65 Gallon Dwarf Lionfish Build

mrsaltwaterguy · Feb 11, 2016

Hi all,

Looking for your expertise in my new 65 gallon Lionfish build. The tank will be the general 65 gallon tank 36*18*24 and is set up to be a "peninsula" style tank where I'll be able to view it from 3 sides. As such I've tried to make my rock work have space on each side so there will be room for the fish to swim as well as have about 8 inches on the top where there is no rock. (I'll post pictures when I get home). I'm pretty set on getting a dwarf lionfish and I already have a snowflake eel that will be one of the tank mates. Any suggestions for other tank mates? I know my girlfriend was a fan of the wrasse's but I'm not sure if they will work due to their slender body shape. I'd be more inclined to have something with some color and a tendency to add movement to the tank. How have you all fared with having your Lionfish out swimming in the open?

rayn · Feb 13, 2016

Make sure you set up your rock work with caves. Lions like to perch. Once they learn you as the food provider, they are like puppies and come out whenever you approach the tank, or come in the room. A snow flake may get a little big for a 65, so be warned. Have good filteration as preds are a bit messy.

Possibly a smaller tang, like a kole tang, would add color and help keep excess algae under control too.

QT the lion for sure. This gives you the timeto wean it onto frozen food before adding to the DT.

FeliciaLynn · Feb 15, 2016

Sounds like you have a good plan. As Rayn pointed out, don't just focus on having open swimming space when you do your rock scape. You also want to give the lionfish lots of perches. It seems counterintuitive, but the move hiding spots you give them, the more secure they'll feel. That means they'll be out and about more than they would be in a very open tank. My 3 lionfish love to hang upside down from the rocks, so make sure you have ledges and/or caves. The dwarf species aren't predominately open water swimmers, but as Rayn said, once they learn you are the food source, they will come out and be very interactive any time you're near the tank.

In terms of tank mates, a large wrasse could work depending on the size of the lionfish. I tried a large leopard wrasse, which worked for several months until I went out of town for 5 days over Thanksgiving and didn't feed the lionfish while I was gone. The leopard wrasse disappeared (no body or other signs of death), so I assume my big fu manchu lionfish got hungry and ate it. They are more than capable of eating anything 3/4 of their size or smaller if they want to. To replace the wrasse, I got a tomini tang that is on the smaller size, but too big for any of my lionfish to eat. Also the tangs have a better body shape compared to wrasses. Another option besides a tomini or kole tang would be a dwarf angel like a flame or coral beauty. Once of those would be great if you don't have clams or too many LPS corals to be worried about nipping.

mrsaltwaterguy · Feb 28, 2016

I've finally added my lionfish and he seems to be doing well. Any suggestions on getting him to eat? I've tried several different frozen items but he has no interest.

rayn · Feb 28, 2016

Did you QT or observation tank him? Point of sayin that, it's a good opportunity to get them to eat frozen. There is a weaning technique of going from live to frozen with a stealth stick.

If it won't eat anything frozen, try some live ghost shrimp. They are fresh water. Feed them first and he will get the nutrition from them. You can try krill in limited amounts, but not a steady diet of them.

FeliciaLynn · Feb 28, 2016

mrsaltwaterguy said:
I've finally added my lionfish and he seems to be doing well. Any suggestions on getting him to eat? I've tried several different frozen items but he has no interest.

When you purchased the lionfish, did you check to see if it would eat live food at all? Its always good to make sure a lionfish is healthy before purchasing by making sure that it has interest in eating some type of food. Did you get some live food to have on hand in preparation of the new lionfish? They're generally always going to be eating live only and it could take months to get it weaned onto frozen depending on the fish. If you don't have live food on hand, you'll need to go get some ghost shrimp locally or if you can't find any locally, you can order some from Floridapets.com (they sell the saltwater ghost shrimp as feeders).

Here's a thread I wrote up on my experience with weaning several lionfish onto frozen food:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-wean-lionfish-onto-frozen-food.233027/

You'll want to have a variety of options to offer such as PE mysis, silversides (cut up if the lionfish is small), chunks of fresh seafood such as squid, clam, scallop, salmon, prawns, etc.

mrsaltwaterguy · Feb 28, 2016

I ordered mine from LA so I wasn't able to observe him prior to receiving him in the mail. I picked up a nice size bunch of ghost shrimp today and the lionfish went after them immediately. I'll be sure to read that thread on slowly weaning them over but for now I'm content with just feeding him live. Thank you for all the suggestions.

mrsaltwaterguy · Mar 2, 2016

mrsaltwaterguy · Mar 7, 2016

Weekend success! Thank you Felicia, I followed your guide and he is now eating frozen mysis. It's amazing how much he eats for such a little guy. It is a struggle not to constantly feed him as he continuously follows / stares at me whenever I'm near the tank.

FeliciaLynn · Mar 7, 2016

mrsaltwaterguy said:
Weekend success! Thank you Felicia, I followed your guide and he is now eating frozen mysis. It's amazing how much he eats for such a little guy. It is a struggle not to constantly feed him as he continuously follows / stares at me whenever I'm near the tank.

Awesome! I'm so glad my guide helped! You sure got him converted fast! He sounds like my dwarf zebra who would eat until he blows and up and is always begging for food. They have such personalities don't they? Very interactive fish!