Zebra lionfish vs. Dwarf fuzzy lionfish

tierbett

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I am setting up a 36 gallon tank that I am planning on only housing a lionfish in. I was planning on getting the dwarf fuzzy lionfish, but recently read about the zebra. I was wondering if one was better than the other in terms of hardiness and training to eat frozen food. ~thanks








Current tank info

55 gallon FOWLR
 

Dixie_reefer

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I too wanted a fuzzy at first. I went to lfs to pick one up and then I saw the zebra so I got him instead. To me he just looked better, the fuzzies were brown and dull (there are different colors of fuzzies though). Normally fuzzies are easier to wean than zebras. It was fairly easy to wean my guy, here's a link that helped me.

LionfishLair.com - Library

I fed him gut loaded ghost shrimp for a couple weeks to get him fattened up. Then I started freezing the shrimp to get him used to dead prey. Then I started giving him krill heads and then pieces of krill flesh. Now I go back and forth between krill and silverside chunks. He now takes any food I offer him without hesitation. He only takes the food that is o the stealth stick and ignores any living fish in the tank. If your guy refuses food, starve him for a few days, a hungry lion is a brave lion.

 
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tierbett

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I too wanted a fuzzy at first. I went to lfs to pick one up and then I saw the zebra so I got him instead. To me he just looked better, the fuzzies were brown and dull (there are different colors of fuzzies though). Normally fuzzies are asier to wean than zebras. It was fairly easy to wean my guy, here's a link that helped me.

LionfishLair.com - Library

I fed him gut loaded ghost shrimp for a couple weeks to get him fattened up. Then I started freezing the shrimp to get him used to dead prey. Then I started giving him krill heads and then pieces of krill flesh. Now I go back and forth between krill and silverside chunks. He now takes any food I offer him without hesitation. He only takes the food that is o the stealth stick and ignores any living fish in the tank. If your guy refuses food, starve him for a few days, a hungry lion is a brave lion.

Thank you for your advise. I will probably also end up getting the zebra. I like the way they look more than the fuzzies.

I had seen that article before and thought I would try using one of those methods. I was planning on feeding it the ghost shrimp in the beginning and switching over to silversides.

Another question. What size tank do you have and if you have any, how much live rock is in it?

- Thank you for the response
 

Dixie_reefer

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Thanks! He's such a camera hog and always shows off for me whenever I'm around the tank. His home is a 30 long with around 30lbs of rock.

 
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tierbett

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Thanks! He's such a camera hog and always shows off for me whenever I'm around the tank. His home is a 30 long with around 30lbs of rock.


Ok thanks.

One other thing. Does he like a lot of water flow or does he stay more in the calmer areas?
 

Rob Top1

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In a 30??!!??
While they are dwarfs they still get 6-8"
I know some lititure will suggest a 30 as a min tank size. I hope you have the ability to upgrade when they push the limits of your tank. Not so much the physical space but the water volume limitations. Preditors like lions eat a ton and produce a ton as well.
Amazing fish for sure I love everyone I have. Enjoy them!
I would suggest having distilled white vinigar in your stand for when you get stuck by a spine. It helps brake down the proteins that make up their venom
 
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tierbett

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In a 30??!!??
While they are dwarfs they still get 6-8"
I know some lititure will suggest a 30 as a min tank size. I hope you have the ability to upgrade when they push the limits of your tank. Not so much the physical space but the water volume limitations. Preditors like lions eat a ton and produce a ton as well.
Amazing fish for sure I love everyone I have. Enjoy them!
I would suggest having distilled white vinigar in your stand for when you get stuck by a spine. It helps brake down the proteins that make up their venom

I do plan on eventually upgrading. I also read that soaking the sting in hot water helps break the venom down.
 
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tierbett

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Also, are there any other things I should know about them. I have read countless forums and articles but is there anything you would like to add?

- Thanks
 

tyler1503

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In a 30??!!??
While they are dwarfs they still get 6-8"
I know some lititure will suggest a 30 as a min tank size. I hope you have the ability to upgrade when they push the limits of your tank. Not so much the physical space but the water volume limitations. Preditors like lions eat a ton and produce a ton as well.
Amazing fish for sure I love everyone I have. Enjoy them!
I would suggest having distilled white vinigar in your stand for when you get stuck by a spine. It helps brake down the proteins that make up their venom

They say that, but very rarely actually reach that size. Most stay relatively small. I haven't had too many in the past, so this is based on my limited experience with only a few lions. The largest one I've seen was around 5 inches with the largest I've owned being around 4.
Good tip with the vinegar :) also hot water is supposed to work well. As hot as you can handle without burning yourself.
Awesome fish!
 
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tierbett

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They say that, but very rarely actually reach that size. Most stay relatively small. I haven't had too many in the past, so this is based on my limited experience with only a few lions. The largest one I've seen was around 5 inches with the largest I've owned being around 4.
Good tip with the vinegar :) also hot water is supposed to work well. As hot as you can handle without burning yourself.
Awesome fish!

Thank you

One more thing, and this is for anyone, would I be able to house a emerald crab or two in the tank. With the lion or will it eat the crabs. I know they eat shrimp, I wasn't sure about the crabs.
 

Dixie_reefer

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In a 30??!!??
While they are dwarfs they still get 6-8"
I know some lititure will suggest a 30 as a min tank size. I hope you have the ability to upgrade when they push the limits of your tank. Not so much the physical space but the water volume limitations. Preditors like lions eat a ton and produce a ton as well.
Amazing fish for sure I love everyone I have. Enjoy them!
I would suggest having distilled white vinigar in your stand for when you get stuck by a spine. It helps brake down the proteins that make up their venom

Yes in a 30. It is perfectly adequate for him and the yellow watchman that is currently residing with him as long as I keep up on my regular water changes.
 

xrayjeeper83

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Thank you

One more thing, and this is for anyone, would I be able to house a emerald crab or two in the tank. With the lion or will it eat the crabs. I know they eat shrimp, I wasn't sure about the crabs.
I have an emerald crab with my 2 lions and they haven't even noticed it. When they get hungry they start to swim at the top looking up waiting for me to open the top. My yellow fuzzy will spit at me if I open it and dont feed him
 
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tierbett

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I have an emerald crab with my 2 lions and they haven't even noticed it. When they get hungry they start to swim at the top looking up waiting for me to open the top. My yellow fuzzy will spit at me if I open it and dont feed him

Thank you. I am glad to hear that. I have two emerald crabs in my 55 gallon and was hoping I could put in with the lion.
 

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That fish will out grow and eat all your fish in your tank... Eventually.....
 

Rob Top1

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Hot water helps break down the venom as well, yes. However that isnt practical to keep in your stand and timing is eveything. The sooner you get vinigar or hot water on the effected area the less pain you will ultimately be in. unfortunately I am speaking from a place of authority on this. I prefer to house my charges in ideal environments, not "perfectly adequate" while I don't have any dwarf at the moment when I did I had a harem in a 75 the alpha male was easily over 6" almost 7" just a hair shorter than the length of my hand. I might go back to keeping Dendrochirus some time as a lot of the other Scorpaenidae fish I want either don't get large enough or are not available in larger sizes at purchase to go on my venom tank. Full grown Volitan and Scorpaena Plumieri are just too aggressive for the small Inimicus sp. I can find in the trade.
 

xrayjeeper83

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That fish will out grow and eat all your fish in your tank... Eventually.....
I had 2 clowns, tailspot blenny, and small wrasses with my two lions. One is a Radiata Lionfish and the other a dwarf never lost a single fish. The now live by themselves only cause I finally got my FOWLR running and I'm turning their tank into a poison reef tank
 

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