Hello so I bought this aquarium it looks about 45-50 gallons and I'm thinking of setting it up for a lionfish. Any good recommendations for type of species. Def. NOT the volitan since its to small. Would it be small for the Russell lionfish? And if it is what about the antennata lionfish?? I tried researching but can't seem to find much info? Do they need filtration or would skimmer just do? Lighting? Temperature? Etc.. Thank you.
Lionfish!
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Dwarf Lionfish (Dendrochirus spp.) would go well in there. Lionfish require LR, flow, etc. all the same living requirements as any other SW fish.
@Lionfish Lair is the expert though.
@Lionfish Lair is the expert though.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Best choice in fish EVAH! That's still a little too small for a Russels. Any of the other lions in the medium category on down would fit in there. Yes, an antennata and a mombasae would do well, but if you chose from the smaller ones, you could have more than one. Depending on the measurements, you could put a Fu Manchu, a fuzzy and a smaller radiata in there. The Fu would stay on the bottom and only the other two who be sharing the water column real estate. Maybe you could even put a little scorp in there.
As far as filtration..... I have rock. There's nothing else in there. I had a skimmer on a couple of our 14 tanks, but they honestly never looked any different/better than those without. I use an overflow like you have and that's where I stick the heater. The piece of equipment that I use that many do not, are chillers. That's because I spent the first decade in this hobby keeping seahorses, not because lions need it. I just spent too many years keeps temps rock solid, that it would stress me out to see fluctuations. Right now I have it set to 76. As Humble said, they don't have any special requirements. Keep in mind their pectoral fins are like kites and if there's too much flow, they could open those puppies up and be slammed into the glass. They can get used to anything though. When they are young it's rather comical.
If you are not putting corals in there that require too much light, keep them as low as you can so that's it's pleasing to the eye. Light that is too strong will give you algae issues. The mombasae in particular is supposed to be a deeper water fish and have big ole googly eyes. Those more than the rest should have lower light. By lower, I mean not MHs and bright SPS sustaining LEDs.... I don't mean dim. Does that make sense.
You gotta get them to eat frozen. So plan on weaning or you will drive yourself insane. We'll help you with that here.
Here's our Lionfish Guide that may help you out.
There's a few of us on here that love our lions. You've come to the right place.
As far as filtration..... I have rock. There's nothing else in there. I had a skimmer on a couple of our 14 tanks, but they honestly never looked any different/better than those without. I use an overflow like you have and that's where I stick the heater. The piece of equipment that I use that many do not, are chillers. That's because I spent the first decade in this hobby keeping seahorses, not because lions need it. I just spent too many years keeps temps rock solid, that it would stress me out to see fluctuations. Right now I have it set to 76. As Humble said, they don't have any special requirements. Keep in mind their pectoral fins are like kites and if there's too much flow, they could open those puppies up and be slammed into the glass. They can get used to anything though. When they are young it's rather comical.
If you are not putting corals in there that require too much light, keep them as low as you can so that's it's pleasing to the eye. Light that is too strong will give you algae issues. The mombasae in particular is supposed to be a deeper water fish and have big ole googly eyes. Those more than the rest should have lower light. By lower, I mean not MHs and bright SPS sustaining LEDs.... I don't mean dim. Does that make sense.
You gotta get them to eat frozen. So plan on weaning or you will drive yourself insane. We'll help you with that here.
Here's our Lionfish Guide that may help you out.
There's a few of us on here that love our lions. You've come to the right place.
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Ahh thank you sooo much!!!! I'm really excited it's been my favorite fish ever. I was thinking if I can't get the Russell I would get the antennata since it has similar look to Russell but smaller. And yeah I was thinking of pretty much have the lionfish in that tank and have a reef aquarium but not go to crazy with corals and stuff. I just receive my RODI unit so i might be setting it up this weekend? What about live sand? Would it matter if I get black sand ? But thank you so much! It helped ALOT.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Yes, the only way to tell the difference between a volitans and a miles is to start counting dorsal rays. The voltans has 9-12. The miles has 9-11.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
It doesn't make a difference about the sand color or if you have any or not. A Fu would need it, an antennata would not. Also look at the mombasae. We used to call them peppermint lions because the color can be so crazy. They are often confused with antennatas and are a nice thick lion. That's what's in my avatar. Great fish and very hardy.
