dwarf lionfish (2 inches) with clownfish and jawfish

[william swann]

I recently upgraded to a 40b and currently have a 2 inch clownfish and a 2 inch jawfish that hides a lot, is it possible to keep a dwarf lionfish in this set up with low aggression/eating my fish? also how often should I feed dwarf lions, I was thinking 2-3 times a week

 

[Hugh Mann]

@lion king should be able to help you out.

I'm inclined to say no, those fish would not be safe. Maybe if the clown had an anenome, but even then. If a lion can swallow it, a lion will eat it. I had a Dwarf Fuzzy about 4" or so and it ate 1.5" mollies with ease. One every couple of days.

Lions thrive on diets of primarily live foods. Mollies and guppies are supposed to be pretty good, as well as ghost shrimp. Can be supplemented with dead foods, though they can be tricky to get to eat it.

 

[lion king]

Dwarf lionfish do take special care and I'm not sure it would be the right choice. They will grow pretty quickly and may threaten a jawfish and ocellaris clowns. The fuzzy and zebra will outgrow a 40B. The fu manchu does stay smaller and may be less threatening but is a very challenging fish. Additional information on lionfish can be found by clicking my name and find all threads.

 

[william swann]

Dwarf lionfish do take special care and I'm not sure it would be the right choice. They will grow pretty quickly and may threaten a jawfish and ocellaris clowns. The fuzzy and zebra will outgrow a 40B. The fu manchu does stay smaller and may be less threatening but is a very challenging fish. Additional information on lionfish can be found by clicking my name and find all threads.

well i’d rather have happy fish than force a dwarf lion in my tank so i’ll do more research and take what you said into consideration, one other question though, how do they handle flow? i will have some acros that require current but some low flow spots for lps and softies can they handle mixed reef type flow?

 

[lion king]

well i’d rather have happy fish than force a dwarf lion in my tank so i’ll do more research and take what you said into consideration, one other question though, how do they handle flow? i will have some acros that require current but some low flow spots for lps and softies can they handle mixed reef type flow?

Lions do perch alot but in the right tank can be rather active. In smaller tanks and high flow situations they will likely find a comfortable spot and become very sedentary.

 

[nereefpat]

one other question though, how do they handle flow? i will have some acros that require current but some low flow spots for lps and softies can they handle mixed reef type flow?

The 2 fuzzies that I kept were in a LPS/soft coral reef with much lower flow than most peoples' Acro tanks. But they didn't mind swimming into a powerhead to grab frozen foods.

I agree that a clownfish and jawfish will very possibly be eaten eventually, and a 40 breeder is pushing it for tank size anyway. One of mine ate a watchman goby.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Why do you want a lionfish? If you’re just looking for a venomous fish, theres a lot of options such as coral crouchers that only get about 2” and would not be able to consume a full size clown or jaw fish. If you’re liking the color of the lions, there are other red/brown/rusty colored fish available like hawkfish. Personally, I’d rather a majority of people stay away from lions because their diets are very expensive and require a lot of labor by the keeper compared to frozen foods. There are always alternatives

 

[william swann]

Why do you want a lionfish? If you’re just looking for a venomous fish, theres a lot of options such as coral crouchers that only get about 2” and would not be able to consume a full size clown or jaw fish. If you’re liking the color of the lions, there are other red/brown/rusty colored fish available like hawkfish. Personally, I’d rather a majority of people stay away from lions because their diets are very expensive and require a lot of labor by the keeper compared to frozen foods. There are always alternatives

it’s looking like this is not the best idea so I will probably be looking for an alternative but i just really think they are cool for some reason lol thanks for the advice anyways

 

[PicassoClown04]

it’s looking like this is not the best idea so I will probably be looking for an alternative but i just really think they are cool for some reason lol thanks for the advice anyways

It’s no problem! I’m about to get a coral croucher, originally I wanted a Fu Manchu but after a lot of research I realized that it wasn’t a good idea and I would be unable to provide the best care for it. Lots of fish in the sea

 

[william swann]

It’s no problem! I’m about to get a coral croucher, originally I wanted a Fu Manchu but after a lot of research I realized that it wasn’t a good idea and I would be unable to provide the best care for it. Lots of fish in the sea

ended up buying one, i did a lot more research and talked to a couple people that owned them to get advice and they said that it could workout, i know the risks that i took so i’ll be on the look out, i’ll keep you posted to how he does just in case anyone wants to know

he hasn’t looked at any fish so far and he’s eating frozen food pretty willingly, swims around a little bit does perch a lot
i have a clownfish that has the same body size as it and a small yellow head jawfish around 2 and 1/2 inches

 

[william swann]

ended up buying one, i did a lot more research and talked to a couple people that owned them to get advice and they said that it could workout, i know the risks that i took so i’ll be on the look out, i’ll keep you posted to how he does just in case anyone wants to know

he hasn’t looked at any fish so far and he’s eating frozen food pretty willingly, swims around a little bit does perch a lot
i have a clownfish that has the same body size as it and a small yellow head jawfish around 2 and 1/2 inches

very sad so say this but the little guy passed right after the lights went out, he was doing fine the whole day and i wasn’t there to see it so i don’t know exactly how, out of all of the possible bad outcomes of adding this fish to my tank i really thought that this would be unlikely, today and yesterday he was swimming, eating, perching, and looked normal just about, i will say that my cbs was harassing him a little but if anything i thought that was a good thing, another thing that could’ve lead to this was my bta and that’s just about all of the dangers to it in the tank, anyways as for care they don’t look too high of flow and feeding wise you gotta make the frozen food look alive lol if anyone was curious, imma miss him although I just got him I guess I had to see for myself to really know how these fish are, i will recognize and learn from my mistakes for the future

 

[nereefpat]

Looked like a zebra? Anecdotally, those seem to be more difficult than fuzzies.

