My friends 5 gal salt water

[Psychocircus91]

I was thinking some cleaner shrimp, a sexy shrimp or two that goby and maybe a pom pom crab or two, is that reasonable?

i think cleaner shrimp pick on any other shrimp.

maybe some sexy anemone shrimp, some peppermint shrimp, a couple dwarf crabs

 

[54seaweed]

A Lion fish 5 gal REALLY
that's like putting a 6 ft guy 250lbs in a foot locker

all those shrimp will be dinner for the lion in a tank that small

 

[AbsoluteFaye]

That's def a Kenya. It should be fine. Just upright it. That poor lion looks so cramped IMO.

 

[Convict2161]

Agreed. The lion fish NEEDS to be re homed. I can't imagine being that cramped. There are plenty of nano fish to choose from and you could always go the pistol shrimp/goby route also. There fun to watch once they pair up. My orange spotted goby has paired with my PS and its really fun to watch.

 

[Beengirl]

I was thinking some cleaner shrimp, a sexy shrimp or two that goby and maybe a pom pom crab or two, is that reasonable?

Cleaner shrimp get to be a good size, and their tentacles get quite long for a 5g IMO.

If it were me, I would take the lion to the LFS, get store credit, get a few sexy shrimp, a Pom Pom crab and a pistol shrimp/goby combo. Yellow watchman gobies stay fairly small and there are some very small gobies that pair with cAndy cane pistols.

 

[Bettafanatic]

+1 to rehoming the lion. WOuld you like to be housed in a closet? I doubt your lionfish does either. I'd rehome it. Shrimp-goby simbiosis is pretty fascinating so you can try that. If this is your first saltwater tank, you may want to upgrade to something bigger like a 20-30 gallon. For a beginner, salinity will be very hard to keep stable in such a small tank and if you want shrimp you have to maintain a stable salinity. You can try it though. It can be done, but it'll be tough.

 

[Mr Guilefish]

If i was to go the shrimp and goby route, can i just feed the goby flake food and the shrimp a wafer now and then?

 

[Psychocircus91]

Okay guys he got the message, some of you are coming off a bit hostile. He did not choose the lionfish for the tank.

 

[MacDracor]

I really like Beengirl's suggested list. Pom Pom, sexy's, and a pistol/goby combo. That should be plenty of animals for a five gal, and provide plenty of interest.
Kenya trees will go limp like that when stressed, but to give you an idea here, when transporting my tank, my Kenya trees were exposed to nighttime air temps as low as 45 F, at up to 60mph, for a half hour. They were flat against the rock and dried out to rock hard by the time I refilled the tank. They are now even bigger and fluffier than before. Tough to kill.
I'm glad you've decided to rehome the lion. Fish growth is not fully understood, but we do know with relative surety that it can be stunted by cramped quarters, with deleterious effects on health.
Plus his being there almost guarantees you can't add anything else. He'd eat anything small enough for that tank. Lol

 

[Mr Guilefish]

What about a fire dart fish?

 

[Psychocircus91]

What about a fire dart fish?

I might get flamed for saying it, but I think one would be fine. From what I've seen they typically stay by one cave and swim mostly in place.

 

[MacDracor]

I don't know. I had one when I first started out and while he did have one small area he preferred, he also travelled the entire tank actively. I'd probably say ten or larger for one but that's just me.

 

[Beengirl]

If i was to go the shrimp and goby route, can i just feed the goby flake food and the shrimp a wafer now and then?

The shrimp and goby will stay in the burrow mostly, so I use a turkey Baster and put some food (flakes, sinking pellets, mysis, cyclopeeze, etc) in to the burrow. They share the food. Cuz they're BFFs. Sexy shrimp will eat these really tiny sinking pellets. The Pom Pom will scavenge, but I also give mine a little mysis when I see her and she gobbles it down.