This was our mombasae.
And our antennata. The antennata was exceptional and most do not have this color or his markings. I've never seen another like this one. It glowed.
This was our mombasae.
And our antennata. The antennata was exceptional and most do not have this color or his markings. I've never seen another like this one. It glowed.
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Lionfish Lair
Renee
I had to photoshop the picture above or it was just a mess of red. The video shows how crazy it was. Ignore the mouth..... he was being a butt to me. Even the "clear" part of his fins were red.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Oh, you said you were going to roll with a radiata. They can be a little harder to find. Not as girthy as an antennata.
This was our radiata. I know they don't look as impressive colorwise in this photo, but the camera didn't pick up the pink hue and stark white filaments.
This was our radiata. I know they don't look as impressive colorwise in this photo, but the camera didn't pick up the pink hue and stark white filaments.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
What will limit you is the high verses length. What are the measurements?
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Wait..... that's about a 25g?
Lionfish Lair
Renee
I almost had a heart attack.
You can definitely put more fish in there. A Fu and/or Fuzzy would be nice. There are several small waspfish and scorps.
Finding them...... that's probably the hardest part of keeping these guys. I use DD a lot and 2 of the sponsors here NYAquatics and Bluezoo Aquatics. It was like collecting rare stamps.
Do you usually QT? That's a really tall tank and it will be hard to train the fish to frozen food in there. I have Grow Out tanks just in case I find an awesome fish that will mix with my stock when they are all adults, just not right then and there because one is still a juvie or something.
You can definitely put more fish in there. A Fu and/or Fuzzy would be nice. There are several small waspfish and scorps.
Finding them...... that's probably the hardest part of keeping these guys. I use DD a lot and 2 of the sponsors here NYAquatics and Bluezoo Aquatics. It was like collecting rare stamps.
Do you usually QT? That's a really tall tank and it will be hard to train the fish to frozen food in there. I have Grow Out tanks just in case I find an awesome fish that will mix with my stock when they are all adults, just not right then and there because one is still a juvie or something.
Hah sorry! Yeah that was my first 20 gallon tank. And are they really that rare? Is it harder to take care of ? What about the antennata is it hard as well!? And what do you mean by QT? Sorry.
And yeah it is a tall tank. What the best food to feed them!?
Lionfish Lair
Renee
QT is a quarantine tank.
Ya, the radiatas can be hard to find. They are no harder to care for. Really, the only lion that is "hard" is the Black Foot and that's because of their tank requirements (coldwater). When someone asks me to look at their sick dwarf lion, it often ends up being a zebra. There has been a few antennatas on Divers Den the last few weeks. You definitely see them and the mombasae a lot more.
The best food to feed them is the biggest variety of seafood from the market that you can. I get new food every 2 weeks and buy small amounts. I used to get odd looks when I would ask for 4 shrimp. O.O
Start thinking now about making a feeding stick. You just need to grab one of acrylic feeding sticks from the LFS, some 50lb fishing line and some scotch tape. My world changed when we started making these.
Ya, the radiatas can be hard to find. They are no harder to care for. Really, the only lion that is "hard" is the Black Foot and that's because of their tank requirements (coldwater). When someone asks me to look at their sick dwarf lion, it often ends up being a zebra. There has been a few antennatas on Divers Den the last few weeks. You definitely see them and the mombasae a lot more.
The best food to feed them is the biggest variety of seafood from the market that you can. I get new food every 2 weeks and buy small amounts. I used to get odd looks when I would ask for 4 shrimp. O.O
Start thinking now about making a feeding stick. You just need to grab one of acrylic feeding sticks from the LFS, some 50lb fishing line and some scotch tape. My world changed when we started making these.
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