lionfish questions

[hooked]

Hello,

Was looking to get a lionfish but not sure if I should go with a lionfish or a dwarf lionfish. I was thinking more on the lines of the dwarf but if I go with a lionfish that has a size of 15" in the wild how big will he get in my tank? I think I would be safe all around with the dwarf but he doesn't seem to be as nice looking. Will I be able to put some corals in the tank with a dwarf or will he eat them? Would I also be safe in saying that I couldn't put a cleaner shrimp in either. I was thinking about taking my 38g down over time and putting into my 90g. I have a few things like soft tree coral, cup coral, open brain, clown fish, hawkfish and a few different shrimp.

Any help would be great, thanks

[Mickadee]

the lion will eat anything it can fit into its mouth basically.
what tank are you wanting to put him in?
from my understanding a full grown lion may have problems turning around in a 100gl thats what I have.
lions are coral safe but not invert safe from my understanding maybe someone else can help there..


Here is a picture of mine that I got a couple of days ago he is a black volitan.

[Mickadee]

here it is hit the wrong button

[seahawkjohnny]

Originally posted by Mickadee
the lion will eat anything it can fit into its mouth basically.
what tank are you wanting to put him in?
from my understanding a full grown lion may have problems turning around in a 100gl thats what I have.
lions are coral safe but not invert safe from my understanding maybe someone else can help there..


Here is a picture of mine that I got a couple of days ago he is a black volitan.

I agree with Mickadee, but I wouldnt worry about a lionfish not being able to turn around in a 100, if its the 60" lenth 100 gallon, it will be 18" deep...and lion fish arnt that active of a fish especially when they get older, I had one that was 14" and he was pretty lazy did most of his hunting at night waiting for the fish to fall asleep for that easy meal.....

[beach bum]

If you are going to turn that 90 into a reef stick with the dwarf, much easier to work around in the future. Although I have rarely seen a volitans over 12", you should plan on 15", so will probably find your 90g to be too small eventually. Lions with lots of space will use lots of space, and vice versa. Their sedentary behavior, from which many derive proof that a large tank is not needed, is misleading.

Plus the feedings can keep water quality far from optimal.

Plus lions don't really appreciate the bright 'reef lights'. It might even damage their vision, which is pretty poor to start with.

Shrimps will be a meal for the volitans, but larger cleaners and coral bandeds will probably be ok with the dwarfs.

And btw, lionfish do not eat corals. They just poop on them.

hth

[Demogarr]

I kept a lone fuzzy dwarf lion in my reef for quite awhile before an unfortunate pump accident. I had it in a 75 gallon and it was the only fish, and even then after awhile I started getting a nitrate problem. The lion wasn't that big either. They can sure produce mass amounts of waste, but they are really cool. Maybe if you have some corals that are a little forgiving with nitrates you would be alright, but keeping nitrates down will eventually become an issue. On the eyesight issue, I had 440 watts of vho lighting and after a month or two in this lighting my lions eyesight got pretty bad. Just something to think about!
I personally like the fuzzy lionfish the best (Dendrochirus brachypterus). They are all pretty cool though.