how to keep a lion?

[yamanjazz]

due to the loss of my powder tang(power failure:( ), i have no fish in my tank. i was thinking of starting over with a lion Fish. i have a couple of questions before i try it. Are Lions very hard to keep? Can i have mushrooms in the tank with a lion? and if so what other fish will live with a lion fish?

i have a 90gal tank will that be big enough for one lion fish on its own?

Thanks in advance:)

[DansMarineTank]

From the research i done before i got my fuzzy dwarf lion (which is now back at the shop) i can make the following conclusions

90G should be big enough for most lion fish. Voliton can get around 1' but according to fishindex.com should be ok in 70G

the most difficult thing with lionsfish is feeding them, specifically getting tghem to eat frozen food, I had to give in and take him back to the store as i was concerned fro his health.

I have seen some people describe lionfish as hardy, however they are messy eaters and messy at the other end so plenty of live rock is required.

Also they tend to eat things smaller than themselves

The above is just what i have read and i have very limited experiance, however there are lots of FAQ's on the internet regarding lionfish. Very good looking fish though

[Oliver]

lions are easy to keep, and the ones that look the best are volitans and radiata. they look basically the same but the radiata is alot smaller. they basically only eat live foods, but eat about 1 platty every 4 days. you can keep anything with it that doesn't fit in its mouth! it eats all coral :( but you can always try. it may be better to get a friendly fish instead, but some cool fish you can keep with it are moon wrasses, foxfaces, triggers, and damsels if they are large enough.

[OrionGirl]

lions are easy to keep, and the ones that look the best are volitans and radiata. they look basically the same but the radiata is alot smaller.

Wrong. Once they are eating well and acclimated, lions are fairly hardy, but that does not make them easy. Given the right setup and care, they are easy. Radiata get to 9 inches, not too much smaller. I would recommend them over a volitan, but both fish, given a large enough tank, are NOT the slow, passive fish most people will suggest. In a large tank, they are very active swimmers.

they basically only eat live foods, but eat about 1 platty every 4 days. you can keep anything with it that doesn't fit in its mouth! it eats all coral :( but you can always try.

Very wrong. Lions can be trained to take frozen and prepared foods, and every effort should be made to do so. Freshwater fish are NOT a good live food option, they have very different fats than marine animals need. Ghost shrimp are probably the most readily available, cheap option fo rlive foods, and will work to keep the lion going while you work on getting him to accept prepared foods. Lions do not eat coral at all. Ever. Devorative shrimp and crabs may be targeted, but snails, conchs, stars, and worms will be ignored completely. Lions typically are not added to reefs because they are high waste producers, and this complicates maintaining water conditions needed by corals. I kept a juvenile volitan in my reef until he was big enough to threaten the shrimp and fish, then moved him to a FO.

it may be better to get a friendly fish instead, but some cool fish you can keep with it are moon wrasses, foxfaces, triggers, and damsels if they are large enough.

Some wrasses will work, as will a foxface or tang (I'd go with a yellow or a scopas, and add it while the lion is still small). Triggers are not really a great companion--they tend to nip off fins during feeding, and some can just be nasty to the lions. Damsels--most will NEVER get big enough to be safe, and the ones that are aggressive enough to put up with a lion often pester the heck out of them. Bad choice. I'd go with either a tang (as above, the yellows, or a scopas would be fine in a 90), a butterfly, an eel (though they will go after crustaceans and of course you must secure the rock work very well--not great with a reef, but mushrooms should be fine), some of the larger wrasses, or, just let it be the only fish in there--much easier to maintain water quality.

[Max]

LOl, amen O.G.! Except for the part about Damnsels and Lions ,"nobody take this serious by the way!!", the only way I would buy any damsels any time would be if I had a large predatory fish ready to greet them properly.
:Angel:

[Oliver]

plattys are brackish water fish, not fresh water fish, so i don't see how different the fat could be.

[A7ESF]

Platties are NOT brackish water fish. I believe you may be thinking about mollies.

[TKOS]

Indeed platies are freshwater fish. Mollies and to an extent guppies could be considered brackish. Mollies can live in full marine as well. If you raised them in saltwaer conditions mollies could be a safe source fo live food. But I would only use them if you raise them yourself or you are asking for trouble by bringing in diseases. A switch to prepared food is the best option as you get to control the nutrion of the food much better.

[Max]

Not to mention over time your lion will see every new fish you put in the tank as a potential meal. That can be a real bad idea they aren't really all that bright and have been known to try to swallow things that are way too big.

