Should I get a dwarf lion or not???

[fishykid9212]

I need to snazz up my tank with something, I have a hippo tang, pink anthias, chromis damsel, blue yellow tailed damsel, clarki clown, and ocellaris clown. Will a dwarf lion eat any of these? Reff safe? Are they hard to feed? Also whats the chance it will sting me and what would happen? Thank you very much in advance

[robszar]

i had one with a hippo, foxface, trigger , and a pair of clowns. when I first set up my tank i had 3 mollies in there and he ate 2 of the 3, i also had a lawnmower blennie go MIA. but besides that he was cool, not very active though. a real treat to watch eat, he ate like a champ.

[ejmeier]

Mine eventually ate my clownfish. I honestly, to this day, believe it was an accident. I ocassionally fed him feeder goldfish, which looked just like the clown. He had plenty of shots at eating him, but never took it until I fed the clown once and I think the lion mistakenly thought it was 'feeding time' for him as well. :(

Quite dramatic too - I saw it all happen and could hardly believe my eyes. He was swimming around with his tail sticking out of his mouth.

[fishykid9212]

will he eat the small the clown thats 2"? Also will he sting the other fish? btw this is a 92g corner tank

[Gobie]

Do you have problems with mixed clowns?

I wouldn’t put a lion in your tank they will eat your clowns. If it will fit in their mouth they will eat it.

The sting won’t hurt you unless you are allergic. Or yes it will hurt but not kill you unless you are allergic. No they won't sting your other fish it is used as a defense if they are eaten.

[ejmeier]

If you care about your fish at all, I wouldn't do it.

He won't sting them, but he *will* inhale them. :D Just like popcorn.

If you introduce him dead last, you might have a shot for a while, but really, its only a matter of time until nature takes its course. This is a predatory fish - its going to do what comes natural to it.

[fishykid9212]

OK lol I just wanted a really different fish, thats why I mentioned a dwwarf lion not a volitan. So Ill look for something else

[fishykid9212]

any other cool looking fish, I mean its hard to beat the lion fish

[ejmeier]

how big of a tank do you have?

[fishykid9212]

92G corner tank

[hawaiian_boi]

I HAD A SMALL ONE IN A 75 GALLON I GOT HIM CAUSE THEY SAID HE WOULD STAY SMALL..HE WAS ABOUT 4.5 INCHES WHEN I GOT RID OF HIM. HE ATE EVERYTHING..DEFINATLY NOT REEF SAFE ALL MY SHRIMP AND ALL THE GOBIES WERE EATEN..HE WAS COOL BUT NOT COOL ENOUGH TO HAVE 6 DOLLAR SHRIMP AND FISH DINNERS....DONT GET ONE IMO

[ficklefins]

Hawaiian_boi,

You have you CAPS LOCK ON.

[fishykid9212]

OK lol IM DEFINATELY NOT gettin one

[hawaiian_boi]

sorry

[ejmeier]

Fire shrimp are pretty high on the "coolness" scale, though not a fish. Otherwise, typically the weirder the fish, the less reef safe it is. :p There are some cool looking wrasses though, might want to look around online for something cool in that family.

[Bebo77]

get a pseudo...

http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=41&pCatId=1237

[piscivorous]

You'll eventually come to the same conclusion I have...you'll just need to have two different tanks. My initial interest in salt water tanks were the volitans....but then my interests were also really towards a lot of the inverts etc. I think the lion will have to wait for a 2nd tank down the road. I'll start off with some small fish in a softie tank with some giant clams. Someday down the road perhaps I'll get a 2nd, larger tank, and have those volitans I've always liked.

[jbittner]

Buy a small dwarf lion and don't allow him to eat live foods. Feed him only prepared foods and there will be decrease in agressive behavior. I have had my dwarf lion for 3 years in a 30 gal hex with a Nemo and a blue chromis

[JENnKerry]

Dwarf lions are great. THey can be kept with your current fish as long as they can't fit in its mouth. As far as being reef safe, they are coral safe but will make short work of your inverts, especially any shrimp.
It is not a good idea to feed them any freshwater feeder fish. This is why a lot of them die frequently in captivity.

