No Lion, They get a bad name or do they?

[vetteguy53081]

There has been a lot of controversy with lionfish and lionfish invasion in various waters, lions being a bad pet or poisonous devil as examples. Once upon a time, they were so cool to own, a focal point in a given aquarium and the desired centerpiece. There was no more joy than having company over and having them experience a lionfish gulping a molly or other feeder.
Suddenly, few want them or fear them.
Florida has banned them already due to their threat in their waters as they are consuming endangered species such as grunts, groupers, lobsters and shrimps and their invasion and hunting abilities. These fish can in the aquarium be gracious and come in many forms such as radiate, dwarf, volitan, Fu Manchu, Dwarf, fuzzy. Once eating, they adapt easily to a tank and are eye catching . They have also managed to stay low in pricing unlike price increases for other fish. They all display wide and attractive finnage, a mopey and curious look on their faces and their rows of colorful spines, BUT also pack a painful sting, given the group name - Scorpion ! Most stings occur during tank cleaning or working on the aquascaping. My sting experience has been during netting at my LFS and forgetting the fish is in the tank. I even got stung when netting one.
Feeding is one of the challenges as many aquarists resort to live feeders which are the worse choice because its easy for the owner to drop a live feeder than to train their lion to eat. The foods offered must look alive for the lion to accept it at first. Tongs are a great tool to wave a silverside, shrimp or similar in front of them, after all lions are not the smartest fish in water. Grass shrimp and small fiddler crabs will entice them and safe to feed. I used an air line tube and attached frozen fish moving it around the tank and the lion eventually attacked it.
The other issue with having a lionfish is compatible tank mates. A lion will sooner or later attempt to swallow a fish that fits and doesn't fit in its mouth and use its spines to paralyze what it wants to eat.

Do you or have you own(ed) a lionfish?
Have you considered one in the future?
What prevents you from wanting a lionfish?

Pics welcomed!

I had two volitan lions in a 125g and they took up a lot of space, stole food from other tankmates and I got bored with them over time

 

[blaxsun]

Beautiful fish. Too many "light snacks" in my tank to temp fate by introducing one. Loved your idea with the airline - brilliant!

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

ngl, not a big fan of lions... there are just more interesting looking scorpaeniforms out there. They'll also eat my prized immortal damselfish... which is unacceptable.

 

[The_Paradox]

We eat them here. That’s about my only experience with them the last ten years.

 

[The_Paradox]

Not a lot of love for them here. Last tournament 144 people managed to massacre over 20,000 in two days. There were many a BBQs and drinks poured that week. That said if you want one for your tank the going rate is about $5 for a 12” one here.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

They Pop-up every Four to Six Months, here, on a local fish rehoming on Facebook.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Not a lot of love for them here. Last tournament 144 people managed to massacre over 20,000 in two days. There were many a BBQs and drinks poured that week. That said if you want one for your tank the going rate is about $5 for a 12” one here.

wish I was in florida... been wanting to try deep fried lionfish since I was six. Never been to the tropical Atlantic.

 

[mfinn]

I had a Volitan Lionfish for several years back in the middle 90's.
Started out as a 2" little guy in a 60 gallon cube tank, then moved to a 135 gallon.
It got huge, almost 18" from tip to tip.
I did get it trained to eat silversides.
It was the only one in the tank for a couple years.
Then for some reason I decided to add a Powder Blue Tang straight from the fish store.
I didn't realize the tang brought ick with it and before I could do anything the lionfish got ick and died.

 

[lion king]

We eat them here. That’s about my only experience with them the last ten years.

That looks good, but my lions would be next to last, after my frenchie, to eat in a shtf scenario.

I really can not stand humans that do not take responsibility for the lionfish invasive, or even have the understanding. It's the dirty human predator that caused the problem, an animal with an actual ability of conscious thought. The humans destroy the natural habitat with environmental toxins, kill and collect their natural predators, kill and collect their natural food sources; then push into other regions. Then the humans are all up in arms, over the situation they created with their ignorance and greed. The lions are doing what is natural evolutionary, biological instinct; they just relocated to an area where they can find food and breed, and just by chance, there are no natural predators. Stupid humans.

I have kept dozens of lions over 3 decades, my favorite. If you are interested in their care or to see pics of many of my lions, you can click my name and "find all threads".

 

[The_Paradox]

That looks good, but my lions would be next to last, after my frenchie, to eat in a shtf scenario.

I really can not stand humans that do not take responsibility for the lionfish invasive, or even have the understanding. It's the dirty human predator that caused the problem, an animal with an actual ability of conscious thought. The humans destroy the natural habitat with environmental toxins, kill and collect their natural predators, kill and collect their natural food sources; then push into other regions. Then the humans are all up in arms, over the situation they created with their ignorance and greed. The lions are doing what is natural evolutionary, biological instinct; they just relocated to an area where they can find food and breed, and just by chance, there are no natural predators. Stupid humans.

I have kept dozens of lions over 3 decades, my favorite. If you are interested in their care or to see pics of many of my lions, you can click my name and "find all threads".

I agree with that. Doesn’t mean they’re not delicious though.

If I had to eat one my aquarium fish the clownfish would be first and I’d make his mate watch.

 

[Waters]

Lionfish are what got me into the hobby. Unfortunately I think they need a talk almost built for them with slow moving water (to allow them to show off their elaborate fins) and large caves/overhangs. Definately a no go in my high energy SPS tank. Also, the price for them has become outrageous, which I can't wrap my head around since they are being hunted in Florida.

