Yellow Tang
1- 3' Zebra Moray
1- 6" blue jaw trigger
I have no aggression issues, The clown is the meanest fish in the tank, but keeps to his area. in a 120 any of these tank mates would work, with the exception of the tusk, while your tank is big enough for a long time, at their adult size these guys need more than 4 feet of swimming room, mine uses every bit of the 6 foot tank, and would probably prefer an 8 footer.
Good luck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top