Lion fish

[ckwatson]

I would like to keep a zebra lion fish in my 45 gallon tank. The problem I am running in to is that I and more importantly my girlfriend wants to keep clown fish also is there any way to make this happen?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Or you got a clown snack (and a pissed off GF)... IMHO, better to leave them apart.

 

[tnyga]

gulp

 

[ckwatson]

the zebra is a dwarf lion but it will still get about 7" and the clowns will only be about 3" to 3.5". i dont know how much of a lion fish is mouth or if it can eat a fish that is 3"

 

[george]

You could get one of the larger, more assertive breeds of clown (i.e. it won't be Nemo, if that's what she's after), but between the eating habits of the lion and the size of the fish, you'd definitely want to have a hefty filtration plan in place.

I was thinking of making one of my several secondary tanks (a.k.a. "the parade of drill jobs at CBA") into a lion/toad lagoon in my new setup. The plan was to keep a smaller (sub 10g) tank or tub somewhere to keep mollies in saltwater. Fatten them up on vitamins and such, then feed them to the fish. Since they also graze algae to a certain extent, they become expendable herbivores for the tank as well.

 

[ckwatson]

yeah Im thinking if i get the clowns first and give them a few months to grow and then get the lion things maybe ok. Or i may just have to see which one will be better for my tank. And see if my filter can handle the lion.

 

[dakota9]

I kept a Lion Fish in with my prized Maroon Clown for a couple of years. Lion Fish rarely eat anything bigger than they could take with one gulp in my experience. Just make sure they are close to the same size and it should be fine..

 

[dannybradley]

My friend called me up one time, thinking his tank was crashing. He was missing a goby, a dragonet, and a clown fish. In addition his dwarf fuzzy lion was laying on the bottem of this tank. After a few questions the one that gave the answer was, 'Wait, how big is your lion's stomach?'.

Each of those fish were in total length, the same size or not much smaller. They had been living together for at least a few months before he ate them. The really funny thing, is that he didn't eat the smaller clown.

Ocellaris and percula are definitly out. An XLG Tomato or Melanopus, a maroon, or maybe a blue stripe fiji.

Dwarf lions tend to have much bigger mouths than their size suggests. It's really about the diameter of their body. It's not uncommon for them to have half the fish out of their mouth while they're digisting the rest. I've seen them hold a fish for two days and then spit it out.