Lion stocking for my 300g fowlr, need your help :)

[lion king]

I thought in Dr Marini's book he mentioned that mollies and guppies were fine for a treat but not healthy in the long run. Maybe the fat content was too high, or something like that. I plan to re-read it prior to buying my first lion, but I do appreciate hearing your experience as well.

I will tell you from personal experience I have kept lions 10 plus years on a diet of mollies and ghosties, period. I have known of only a few examples of people keeping lions more than 10 years on a dead only diet. And that was as I described, fresh seafood that included fatty fish, bones and shells and even guts. Some people have access to foods that others do not not, as an example in some Scandinavian countries they have access to other fresh fish that feed lions. People have a good hypothetical argument about the health considerations of mollies, guppies, and ghosties; yet they can't keep a lion alive for as much as 2 years.

You can see pics of a necropsy on my lions of 8 plus years in a thread Lions necropsy. These lions were likely over 10 years old as I had them almost 9 years. The tank was wiped out by a tank cleaner. You can see how little fat there was in their internal cavity, You can find dissections on youtube where they point out the high fat deposits in lions living in the wild. These lions lived the entire time with me on a mollies and ghosty diet. Their organs looked bright and fresh, the fu manchu was so old her ovaries were shrunken little peas.

 

[nldemo]

@lion king - I took a quick video of my 300gal. Do you think there is enough rockwork for two lions?

 

[Gp!]

@lion king - I took a quick video of my 300gal. Do you think there is enough rockwork for two lions?

You have the video set to private on YouTube so it won't play

 

[nldemo]

Sorry about that. Should be working now

 

[lion king]

Tank looks good. This is what I look for; areas where the lion can completely enclose himself in a cave or behind a cliff of rocks, with 2 lions you want multiple choices. I think your perching spots are covered with the separate rock structures, and even the center overflow will be used as a perch spot. People think by giving certain species that are cave dwellers too many hiding places that they will never see them. It is actually the opposite, without areas of complete hiding, the lions will become less active because they will feel unsafe. They will get in a high spot where they can see the entire tank, and rarely move other than when they are hungry or feeding time. The tank being in the center means that all sides are exposed. I would probably create some rock structure using the center overflow as the back of a cave, or a structure where the lion could get between the rocks and the overflow to have a feeling of security.. I likely over do my rock so please take my comments as personal preference.

 

[nldemo]

thank you

 

[nldemo]

@lion king
I was thinking it would be nice to get something to sift my sand a bit, as I have some "dead spots" where it browns up a little every week. Something like a diamond watchmen goby, but I'm pretty sure they're too small and would get eaten by a lion. Any suggestions?

 

[lion king]

@lion king
I was thinking it would be nice to get something to sift my sand a bit, as I have some "dead spots" where it browns up a little every week. Something like a diamond watchmen goby, but I'm pretty sure they're too small and would get eaten by a lion. Any suggestions?

My first thoughts would be a sand sifting starfish and a conch. While the diamond watchmen goby does get pretty big, there could always be a risk with a larger lion. I've seen situations when paired at proper sizes and the volitan being target fed with dead food on a regular schedule, never take an interest in hunting down tank mates that very well could be food. I've also seen lions grow up, and while living happily sometimes for years, one day have a fat belly and a missing fish. The 1st key is proper sizing from the get go, making sure at initial introduction, that there is no way the lion could eat them.

Btw how is the stocking of lions doing.

 

[nldemo]

Thanks, I've had a couple conchs in the past and they always end up disappearing on me. I think ending up just making the nutrients spike in the tank even more , being counter productive to why i get them in the first place. Not sure if that's something i'm doing wrong, or what

I have had a starfish that lasted for quite some time though, and he was pretty cool.

No lions yet sadly. I crushed my nitrates problem with a sulfur reactor (went from unreadable to <5 in a couple weeks), restarted the reactor to get rid of the gunk inside (i believe bacteria die off once the food source was removed), and now am restocking up. Still planning on getting lions, just want everything else in there and big enough first.