Lionfish advice please
 

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Hi,

I want to keep a lionfish on my RS 130 (34G). I already have :

1 bicolor blenny (algae control)
1 Orange Spotted Goby (sand bed stiffer)
1 Red Scooter Blenny (flatworm control)
2 bangaii cardinal

I can sell the bangaii cardinals if they are not compatible or is too many fish for the tank.

I could not find any useful article or thread for lionfish here. I wonder if someone could help me out or pass me a good article about keeping lionfish in nano reef tanks.

Thanks.

Eagerly awaiting the "ahhem" answers...Be kind :biggrin:

First off. Well done on asking and researching. That's what this forum is for.

ummmm.... okay...... Unless you're planning to keep Dwarf lions or Fu Man Chu I think you'll find most people would highly recommend against keeping a lionfish in that small of a tank. Even Dwarf's might struggle in a 34g with other fish given the bioload of the tank, and the "other fish" might not do so well unless they are a decent size. Chances are that if they could fit in it's mouth, then it would likely disappear. Many people with tanks that size keep Dwarfs or Fu Man's but typically they are the only inhabitant.

check out

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/

I don't know of any great articles, but keep researching before making any decisions.

Thanks Duffer2, I have already red that article and based on that I can keep one but I just wondering if someone actually did this on 34gallon and if it is good idea to keep this fish.

I really want a display fish something a little bit big ~5" and not shy. I was thinking about the Maroon clownfish but it seems the Maroons are angry aggressive fish and most of the owners do not recommend.

Also the Angle fishes are not reef safe so I really dont know what would be a option :(

Dwarf
 

Dwarf only. Anything bigger and you are unnecessarily stressing the fish, for one.


Also... I had a dwarf in a 20 Gallon and it was a chore. Mine would not take to frozen so I was constantly feeding live shrimp. I recommend that if you want one... find one already trained on frozen because if the LFS is feeding live.... it will probably only eat live.

Third.... keep it and only it. It is really cool all by itself and can have great personality.

Yeah finding nice display fish that don't hide in the rocks all day and don't eat their friends can be tough.

I was looking through nano-reef.com as I'm planning on setting up a nano in my office and sounds like people are having good luck with Dwarf's in smaller tanks, but any other fish in with them will likely get eaten eventually.

I'm a big fan of Coral Beauty's. Amazing fish, comes out reasonably often, and still has some wow factor.

So I cant keep my current fish with lionfish correct?

Is the Coral Beauty reef safe?

Coral Beauty
 

MOST coral beautys are reef safe.... MOST.

BUT, it is all dependent on the individual fish. Some will pick on coral. Some won't. In most cases you are ok if you feed them enough.

I would put one in my tank without question. If I got one that eats coral... then I would remove it. But again... for the most part they are one of the only dwarf angels you can trust in a reef tank.

I would advise against it. Without knowing the size of your fish, I would say most likely any dwarf lion will make a meal out of your current fish eventually.

Depends on whom you ask, but most people have good success with Coral Beauty's in Reefs. Occasionally mine nipped at some SPS but very rarely, and never did damage.

In a small 34g all those dish would be dinner i had one for s bit in a small tank when I first started it's simply to small for a lion to swim and for others to hide the smaller the tank the better chance of grttin eaten especially the cardinals, even if its well fed in a small tank mouths cross paths too often to let a easy meal go by un noticed. My small lion ate three bangai's in one night:(

Angels ate literally hit or miss mostly miss when it comes to reefs Abd are active swimmer so you can't fill your tank with rock and corals ,skip the angel their are plenty of nice looking small fish for nano reefs:)

I cant really have SPS with my current setup the only thing I am worried about is LPS.

id give it a shot hell nip at worst in most cases, and you can remove him they are very beautiful fish:)

A dwarf lionfish would mostly likely eat the tank mates you already have, so I would advise against one. Also most lionfish hide when the lights are on and swim around in the open when the lights are off.

Most dwarf angels will nip at SPS and zoas but leave LPS alone, so depending on what corals you have a dwarf angel would probably work. I've had 3 dwarf angels before (2 coral beauties and one flame angel) and they've never touched my LPS.

Thanks for the advices I guess I'll go with a Coral Beauty or a Flame Angelfish.

Just a note.... my lion was always out when lights on. Once they adjust they are fine.... but for community tank I still say go Reef safe dwarf angel.

I agree mine would swim in the open in the day but they will eat anything they can fit in there mouths what a cool fish though

It depends... when I had a lionfish in my 60 gal, I had it since it was a 2inch baby... he grew to about iinch and was my favourite fish. Never ever bothered any other fish in the tank even thou they were much smaller. Id recommend a dwarf one but get rid of the gobys and blennies as they might become an expensive meal. Keep in mind that dwarfs grow up to 6inch..

Coral beauties??? Yes and no.... can become not reef safe overnight... I had a thread about it a while back and it sounds more like 50:50

What type are you planning to get and how big are your current fish? The lion is likely to eat smaller fishes. Most lions are easy to care for and you should feed them fish or crustation meat 3-4 times a week