with a dwarf lionfish

asherah · #1 12-14-2007, 10:51 PM

so I am thinking of getting a dwarf lionfish. either a zebra or a fuzzy. I'm leaning to fuzzy tho.
I read they get to 7 inches. What fish could I put with it ? I was thinking maroon clowns, maybe a lemon angel but Live Aquaria says 6 inches. So i'm not sure if he would eat it.

Do you have any suggestions ? It's a 30 gallon tank.

asherah

tang daddy · #2 12-15-2007, 05:52 AM

hmm 30 reef with a lion fish do you go in your tank much?
I have a 90 and had a dwarf in it for awhile he would only eat small guppies kinda a pain that it wouldn't take frozen, when they're small they have decent colours on it's fin but tend to hide out alot. With that said yours may be able to addapt well to frozen and feed it off a chopstick. I wouldn't be worried putting it with other fish larger than it although once he gets to adult he may try to eat his tankmates.....

fiorano · #3 12-15-2007, 08:05 AM

can a lion fish actually cause serious harm to a person or does it just hurt a lot??? lol i've heard both from different people

asherah · #4 12-15-2007, 05:20 PM

I read the other day that it is like a big bee sting. Local swelling and hurts like heck.
You're supposed to put it in hot water right away to reduce the severity of it. It's not supposed to be fatal to humans but it doesn't mean you won't have an allergic reaction.
Although I would imagine that's pretty rare.

asherah

danny zubot · #5 12-15-2007, 06:19 PM

I had a dwarf zebra in a gallon tank with a pair of false percs, a regal tang, and a bi-color angel. If you get the lion fish as a baby you lesson the chances that it will eat its tank mates as it grows up. Also, as a baby you might find it easier to train it onto frozen foods. I had a local reefer train mine, and it ate mysis after.

One note though, if it gets ick, don't treat via hyposalinity treatment. They are too sensitive and may not survive. (thats how I lost mine)

As far as the stings are concerned, they can hurt quite a bit depending on how much venom you get in you. (so I'm told)

If you get stung, run the sting area under the hottest water that you can tolerate, and it will help to neutralize the venom. They say to always report to a hostpital after any sting, and let the doctor know exactly what stung you.

Good luck!

justinl · #6 12-15-2007, 06:25 PM

here read this. this answers most lion related question that pop up.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

my suggestion is to find a fuzzy that is ALREADY eating frozens consistently. unless you're willing to try weaning and taking the risk of it not (which would mean you having to buy live all the time).

fuzzies are pretty timid, so when you get tankmates, nothing aggressive, no fin nippers and nothing smaller than the lion. that goes for pretty much any of the scorpaenids.

ive never been stung myself, but from all accounts it hurts like hell... like a bee sting but a hundred times worse. there have not been any directly related fatalities but it isnt something id want to experience. of course if you have an allergic reaction, that's a whole new bucket o potatoes. how bad the sting is depends on how much venom you get; shorter thicker spines mean more venom, so a fuzzy sting would be worse than a volitan for example. depends on species and how deep the puncture is too (there was one account where a guy actually had a spine break off in his hand!). whether or not you get stung depends on how careful you are... always keep an eye on that fish.

note: long term feeding of nothing but FW feeders like guppies will lead to a fatty liver disease. FW feeders should only be used to wean a lion. shouldnt be a long term staple food.