If it was eating, that's a little strange. Maybe gut parasites, or acclimation/ammonia in bag issues? Did you get it from a local store?

 

[william swann]

Looked like a zebra? Anecdotally, those seem to be more difficult than fuzzies.

If it was eating, that's a little strange. Maybe gut parasites, or acclimation/ammonia in bag issues? Did you get it from a local store?

yea I got it from a place called tropical lagoon the owner knows me good and is spot on with things, besides looks what are differences between fuzzies and zebras?

also i don’t think I want to get another one (maybe) but have you had experiences with dwarf lions cause I thought that this would workout and I was really surprised and sad by him passing so randomly

 

[nereefpat]

yea I got it from a place called tropical lagoon the owner knows me good and is spot on with things

Probably nothing to do with ammonia issues in the bag, and acclimation then, unless the fish hadn't been there very long. My other guesses would be poisoning during collection, or medication in holding tanks at the wholesaler or store.

besides looks what are differences between fuzzies and zebras?

Different species in the same genus. Zebras are slightly larger....up to 25cm (10 inch), although 6-8" is probably a more common size. Definitely not safe long term with smaller fish.

 

[william swann]

Probably nothing to do with ammonia issues in the bag, and acclimation then, unless the fish hadn't been there very long. My other guesses would be poisoning during collection, or medication in holding tanks at the wholesaler or store.



Different species in the same genus. Zebras are slightly larger....up to 25cm (10 inch), although 6-8" is probably a more common size. Definitely not safe long term with smaller fish.

ard got it, thanks for the info

 

[lion king]

Did you match the sg before releasing him into the display, any sg higher than .001 difference would need an extended acclimation to match before release. The stress of the move could have triggered liver failure due to copper poisoning. If your lfs runs copper in their systems, this is a very common occurrence. The stress of the move triggers any underlying condition, if his color was all washed out when you found him, he could have seized likely due to cyanide poison. If he didn't have any wounds then I would rule out a bacterial infection. He would not have interest in food if internal parasites where advanced enough to kill him. These are some of things I've seen when a lion dies within a few days and the stress of the move is what triggers it. When you say he was eating frozen, were you target feeding him chunky bits of food, or broadcasting the tank with food like mysis. If he was eating frozen at the lfs by broadcast methods, it could be a high chance that he just starved. Almost exclusively dwarf lions need live food like ghosties or guppies to settle them in, then need to be target fed chunky bits of food, not expected to sustain from broadcast feeding. They rarely live much more than a year when people are determined to feed them a dead only diet, the dead diet most people feed rarely gives them the nutritional needs necessary for long term success.

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

Lionefish should only be kept singly.

 

[william swann]

Did you match the sg before releasing him into the display, any sg higher than .001 difference would need an extended acclimation to match before release. The stress of the move could have triggered liver failure due to copper poisoning. If your lfs runs copper in their systems, this is a very common occurrence. The stress of the move triggers any underlying condition, if his color was all washed out when you found him, he could have seized likely due to cyanide poison. If he didn't have any wounds then I would rule out a bacterial infection. He would not have interest in food if internal parasites where advanced enough to kill him. These are some of things I've seen when a lion dies within a few days and the stress of the move is what triggers it. When you say he was eating frozen, were you target feeding him chunky bits of food, or broadcasting the tank with food like mysis. If he was eating frozen at the lfs by broadcast methods, it could be a high chance that he just starved. Almost exclusively dwarf lions need live food like ghosties or guppies to settle them in, then need to be target fed chunky bits of food, not expected to sustain from broadcast feeding. They rarely live much more than a year when people are determined to feed them a dead only diet, the dead diet most people feed rarely gives them the nutritional needs necessary for long term success.

thanks for the write up, i didn’t acclimate him for a long time and i was spot feeding him mysis and krill, if i attempt this again in the future I will make sure to get the requirements spot on and pay attention to detail to avoid stress or shock

 

[william swann]

Lionefish should only be kept singly.

it was a dwarf btw, although some ppl say they can only be kept alone i have seen various successful setups keeping them in a reef, i decided to try it knowing the risk and unfortunately it didn’t work out in my favor

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

it was a dwarf btw, although some ppl say they can only be kept alone i have seen various successful setups keeping them in a reef, i decided to try it knowing the risk and unfortunately it didn’t work out in my favor

There are exceptions to every rule; it depends also on the size of the tank and the amount of structure in it I'm sure. And the size of the other fish is critical too; if the Lionfish can get a fish in its mouth, it will eat it.....