I REALLY want a lionfish....

[matman]

So in coming months i am going to begin to set up my 65 gallon tank.

I was told that lionfish are not fish to be kept in a reef tank. Now, if i did Fish Only, and I got a lion fish....is there ANYTHING I could put in with it? And is there anyway i could put it in a reef tank?

 

[Fluff]

Lionfish are reef safe. In "safe" I mean that they won't bother corals, sponges or anemones and such. They aren't safe with any mobile inverts you may have like shrimp. I've never had mine go after snails so I think they would be safe. Not sure about crabs. Lions can be kept with almost anything. As long as it's big enough it can't be swallowed whole. Angels, tangs, eels, some large butterflies and other lions are all possible tank mates. In a 65, I would think about a dwarf lion(s).

 

[specialk]

They can be kept with corals but not with shrimp, crabs and other inverts, I would also only go a Dwarf Lion in a 65. BUT BUT you can go 2 dwarfs such as a Fuzzy Dwarf & Zebra Dwarf or Fuzzy & Fu manchu and so on. So you can go more than 1 Dwarf just not 2 Fuzzy dwarfs together in a 65, hope this makes sense.

Lions do not mix with Angels, Puffers, Triggers or EEls!

Here go read this article on the different Lions http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/index.htm

Hope this helps,
Kaye

 

[Fluff]

Lions do not mix with Angels, Puffers, Triggers or EEls!

I've never had a problem with my lion and eel living together. They've lived together for over a year now. While this may not be a good setup for everyone, it's worked well for me. :?

 

[Fluff]

Here is a compatibility chart you can use as a guide. Keeping in mind not all fish are gonna follow the norm, it's a good general guideline.
We also have a compatibility chart here on AA you could check out.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/SWCompatibility.php

 

[specialk]

They can be kept with some of the less aggressive eels, yet a lion can be kept with some of the less aggressive triggers such as Pinktail or blue throat.

Kaye

 

[jmmiller]

One day while I was at my lfs I saw a large zebra eel come out from under the rocks and grab a very large lion by its tail and pull it back under the rocks. The guys at the store had to rush to save the lion but it didnt make it. They told me that the two had been living together for over 2 years and never had a problem. I was under the impression too that lions and eels could exist toghether but I guess you never know when an eel might get hungry!

 

[specialk]

The problems I have read with mixing eels and lions:

A) EEls can eat lions usually its head first.

B) Lions can sting eels when the eel goes after the lion and the EEl dies.

Either way it can be a potential problem, thats why I just advise not to mix the two. There are people that keep Lions and Clowns in the same tank and have for over a year but one day the clowns are gone.

Kaye