Peacock co-habitants. Dwarf Lion?

[Fitz19d]

TLDR Version: Small/medium species of lion fish, could I put one with peacock. (Lion fish small enough to not eat mantis, peacock leave it alone due to it being a predatory fish and being lazy from feeding it myself constantly.)

I'm in a 55 now which rather than get the peacock I went a normal mixed reef w/ a Wenn which has left everything except the snails/crabs (sacrificial) alone.

I'm moving soon, and getting a 125g tank. Planning on running 2 tanks. I'll have the 125 w/ good sized sump but not setup to where I'd want to hold anything in it.

55g w/ a sump that can hold things in a pinch,

And a 9g nano that if I get a replacement return pump could be used. (Was thinking a QT tank or something.



What I'm trying to figure out is stocking. Really I need 3-4 tanks to do what I want I think. I had wanted to take advantage of the size of 125, but peacock in it would still limit things. Idea was my small mantis goes in a specialty 9g tank or can be left in the 125 and not bother anything.

I wanted to take sps I have and cater the tank to them rather than continuing to try to keep sps/softy/zoa happy all at once. But since I am far much less focused on sps, makes sense to put them in the 55 where the peacock would logically go....

So thinking I'll just continue along w/ my couple monti and polli in the 125, they've been doing fine and I won't be getting harder sps I think.



But still leaves me wanting to find what to do with the 55 other than plop the peacock in it. I was thinking of a all around predator tank with perhaps my RBTA (has been doing great on old bulb t5's so doesn't seem to need tons of light), Low light corals, and the dwarf lionfish.

[Maleci]

In general most peacock setups run fairly low lighting since it seems to have a correlation to shell disease. I've seen people run fairly high lighting over peacock setups with pristine water conditions but I would think for a serious sps tank you would want more light than I would at least be comfortable putting over a peacock. As far as keeping a dwarf lion with it in the 55 I think it's going to depend a lot on the individual more than anything else. I've seen a lot kept with fish and had no issues but I know some kill everything and I don't think if it decides the lion is going to die that the poison spines are really going to save it, although maybe injure the peacock in the process. Just my 2 cents I'm sure others will chime in with more long term experience.

[Fitz19d]

Yeap, I'm aware of the light issue, and agree that's why I was veering away from that idea. (Selcon treated food and otherwise clear water aside)

Hopefully it's peacable, as I would really like something more than just the mantis in the tank. I may have to just get a seperate 35g to dedicate to it or somehow figure out how to make a nice display refugium for the 125.

[Fartin'Gary]

Nothing is safe and all is fair game with a mantis shrimp. It could live peaceful with the lion fish for a day or a year and then one day BAM! I have had excellent luck with damsels with my peacocks. It killed the the green chromis though.

[Islandoftiki]

I just adopted a female peacock from a local reefer who couldn't care for her any more. She has a damsel fish buddy that lives in the PVC den with her.

My guess is that damsel fish don't taste good to smasher mantis and so they generally don't eat them.

My G. Ternatensis has three fish with him. A yellow clown goby, ocellaris clown and a azure damsel. No problem there, but they also occupy an entirely different part of the tank. The mantis is always at the bottom of the tank and they're always at the top, so there's little to no interaction between the mantis and the fish.

I think the survival rate of the fish is inversely proportional to the cost. Nobody wants to eat a cheap fish....

[Fitz19d]

Ha, as with like the most expensive zoa's always first to randomly melt, I'm sure it's that way too.

When I've seen the lions they seem to stay mid/top in the tank. So I think that would be going for me, but then again they are slow. I could go with a little larger on the safe side, 1-2 inches longer than the mantis. But at that point I'm scared that they go all big ol trigger fish and after the mantis. (Mantis big enough and harder shelled than regular shrimp so maybe he's fine because unlike the toothy fish the lion more inhales things?)

I think my Wenn would almost sleep w/ fish if he didn't such have a super tight tiny tunnel excavated out of a rock. The banded sleeper loves the pvc tube I had for the originally planned peacock.

[Fartin'Gary]

My chromis were fine when they were swimming around. It's when the lights went out and they went to sleep is when my peacock struck. Landed one good hit and the fish was severely injured and then waited until it just got too weak to swim correctly and finished it off. Amazing to watch. Kinda felt bad for the fish. I haven't tried to put anymore fish in after that.

