Considering some Lionfish

[BBurrows13]

Hello all,

first off, for those of you who are curious what happened after all my previous 'dilemmas' a few months ago, everything turned out well and my aquarium is at the best its ever been at.
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so, i live in the Bahamas, and down here there is a rising population of wild lionfish and the marine people are encouraging locals to catch them, either to kill, eat, or keep in an aquarium... and since i seem to lack fish at the moment... i thought what better way to spruce up my aquarium

so I have a 75g aquarium, a Fluval 405 canister filter, a great aeration setup, about 30lbs of live rock, and a decent light setup.

What all do i need to consider before i go out and get these lionfish? how many can i get? what to feed them? etc.

thanks alot

 

[BCT182]

Just be cautious of the sting. They can open wide and will eat fish they can fit in their mouth. Sometimes even bigger than their mouth and then the fish gets stuck and both die.

Also they will continue to eat long after they should stop so don't assume if he's still eating then its ok. They have a slow digestive track and will eat so much they become impacted. The food rots inside the belly and starts a bacterial infection that ultimately kills the lion.

 

[slim_jim989]

with your size tank i wouldnt go with that many lions They tend to get big fast within a couple months. You could try feeding them with saltwater minnows or small cromis just dont do damsels lol they dont always get eaten. Also i personally have been stung by my lionfish and its didnt poison me it just like poked me and i immediatly went to the sink got the water hot and held it under neath it for a little while just in case. There awsome fish dont get me wrong but with only 30lbs of rock in there you might be fine with two so as long as they dont want to fight each other. The same species has a tendency to fight each other. So good luck

 

[Sascha D]

Despite popular belief, lions dont get their main food source from fish, its actually from shrimp and the like. Lions are ambush hunters, meaning they arent going to be swimming all day. WIth all those fins its hard work! They arent fast enough to chase fish around like a grouper or a snapper, but if one swims close enough its as good as gone.

Almost all successful lion keepers train their fish to accept dead/frozen krill, shrimp and silvers.

 

[seattle989]

If you wanted more than one make sure they are of equal size for obvious reason like one doesn't try to eat the other . i ve seen several dwarf lionfish an rock fish residing in a a tank together no problem. for a 75 gallon tank i think one adult volition would suffice two might be pushing it especially with only 30lbs of rock ( they like caves)

Generally for my my antenna lionfish I usually go to a store buy 1 jumbo raw shrimp cut it up and feed that thru the week. I will continue to feed in one sitting until he forms a small pot belly that is when i know its time to stop. Buy an acrylic rod and train him to eating raw or frozen food. Might take awhile but be patient.

 

[slim_jim989]

i beg to differ on you statement bojangles. lion fish will go after and hunt during the night and sometimes day for there food. yes they do like shrimp but not always i have two scarlet shrimp in the same cave as hime for a month but my eel got hungry and ate them . i started off feeding him live minows would just toss a bunch in there and thn at night he would come out of his cave and then hunt them down. he would chase them across the tank as well. ive had my lion for 8 months now and havent changed my routine with him. I started to use goldfish a month back but then read an article in lee's marine fish discusson forum i think. about the different types of fats that fresh and saltwater fish store. so i have gone back to minows. my lion likes to hunt not be fed from a rod. yes he does ambush but only after he has swam and stalked his prey.

 

[windwaterwaves]

I have a voltan i've had for 8 years, he is 15" and i've kept him in a 75, not much room for anything else, doesn't need much light. His first 7 years were under regular daylight & actinic flourescent. He eats silversides about 4 or 5 twice a week. He is a character and spits water out of the tank to get attention. At 15" he could probably fit a fish 2" in diameter in his mouth, he strikes at anything I put in the tank for the first few days.. His current tank mates are a 9" nasotang, 3.5" maroon clown, and a 4" black spot damsel. I lost a hawkfish to him years ago. He was just moved to a 120... They grow fast.

Do what you can to wipe out the lionfish down there, they are voracious eaters and the Caribbean is not ready for them...

I dove out of Nassau (Sandals and Stuarts Cove), awesome diving... oh and of course the walk through of Atlantis.

 

[slim_jim989]

hey windwaterwaves fo you have a current pic of your lion lol and mine likes to do barrel rolls int his cave haha he is awsome to watch . and when mine is all flailed out is is almost the same size of a basket ball.

 

[Pentagona]

I would stick to dwarf species in a 75g, remember that an adult volitans can get up to about 15". Antennatas are nice and only grow to be about 8", or Fu Man Chus which will stay in the 4" range. I have a juvinile Antennata and an adult Fu Man Chu in my reef and they do quite well even with my cleaner shrimp, though this is not the norm. Getting them to eat frozen/prepared foods can be tough so take that into consideration.

 

[returnofsid]

Since you're hoping to catch a wild one, in your area, you'll be limited in species....I HOPE!! It seems that only one species has made it to your "neck of the woods." I sure hope they don't become as wide spread as some worry about. Has it been determined how they ended up in your area yet? Hobbyists releasing them into the wild, migrating to new areas, coming in in ship bilges? LOL. I hate to say it, but this is probably the result of hobbyists releasing them into non-native areas. Unfortunately, because of irresponsible hobbyists, and ill thought out plans by governmental agencies, there's now a bill before congress that is directly related to this sort of thing and, if passed, will essentially put an end to our hobby. It's highly unlikely that it'll pass at this time though.

 

[gotfish]

The NOAA believe these fish came from a private aquarium that was wrecked when hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992. By private aquarium, I'm pretty sure they mean an aquarium like the Seattle Aquarium. Apparently one of the tanks broke and 6 lionfish came up missing when all was said and done. They believe the fish spilled into Biscayne Bay. Here's an article about it. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,403361,00.html I'd say it's probably time to start putting a bounty on them like they did up here on the columbia river with the pikeminnow.

 

[returnofsid]

Ahhh I remember reading about that now. Thanks for refreshing my memory.

 

[Sascha D]

Heres a link to some basic information

http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/Breed_Profiles.aspx?aid=16303&cid=3680&search=

I wish I could find the link I was looking for, but I think its on my other computer's HD. Too bad I dont know how to get it out hehe.

 

[Sascha D]

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Pterois_volitans.html

 

[BBurrows13]

Since you're hoping to catch a wild one, in your area, you'll be limited in species....I HOPE!! It seems that only one species has made it to your "neck of the woods." I sure hope they don't become as wide spread as some worry about. Has it been determined how they ended up in your area yet? Hobbyists releasing them into the wild, migrating to new areas, coming in in ship bilges? LOL. I hate to say it, but this is probably the result of hobbyists releasing them into non-native areas. Unfortunately, because of irresponsible hobbyists, and ill thought out plans by governmental agencies, there's now a bill before congress that is directly related to this sort of thing and, if passed, will essentially put an end to our hobby. It's highly unlikely that it'll pass at this time though.

Yea, there is a aquarium themed resort down here and some are blaming it on them releasing the fish, however i think its a combination of the ship bilges, hobbyists, etc,,



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So I need to think about adding more rock to build caves im assuming???