what can('t) a 4 inch lion eat

[hwttdz1]

I was planning on a community aquarium, however I have recently become fascinated with lionfish. I am debating having a lionfish, I was planning on a clown, a sixline, a small goby, and a Grammatidae. It strikes me that any of these would become fish food to a 4 inch lion. Is this correct? My tank is 30 gallons, I think it can probably support slightly more that a single lionfish, and I'm looking for suggestions. I think maybe a maroon clown? Suggest anything that would not overload the tank with a small species of lion and would not eat coral. Also will a lion eat all snails and hermits, most places seem to think they are content with shrimp/small fish.

 

[1journeyman]

Depends on the species of Lionfish. What type are you looking at?

 

[angelman]

Originally Posted by hwttdz1
I was planning on a community aquarium, however I have recently become fascinated with lionfish. I am debating having a lionfish, I was planning on a clown, a sixline, a small goby, and a Grammatidae. It strikes me that any of these would become fish food to a 4 inch lion. Is this correct? My tank is 30 gallons, I think it can probably support slightly more that a single lionfish, and I'm looking for suggestions. I think maybe a maroon clown? Suggest anything that would not overload the tank with a small species of lion and would not eat coral. Also will a lion eat all snails and hermits, most places seem to think they are content with shrimp/small fish.
I had a customer that insisted in a dozen chromis for his tank, that housed a six inch Volitan.
He didn't listen to my advice not to.
Needless to say, that lion truly, truly enjoyed the treats, until they were all gone.
Other lions may be fine but Volitans grow fast and have a hearty appetite.

 

[hwttdz1]

First, thanks for the quick replies to both of you. The species is Parapterois heterura (blackfoot lionfish), which has been recorded as large as 9 inches (record) but is rarely observed to be greater than 4 inches in adult length (Morphological Comparison of a Poorly Known Scorpionfish, Parapterois macrura, with a Related Species, P. heterura (Scorpaenidae: Pteroinae) ). But if another lion species would make it possible to keep something else in my tank I would be glad to consider changing species.

 

[dragonzim]

Even at 4 inches, I'm thinking that may be too big to keep in a 30 gallon tank. Have you looked into any of the dwarf lionfish species?

 

[hwttdz1]

Of the common dwarf lions (Dendrochirus) (zebra, brachypterus, biocellatus) the smallest is the fu manchu (biocellatus) which commonly grows up to 4 inches (the others often grow to 7). So the blackfoot lion is on par size wise with the smallest of the dwarf lions.

 

[babeeclown]

My fiance recently added a lionfish to our tank....

I didn';t want to do it but he did anyway. I was worried because i have a clown a damsel cleaner shrimp and a few snails.... I will hate that lion fish if it eats any of them! but so far he seems fine. I read alot about it and it says if there added last sometimes that will help... but i'm not to fond of that idea... but all in all he swims past the clown visa versa and they seem fine. the lion fish is not bulling them.... yet.

 

[xdave]

Lionfish don't bully, the just swallow. As to whether or not he'll be a problem when he grows up, maybe is all I can tell you. IME, keep a close watch on him when he gets to the exploring stage. Generally if he doesn't go after them within a couple days of getting used to the tank, then he probably never will. However, when he does grow up he will very likely be a threat to new fish that are added. Then in his excitement they will often turn on the fish they've been nice to all those years.

 

[kayak385]

I have a adult 4" fu manchu lionfish. I had 4 chromis and a fireshrimp in there. Now I have 3 chromis and a lionfish. He didn't eat the fire shrimp until after he started to explore and got used to the lighting schedule. He got his fillet mignon for his first week at a new place... Wasn't my intention