[yamanjazz]

Cheer guys:) great info. sorry i could not answer earlier, but i have been very busy lately, i got engaged on frinday :bday: . just one more question. are they dangerous? as in very poisonous. i dont wnat to get hurt. thanks again :cool:

[Max]

Well, yes and no . From what I understand they aren't all that much more poison than a wasp or bee. I've also heard that they hurt a whole lot more though. You have to sort of pop them with your hand or arm in order the be stung. The have a bone in their fins that's more or less like a hypodermic needle and the pressure of a hit causes it to squirt poison into you.
Congratulations on the engagement ! If you guys plan on having little fry of your own in the next decade or so make sure that any lion fish you have is out of the reach of little fingers.

[yamanjazz]

thanks for the feedback. hehehe if there are going to be little fingers around they will be kept WELL away from the tank:)

[FloridaBoy]

Yeah, like Max said they can be painful, the poison is broken down by soaking in hot water. They are not really dangerous unless you have an alergic reaction. The folks at NOAA seem to think they are dangerous, the way they are spearing them up and down the east coast by the dozens.
There is a large breeding population of pterois volitans from NY down to FL.
I know they are invasive and I regret they were introduced, but I hate to see the lions destroyed, they are a gorgeous fish and deserve better. No matter; even NOAA admits they are here to stay.

[yamanjazz]

i can understand their concern and they must know alot more about the eco system of that area than i do. but i would think is would be kinda cool to have lions around:)

[carpenterwrasse]

they are only deadly if your are allergic to thiet toxins and that is the same as if you were allergic to a bee sting from what i have read or heard

[yamanjazz]

is there anyone who has been stung by a lionfish?

[a7oneal]

Not stung, but I missed my fuzzy dwarf lion by about 2'' (PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!!!).... Everything I've read says the stings are quite painful and throb. The hot water breaks some sort of bonds either within just the venom or within proteins in the body associated with the venom (or something like that... I'm not sure). If you are allergic, the consequences can be very serious, I'm sure... I think if I ever got stung, I would seek medical attention for sure.


One note I want to make.... I used to love to watch my little one track down "prey"... frozen food on a feeding stick... and it used to "wave" the dorsal spines, even when it was sitting still.

I wanted to get a fu manchu lion, but my roommate had a curious feline....

In any case, once they start feeding, they aren't too difficult to keep provided they have their space and appropriate tankmates. Just don't overfeed.... they don't know when to stop, so you need to know!

[FloridaBoy]

Closest I have ever come would be stepping on a common Florida saltwater catfish; also known as "Oscar the Terrible." These things are a pretty common marine pest fish, usually encountered while fishing in the surf or inlets here. They are often caught/left to die on the dock, and when I was a youngster I sure stepped my share of them. The rigid spines contain a powerful venom, and easily puncture a tennis shoe. When this spine punctures your skin it hurts, in fact that is a huge understatement; it hurt so bad the first time, I cried like a baby and almost collapsed on the dock. The venom lasts for hours, and throbbing/swelling are pretty normal. With no hot water available, we usually wrapped it in a tobacco poultice and bit down on a rag for an hour. My dad used to carry a pouch of tobacco in his tackle box just for this purpose. I have heard the lionfish compared to the pain of a wasp sting...which I have also had my share of. But these catfish made a wasp sting feel like a picnic. Now I'm not sure how that compares to the lionfish, but if it's anywhere close I don't ever want to feel it!

[yamanjazz]

thanks guys:) i have decided to buy a lionfish and ive ordered one from our lfs. i am hoping it will arrive on wednesday, but in Cyprus we add 2weeks to the date the lfs gives us. they are terrible when it comes to dates:) i just hope i dont have to start an "ive just been stung by my lionfish HELP!!!!" thread. thanks again to all you guys:)

[OrionGirl]

Just to consider--lion moods are pretty obvious. They start swimming eagerly near the surface, head up, when they think they are getting fed. When startled, they display--head down, fins spread wide. Aggression is the same posture, but angled directly at their target, and swimming towards it. I've had 2 close calls--once, euthanizing a 9 inch lion that had TB, and moving an 8 inch lion from one tank to another in a bowl. The rest of the time, avoiding an angry lion was just a matter of paying attention to him, and knowing when to back off.

[yamanjazz]

cheers OG:)

[yamanjazz]

to save space on the site, here is my question. Can a long tentacle anemone be kept in the same tank as a lionfish? i hope someone sees this question:)

[OrionGirl]

Yes, though it may not be the best idea. If the lion gets stung once,it will realize the anenome is a threat to be avoided--but that first encounter may be lethal if the anenome. I had a curly-que in with my lion, and he figured out very quickly to avoid it, while the puffer in the same tank never caught on and constantly had little white puckers from stings. With a larger anenome, if might be able to actually eat the fish in that first encounter, though--I'd be careful on that account.

Further--anenomes are specialized animals, and the high nitrates that often are found in with predators will not make it happy. Do lots of research before purchasing one.