# Lion Fish!



## *Blushing_Spider* (Jul 15, 2010)

does anyone on here keep lion fish??? im curious and would like to know what they are like as pets??? thanks.


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## Pearson Design (Jan 21, 2010)

i have one at the moment, used to have 3 x foot long ones

getting 2 more large 8-10 inch ones next week.

they are amazing fish, by far my fave!
bear in mind they are messy, and also venemous! i can tell you from experience it hurts a lot and ist something id wish on anyone!

what species are you looking at?
the dwarf species are good but in my opinion the volitans are by far the best. radiata are also good and active fish.

as for inhabitants and tank mates, anything that wont fit in its mouth, and trust me they cvan fit a lot in there!

mine will be living with a red toothed trigger and maybe another snowflake eel if i can get a firmly fitting lid on my tanks.

they can be ket with corals but they do tend to sit and hang about, sometimes in funny angles on all sorts, so can damage more delicate corals.

heres a pic of my littlest one


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## Adam98150 (Jan 12, 2009)

Firstly, I wouldn't think of any fish as "pets". Secondly, they need a marine environment. I.E. They come from a tropical saltwater habitat.

They're fairly interesting, predatory fish. Maximum length varies depending on the species. I owned a Fu Manchu Lion, one of the most colourful. Striking red, staying small in size.

Are you thinking of getting one? Because, seriously, it's not as simple as that.

Here's a Fu Manchu . .









And a Volitan Lionfish . .









Now, the top reaches a maximum of 4 - 5 inch, the bottom can reach over a foot (12 inch) in length. The Volitan Lionfish is the one you see in the pet shops, the one most commonly sold. This is likely the species you're talking about, they need a fair bit of room. 75 gallon or so of water, which is realistically expensive to cater for.

These are my favourite fish of all time, it's why I got into the marine hobby. But try looking into other species of lionfish, not just that one! There are Fuzzy Dwarfs, Russels Lion, Spotfin Lion . . and so forth. Also, if you do decide you want to spend all that money and buy a huge reef system. You're going to want more fish in their, not just one. So look at other compatible marine fish too.


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## *Blushing_Spider* (Jul 15, 2010)

yeah it was the volitan lionfish i was thinking about. i had a tropical tank for years and recently gave it up, my grandparents had a marine tank so i can get plenty of advice from them. i am aware of the upkeep of marine tanks and i know they can be very hard to keep, but i have always loved lion fish and i do love a good challenge. im not thinking about getting one yet but i may think about it in the future. though atm i have too many pets :blush:. btw your fish look awsome!


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## Pearson Design (Jan 21, 2010)

lionfish are one of the easiest marine fish to keep 
they do require plenty of turning space and rocks to perch on.

like i said, they are messy because they are large and therefore produce large amounts of waste.

volitans need somewhere in the region of 280l/75ish gallon aquarium and will eat a varied diet of shellfish, muscles etc.
chopped lancefish are good too.

do not feed goldfish to them, ever! not only is this cruel but the goldfish have no beneficial nutrients for the lionfish, plus goldfish have a layer of slime which can be bad for the lionfish.

saltwater is different of course, you need to watch ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, pH, salinity/specific gravity and phosphates etc.
sounds hard, but it really isnt.
salinity should be around the 1.024 mark, you can get hydrometers/refractometers to test this easily.
temp is same as most tropical freshwater, mine are always between 24 and 28 degrees c.
lighting isnt as important for lionfish, mine all have standard T5 marine whites.
filtration is key with lionfish. having lots of live rock will ovbiously help but you will need external filtration to remove particles and bits of uneaten food etc.
i run internal koralia fans and 2 external canistor filters with spray bars at each end.

seriously, dont be put off by the mumbo jumbo, it really isnt as hard as people make out. if you want to go into reef aquariums then thats a totally different ball game 

heres my reef tank 









and my coral frag tank, currently housing the lion and trigger until next week when the 2 new lions arrive and all go in newly setup tank


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## *Blushing_Spider* (Jul 15, 2010)

Aw wow stunning tank. Well when I look into it in the future I know where to start my research ^_^


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