Originally Posted by sphelps (Post 441528)

I've never heard of the fu man chu being anymore difficult to keep than any other lionfish. All the ones I've seen at the LFS adapted much better than other types. I've also had one for over a year and it has always been easy to feed.

The rhino, leaf, and frog are however much more difficult. I've kept all three before and I probably won't keep them again because of the special requirements involved. I have also kept a white ribbon eel for a long time, although it's a great addition and easy to keep, 30 gallons may be a little small and they can get into tiny holes and escape tanks very easily. You would have to "ribbon eel proof" the tank which can be fairly difficult.

Predator and reef is not done often but it's not difficult. Most predators like lionfish are not very active meaning they use less energy than most reef fish, so you actually can feed them less. Check out my tank, not too many fish but my bioload is small, I go through much less food than I did with a more standard reef tank.

Originally Posted by justinl (Post 441651)

I don't mean any offense, but your one success alone doesn't outweigh the majority. I honestly don't know much about keeping rhinopias or leafs. I always thought frogfish were supposed to be pretty easy to keep. True that the eel would require escape proofing; forgot about that.

Originally Posted by justinl (Post 441651)

You could say the same for any fish, but good husbandry means feeding the proper amount of food, not the convenient amount.

Originally Posted by naesco (Post 441734)

SPhelps
I was surprised to read that you were of the opinion that ribbon eels are easy to keep. I was also surprised that you would put them in with predator/active fish.

Two of the acknowledged experts in marine fish disagree.
Scott Michael states they are difficult to keep and are on his red list.
http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Ribbon_Eel

Robert Fenner states that 90%+ do not survive 30 days.
http://wetwebmedia.com/ribbonmorayeels.htm

With statistics like this the ribbon eel should not be on anyone's stock list and should only be available on special order by aquarists' who have the experience and patience to provide for their care.

Wayne

Originally Posted by sphelps (Post 441738)

None taken but it was not based on my one success, I've seen many of these fish come in and adapt well, much better than most other dawrf lions. Just because this fish may be considered "one of the more difficult lionfish to keep" doesn't mean it shouldn't be attempted as you seem to think. It may be difficult compared to other dwarf lions but may be quite easy compared to other fish which are often kept. It should of course be approached with caution as you may need to feed it live food until it can be trained on frozen but this is typical of most lions. Providing information about a fish and why it may be difficult to keep is helpful but simply stating it should not be done is not. No offense.


Not really, most reef fish swim non stop and feed constantly in the wild to keep up the energy they require. This means in captivity they require several feedings daily to stay healthy. Predators like lion fish don't move around very much and conserve energy better, this is because they don't eat as often in the wild and this adaptation will transfer into the aquarium, therefore you should not feed them as often.

Originally Posted by naesco (Post 441864)

What do you mean when you say that you see many of these fish come in.......
Come into where?