Dwarf lion fish tank mates

[Macenzi]

I'm going to order one in August and I want him to have 1 tank mate that is the same size or a school of smaller fish ! Any ideas?

 

[Macenzi]

Also what do they require in their tank ?

 

[vlangel]

Even dwarf lions get pretty big and it is astounding how large they can open their mouth. Sadly they will eat their roommates if they can fit them in their mouth so definitely no fish that stay small. No shrimp or crabs either since they are a favorite food!

 

[vlangel]

They are good with other so called aggressive fish like puffers, or triggers. You can also put them with tangs, butterflies and angels although their meaty diet puts quite a bioload on the tank and most butterflies and angel want a little better water quality than say puffers.

 

[Macenzi]

I was thinking about a puffer called blue spotted

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

What size tank do you have?

 

[wbrown]

any eel will do fine. Triggers and Rabbitfish, lookdowns, and larger wrasses.
larger hermits and snails do well, with the type of food that the lionfish will want you need a clean up crew, just larger specimens.
I have an aggressives tank with a fu manchu lion, fuzzy dwarf lion, a volitan lion, and a couple snowflake eels. A Foxface and a trigger also.
I have a 40 gallon refugium and a skimmer thats rated 150 gallons higher than the total volume of display and sump.
I feed table shrimp and squid, needless to say skimmate is disgusting. :)

 

[Marshall O]

They are good with other so called aggressive fish like puffers, or triggers. You can also put them with tangs, butterflies and angels although their meaty diet puts quite a bioload on the tank and most butterflies and angel want a little better water quality than say puffers.

From what I have seen, most of the fish you listed don't mix with Lionfish. Fish like Triggers, Puffers, and even Angels can pick at the spines of LF, so best not to mix them.

 

[vlangel]

From what I have seen, most of the fish you listed don't mix with Lionfish. Fish like Triggers, Puffers, and even Angels can pick at the spines of LF, so best not to mix them.

That has not been my experience but I am by no means an expert.

 

[Macenzi]

Tank will be 46 bow front tank. With live rock and live sand onky

 

[Macenzi]

So no major tank requirements

 

[vlangel]

That will be alright for a while but it will eventually outgrow a tank that size. You will want a fairly good filter to handle the messiness of feeding frozen krill, mysis, clams and other meaty foods. A lot of little lions need to be trained onto frozen foods. I have fed ghost shrimp until I got them eating the frozen.

 

[Macenzi]

How much live rock do I actually need

 

[vlangel]

How much live rock do I actually need

A general rule is one lb per gallon in a FOWLR system.

 

[eatbreakfast]

A dwarf lion will not outgrow a 46 bow as long as the filtration can handle it. The lion will reach about 6", and is not an overly active swimmer.

Any tankmate must be slightly larger than the body of the lion minus fins, and one that will not nip the lion fish's spines.
The best tankmates IMO would be a few species of dwarf lions.

 

[vlangel]

I worked at a LFS and they had dwarf lion fish that were 8" in body not counting fins. I know they mostly just hover but I'd feel bad seeing a fish that big in an aquarium that size myself.

 

[Marshall O]

I believe Fuzzy Dwarf's (Dendrochirus brachypterus) only grow to 6"-7", while D. Zebra's can grow larger (8"-9").

 

[eatbreakfast]

It depends on the species of dwarf lion. Fu manchu, Dendrochirus biocellatus only grows 4.5", Hawaiian lion, Dendrochirus barberi only 5-6", Fuzzy dwarf, Dendrochirus brachypterus 5-6", those are the true dwarf species in the Genus Dendrochirus. In the Genus Pterois there are species that only get around 8" such as antennata, mombasae, and radiata.

It would take quite awhile if ever for the dwarf species to outgrow the OP's tank.