volitan lionfish

[doraemon]

hello,
anyone knows what is the biggest fish a tank raised volitan lionfish can eat? 2 inches?
thanks,

 

[crimzy]

Obviously it depends on the size of the lion. That being said, they can eat something almost their size. I've found that the some fish have a shape that is easier to eat. For instance, it is much easier for a lion to eat a wrasse than a tang.

 

[nicetry]

A full grown P. volitans will pretty much try to eat whatever will fit in it's mouth. I once saw a 15 inch lion with a 5 inch lemonpeel angel hanging half out of it's mouth. Obviously the angel was too much for the lion to tackle, but the lion saw it as a potential meal and gave it a try.

 

[mx#28]

If it is slender in shape, a volitan can eat a fish close to or as long as it. Trust me, I 've watched it happen. Considering a grown volitan can reach 18 inches (and they grow pretty fast), you have to choose tank mates very carefully.

 

[hammerhed7]

anything less than 6" could be subject to becoming a meal for a full grown volitan.

 

[sk8shorty01]

I had a Volitan that was a foot long (maybe slightly more) and he ate a very large engineer goby. It was probably about 6 inches long but because of the slender body build it made it much easier for the Lion to swallow it. And one other note I would like to add, the Lion had no part of the fish hanging out of its mouth, and the Lion also did not choke so I would assume the fish went down easy and it could probably have swallowed soemthing a little bit longer if it had the chance.

 

[mx#28]

I've seen them actually curl small fish up inside their stomach in a 'U' shape so that the food fish is bent in half allowing the lion to wolf down a very long fish.

 

[sk8shorty01]

My brother also has a Volitan Lion (about 7 inches long) that ate a live shrimp that was probably about 5 inches long and the thing was digesting the shrimp and still had the shrimps antenna sticking out of its mouth.