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Re: survey
SELECTION
Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish? Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where? LFS purchase (traded for a pair of pesky percula). No, I haven't ever seen CB lions locally.
Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS? What do you think is the ideal size to get? I think the smaller sized animals acclimate more readily to an aquarium. Ours was about 2 inches (nose to tail fin).
Are there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species? The horns--some fish seem to lose them, while others don't. Not sure why that is--I've never noticed any reliable correlations between keeping them and losing them.
Is there a way to tell the sex of this fish? Don't know.
ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION
Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish?
Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen? Smaller specimens will try to eat foods much larger than they can take. Smaller foods are better.
Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank? Ours was introduced last to the reef, was there for about 1 year, and has been in the FO for about 1.5 years, where it was introduced after a trigger, before the eel, and mandarin goby.
COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank? Smaller fish are a no-no, but small fish that don't occupy the water column, like the mandarin goby, lawn mower blenny and such are ignored. As above, this guy was in the reef until he was big enough to threaten it's smaller denizens.
Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school? NA
Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank? NA
What’s the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you? As above.
Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)? As Above.
Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)? No, nor did it blunder into them and get stung.
Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)? No, but I wouldn't trust him if hungry.
FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first? Was eating prepared frozen foods at time of purchase.
If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food?
What’s the diet? Currently, a mix of frozen fish/shrimp/squid/mussel, as well as Formula One prepared frozen food.
How much and how often do you feed? Every other day, enough that everyone gets 2-3 small pieces, (small being the size of an average fingernail).
How does this fish eat?(grazers, active or sedentary predators, sand sifters, etc) Gulper--sucks down water and extracts the food bits. Guess it would be a sedentary predator.
GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)? 2 inches, now about 8 inches. Grew much faster once moved to the FO tank (higher protien intake). He was about 4 inches when we moved him, so has doubled in the last 18 months.
What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish outgrow what size tank)? What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish? Currently in a 65. I think that a bigger tank is always better, but the important thing to provide is rock work--these guys like to hang out under shelf work. Being able to turn around without banging into things is important as well, so the dimensions of the tank should be considered first.
If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete? How long did it take?
How long have you kept this fish? If you no longer have this fish, what was the cause? 2.5 years.
What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported?
DISEASE AND TREATMENT
What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment?
BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances?
How active is this fish? Is this fish shy? Not shy, but not really active. He swims in the water column about half the time (more active as feeding time approaches).
How territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates? Very bold. Doesn't get pushed around, but is not aggressive, and doesn't attack others.
Did this fish ever jump out of the tank? Not out of the tank, but it will jump to get food, or if threatened.
How does this fish sleep? Hanging upside down in some rock work.
Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often?
How does this fish interact with human? Yes, but not on the same level as a puffer.
Any other interesting observation of this fish?
REPRODUCTION
If you have a mated pair, how did you get them to pair up?
Any information of spawning in captivity?
SUMMARY
Your overall assessment of this species -
How sensitive is this fish to poor water quality on a scale of 1-5? NA
1 - very tolerant, may survive a cycle in a new tank
2 - quite tolerant, may survive accidental ammonia or nitrite spike
3 - not terribly sensitive to reasonable pH, salinity or temperature changes
4 - sensitive to any significant water chemistry changes, and may show stress during such changes
5 - very sensitive to water quality, may easily get stressed and get sick with any change in water chemistry
Would you recommend this fish to beginners? Only if they will make sure it takes prepared foods, and not give in to the temptation to overfeed. The biggest problem with lions is angering them during cleaning/tank maintenance.
Any other recommendations/comments?
If you have any picture(s) of this fish you took, please post it here and share with us! [/B][/QUOTE]
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