[Fitz19d]

Of course my problem is more complicated in that a lion/eel in the 125 wouldnt work well either for those eating all the neat crab/shrimp I'd like to put in and if it's not a dwarf lion the bigger ones might go after my small clowns. Damn awesome but predatory critters.

[Fitz19d]

Alright, so LFS got a huge peacock in that seems to be in immaculate condition. It's on hold for me.

Stubbornly trying the lion idea as I was able to find a few others with success stories. All the local dwarf/zebra I've found have been too small. There is a 4-6 inch (hard to estimate where it was at) Foo Man Chu lion available. It's banished in a sump at the store for eating a fish and the big important thing, is already weaned onto dead food. (For that species harder to do iirc) Less active swimmer I believe but it seems close to a decent size for surviving without causing problems.

Think this sounds like the best option to try or hold out for another species?

[Maleci]

You seem set on trying it so I would say give it a go. Just don't be too surprised if it doesn't work out. I would think all the smaller lions as far as compatibility would be fairly similar. That seems like a pretty expensive experiment to me though, just my 2 cents.

[Fitz19d]

Like I said, found at least one local that had one it, and enough ancedotal online for a shot. The dwarf/zebra are only like $30, the Fu man is $60 so getting pricier.

If I see signs of agression I will intervene and put the Fu man Shu in my reef tank. I think he's small enough that my other fish would be fine, but would likely prevent me from getting the ornamental inverts I wanted.

[Maleci]

From what I've seen with mine stuff is safe until it isn't there isn't usually much aggression until it wants it dead and then it just destroys. It's not like fish that chase each other around and nip and cut at each other. They don't really chase unless they are trying to strike and if you saw that by time you got a net or something to catch the lion my guess is it would be dead or injured to the point of no return. Be cool if it works out though think it's going to depend a lot on the individual and it's personality.

[areucrazy]

My fu man chu lives in my main display tank and he is so beautiful! It took forvever to find one and I will never let him go. He swims all over the place and they like to rest upside down in the rocks. He is kinda slow and that mantis will kill him if he wants to. It would be easy for the mantis to sneak up on the lion when he is hanging out on the rocks. Mine spends most of the day upside down in small crevices. He swims to me like a little dog when he is hungry. My mantis stays in his 20g refugium next to the main display. The only criters with him are a few hermit crabs he must like...and a brown cucumber. They have lived together happily for almost a year. Good luck with your decision.

[Madehtsobi]

i have 2 green chromis and 1 purple psuedo living with my peacock... so far so good. lol

[kthulhoo]

Always been interested in the dwarf lions

[Fitz19d]

Got some new fish, including a 15yr old huge maroon mated pair of clowns. Going to get rid of my tomato clowns which have actually been left completely alone. So for now... lion stays in my main tank w/ everything else. Just hope he doesnt eat the indigo dottyback.

So still on a search on what to put w/ the peacock. I did pick him up and he's in a tank I'm holding like 100 lbs of liverock in. I think he already realizes I'm food. I've given him some shrimp by hand without instant death. Will not strike at glass when I'm filming or otherwise looking at him. (Will follow my finger but not go for it.)

Love him to death so far, silly me thinking the rarely seen but cute Wenn. would tide me over.


(I did find some good looking majano, so I may go ahead with pest tank with bunch of low light/invasive corals.)

[dppitone]

Fitz, Do you have an update on the mantis?

[Fitz19d]

The fumanchu is full grown but did seem like mantis bait. (Esp with that lion sitting around more than swimming.)

Right now he's still stuck in a 30g long/tall but doing fine with a crap ton of liverock (molted once) though as soon as 125 cycled he'll get a 55.

Right now he has a big long spine urchin he leaves alone. There has been for 2 months a 3-4 stripe black/white damsel he leaves alone.
I ended up having to move 2 blue and a velvet damsel which were in for a few days. Liverock was up to brim waiting for my 125, so I had removed about half. Overnight he caught and ate them apparently as they disapeared. (****ed but such were the circumstances.

[dppitone]

thanks for the update !