[tangreef68]

it depends how big your fish are, anything that can fit inside the lion's mouth will be eaten. the blue tang and foxface should be fine though

[Loralie]

They deliver a pretty painful sting. My son found out first hand ...litterally

[Swanwillow]

look into leaf-fish.

they get colorful, still have the "it can sting ya" coolness aspect to it

can be kept and also hunt in packs

and only get around 4 inches!!!

[fishykid9212]

leave fish, never heard of it, sounds cool though

[Swanwillow]

not leave fish... leaf fish.

taenionatus triacanthus (I think thats how its spelt!)

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=238

[Kinetic]

other interesting animals are scorpians and angler/frogs. they all eat fish =)

a fumanchu lionfish is the smallest, though it may eat clownfish =/

[Swanwillow]

yeah...

but the leaf-fish won't, but you have to get them lots of live shrimp-ghost shrimp, stuff like that.

[fishykid9212]

well I was thinking, what if I get a very small lionfish like 3"? I can worry about what fish it is going to eat after it grows, right?

[Kinetic]

fishykid: fumanchu lionfish. Didn't I already post? I think there is selective reading going on here. Fumanchu lionfish's full size is about 3.5", so unless it's an adult it will be 3" or smaller.

As long as it's body is larger than a fish, it may be able to eat it.

I've read a lot of people keeping a fumanchu with clownfish (adult ocellaris) without a problem. Baby clowns will probably be hunted at night. If they're well fed they won't go for fish that are borderline large.

Plus, out of the dwarf lionfish, the fumanchu is the cooolest and most unique looking IMO.

[fishykid9212]

ok thanks, but I have never bought anything live online, and My fish store won't have that, where do you reccomend getting it?

[Kinetic]

Ask your fish store to order it for you. Don't buy it online. Once your fish store gets it in stock, have them QT it for awhile until it starts to eat. They ship very badly, so it is very important to find one healthy. Any good fish store will understand that fumanchu's ship poorly and will definately do this for you. At least 4 of the LFS's I've gone to and asked said they would do this for me for sure.

One LFS has 4 of them, and it's a small little LFS. They get them regularily because customers want them. Just goto your LFS and have them order it.

Don't buy online =P Plus they all vary in color, sometimes you can get some with florescent blue on their fins. Some are brown, some are very red. go check it out. it will be difficult to find one you like, but you won't regret it. This hobby is all about patience.

[fishykid9212]

I wish you were right but I highley doubt my fish store will order it. :( I was just thinking of getting a dwarf lion when I can find one that's very small and worry about it after it grows, what do you think? As long as it doesn't sting any other fish.

[Kinetic]

I wouldn't recommend it. Why don't you go ask the fish store before assuming? They might just do it.

Otherwise if you want to buy online, liveaquaria or marinedepotlive are very good.

Don't compromise and settle for something that will eat your fish. Why worry later? It grows fast btw. You'll have to worry sooner than later. Other fish won't get stung, unless they try to eat it or attack it.

Dn't get a dwarf, it will eat your fish sooner than you think. Plus there are about 8 different dwarf lionfish: zebra, mobasa, fuzzy, fumanchu, etc. They're all somewhat different.

goto wetwebmedia and figure out which one you want. Maybe it will be small enough.

[ejmeier]

The lionfish that I had (the one that ate my clown) was a FuManCu lionfish as well. He was easily 5" long. IME, they are bigger than 3" - I don't know where you got that 3" max length. He ate a tomato clownfish that was probably 2.5" in length.

But, I don't know, he seemed pretty tame most of the time. I had a scooter blenny in there too, and honestly, the blenny was the most incompetent swimmer, and just lazily swam in front of the lion all the time. He never got eaten.

But, IMO, if you care about the fish you have in there right now, I wouldn't add one. To me, it would just be too risky. Kinda like keeping a pet wolf or something. Never really quite tamed. If you are willing to risk the other fish (sounds like you are set on a lionfish of some sort) then go for it.

[Swanwillow]

and, personally...

I have a crappy LFS, and wouldn't LET them put anything in my tanks, even after the 300% mark-up. I used to work there, and I KNOW that I have a better chance at ordering online than through them.


liveaquaria.com
themarinecenter.com <---my FAVORTIE!!!