 

[rhitee93]

I've become fascinated with them since returning to this hobby last winter. I've decided to shift my tank focus a bit to allow me to keep one in my 120. I'll go with a dwarf species though and give my other fish a head start to get big enough to not be eaten. (Hopefully)

 

[hexcolor reef]

That looks good, but my lions would be next to last, after my frenchie, to eat in a shtf scenario.

I really can not stand humans that do not take responsibility for the lionfish invasive, or even have the understanding. It's the dirty human predator that caused the problem, an animal with an actual ability of conscious thought. The humans destroy the natural habitat with environmental toxins, kill and collect their natural predators, kill and collect their natural food sources; then push into other regions. Then the humans are all up in arms, over the situation they created with their ignorance and greed. The lions are doing what is natural evolutionary, biological instinct; they just relocated to an area where they can find food and breed, and just by chance, there are no natural predators. Stupid humans.

I have kept dozens of lions over 3 decades, my favorite. If you are interested in their care or to see pics of many of my lions, you can click my name and "find all threads".

Agree then on the other hand, majority fish are brought to different areas for breading. A lot of fish are being found in waters they shouldn’t be in tangs etc.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

Over 20 years ago, I went to Guadeloupe, before I had any interest in keeping an aquarium. Went to a restaurant for lunch and order fish, was told it was a reef fish found locally. No idea what that fish was. My daughter and husband ate chicken as they are very weary of new food.
During the night I started being very itchy, everywhere. When I got up I was covered with rashes from head to toes, and I did not recognized myself in the mirror. My head was triple its normal volume and I could hardly open my eyes. Rushed to the doctor who said it was an allergic reaction. I was stunned, as I never had allergy before. It is the one and only allergy reaction I ever had, and to this day I have no idea what I reacted to. But now I am wondering if I ate some type of venomous fish and that is what caused it. Doctor suggested I avoid all allergy proned food for a while, and I watched my family feast on lobster and prawn....
I went back to eating fish and shell fish eventually but I no longer eat any weird fish when I travel, it is a shame as I am an adventurous eater, it is not worth it, and next time reaction could be worse. I will stay away from lion fish.
I just thought I share, as some of you could get a similar problem or may have that happened to them.

 

[0MNSH1ZLLC]

Had a Lion in my tank for maybe 6 months. It would only accept live feeders which I did not want in my tank. It was by far the most boring fish. I gave it to the LFS.

 

[littlefoxx]

There has been a lot of controversy with lionfish and lionfish invasion in various waters, lions being a bad pet or poisonous devil as examples. Once upon a time, they were so cool to own, a focal point in a given aquarium and the desired centerpiece. There was no more joy than having company over and having them experience a lionfish gulping a molly or other feeder.
Suddenly, few want them or fear them.
Florida has banned them already due to their threat in their waters as they are consuming endangered species such as grunts, groupers, lobsters and shrimps and their invasion and hunting abilities. These fish can in the aquarium be gracious and come in many forms such as radiate, dwarf, volitan, Fu Manchu, Dwarf, fuzzy. Once eating, they adapt easily to a tank and are eye catching . They have also managed to stay low in pricing unlike price increases for other fish. They all display wide and attractive finnage, a mopey and curious look on their faces and their rows of colorful spines, BUT also pack a painful sting, given the group name - Scorpion ! Most stings occur during tank cleaning or working on the aquascaping. My sting experience has been during netting at my LFS and forgetting the fish is in the tank. I even got stung when netting one.
Feeding is one of the challenges as many aquarists resort to live feeders which are the worse choice because its easy for the owner to drop a live feeder than to train their lion to eat. The foods offered must look alive for the lion to accept it at first. Tongs are a great tool to wave a silverside, shrimp or similar in front of them, after all lions are not the smartest fish in water. Grass shrimp and small fiddler crabs will entice them and safe to feed. I used an air line tube and attached frozen fish moving it around the tank and the lion eventually attacked it.
The other issue with having a lionfish is compatible tank mates. A lion will sooner or later attempt to swallow a fish that fits and doesn't fit in its mouth and use its spines to paralyze what it wants to eat.

Do you or have you own(ed) a lionfish?
Have you considered one in the future?
What prevents you from wanting a lionfish?

Pics welcomed!

I had two volitan lions in a 125g and they took up a lot of space, stole food from other tankmates and I got bored with them over time

Mine:
Dwarf fuzzy named Nala and a volitan baby, havnt named him yet

 

[jda]

You can order lions from collectors in the Atlantic/Gulf/Keys. Kill 2 birds with one stone?

 

[The_Paradox]

You can order lions from collectors in the Atlantic/Gulf/Keys. Kill 2 birds with one stone?

Depending on time of year here they are either BBQed or bountied. Illegal to sell or transport alive.

 

[jda]

I have seen them listed for sale and seen one shipped. I am not doubting you, but is this a new law or local deal?

Edit: just looked and several Florida vendors have them for sale on their websites. Maybe a commercial fishing license thing?

 

[The_Paradox]

I have seen them listed for sale and seen one shipped. I am not doubting you, but is this a new law or local deal?

Edit: just looked and several Florida vendors have them for sale on their websites. Maybe a commercial fishing license thing?

If they were caught here they can be sold here but not imported or exported from the state. Our fish and feathers has weird regulations. Like pig there is no limit on and they are only thing I know of that your allowed to hunt year round at night with no license. For all the weirdness at least they show you how to filet a lionfish so you don’t get sick like other poster.