[Kinetic]

that sucks that you guys have crappy LFS's. I have about 10 within 30 minutes driving from my house, with only 1 that sucks.

[zmalexander]

The biggest problem most folks have with lions is their tendency to overfeed them. As long as you only feed 2-3 times/week at MOST, they can work in a reef. (And as long as they don't eat your other fishies!
Zac

[fishykid9212]

If I get a small dwarf lion and take out my ocelarric clown and blue damsel, will I be safe? The smallest fish would be a 2" chromis. Will it work?

[ejmeier]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6524816#post6524816 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishykid9212
If I get a small dwarf lion and take out my ocelarric clown and blue damsel, will I be safe? The smallest fish would be a 2" chromis. Will it work?
A 2" chromis? Notice a pattern at all forming in this thread? :D

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6508788#post6508788 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ejmeier
He won't sting them, but he *will* inhale them. :D Just like popcorn.and<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6508752#post6508752 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gobie
I wouldn’t put a lion in your tank they will eat your clowns. If it will fit in their mouth they will eat it. and<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6510648#post6510648 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JENnKerry
Dwarf lions are great. THey can be kept with your current fish as long as they can't fit in its mouth. and<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6512186#post6512186 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tangreef68
it depends how big your fish are, anything that can fit inside the lion's mouth will be eaten. and<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6521415#post6521415 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by koden
As long as it's body is larger than a fish, it may be able to eat it.
Sorry, I just couldn't resist doing that. ;)

[Kinetic]

mr meier here just gave it to you straight. good work with the quotes ;)

[3rotorFD]

i love my dwarf lion:D I'd pet him if he wasn't poisonus:rollface:

[3rotorFD]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6524063#post6524063 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by koden
that sucks that you guys have crappy LFS's. I have about 10 within 30 minutes driving from my house, with only 1 that sucks. ib6thavenueaquariumistheonethatsucks

[Kinetic]

lol, ok then that means 2.

concordaquariumalsosucksforlivestock,drygoodsaren'tbad

[sandman450f]

a bit off off topic, but on the subject of lion fish, a year or so back my buddy had one, a violitan and I had a porcupine puffer, both came down w/ cases of ich and they went into quarantine together into a 40g. The puffer was a little more than half the size of the lionfish. The first couple of days all was well and the ich was nearly gone, both fish marginally eating. Later we noticed the lionfish fins and spines werent looking right, well right in front of our eyes the puffer would circle the lionfish, the lion fish would keep maneuvering to keep his spines pointed at the puffer, then the puffer would attack and bite off the lion's spines, The lionfish would make a sudden move and try to bite or jab the puffer, the puffer would puff a little and start circling again. It seems cruel now, but we continued to watch for a little while fascinated by this duel. After a while, we found some acrylic and put a divider in the QT. Well the Lion fish a good 6-7 long died the next day, and the puffer went a few days later. Suffice to say, those are two that may not be a good idea to keep together.

[LTJGAlex]

I have a small predator tank in which I originally kept a fuzzy dwarf lion. He did wonderfully for about a month, readily ate silversides and swam frequently. One day he blanched white, stopped eating and died 3 days later. I have no idea how it happened. My parameters were ok. Lions are also highly sensitive to copper, as they're scaleless.

Now I have a leaffish in there, and he's been going strong for 2 months. It's true, they are very, very cool. They don't grow beyond 4", don't require swimming room (many keep them in tanks from 5g to 20g as long as they're the only inhabitant) and they have those awesome rhinestone mirror eyes. And yes, they are relatives of lions as evidenced from the similar head shape, so that might satiate you. They're expensive though. I think I got mine for $60. He also does NOT take frozen.

I also have an angler who is similarly awesome and easy to care for.

As to the issue of lion tankmates...

NO fish under 5"
NO crustaceans
Corals are OK

[techigirl78]

Personally, I wouldn't risk my clownfish. As others said, maybe its a good time for a new tank.

Sandman - I think all puffers are classified as fin nippers and definitely should be kept with lions are any other fish with larger fins.