dwarf lions in a reef

ruiny · 03/05/2007, 03:02 PM

Does anyone have a dwarf lion in their reef tank?
If so what type and what is the smallest fish in the tank with it.
Also any other comments would be great.
Thanks

techigirl78 · 03/05/2007, 03:39 PM

I just added one a few weeks ago after looking into it for awhile and waiting for a good one to purchase. I added a dwarf zebra to my 75gal (30 gal sump with refugium & skimmer) with 2 wrasses (halechoeres melanarus and coris venusta) and a large midas blenny. I plan on moving the blenny and smaller wrasse out though in the next few months.

It is doing very well and eating frozen food readily (try to make sure of this if you purchase - much easier). It already comes up to the front when I approach the tank like the other fish. I like it very much and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite fish. I only have a few frags from my softy tank at this time, but nothing has seemed to suffer after the addition. The lionfish also hasn't gone after any snails and shares its cave with my sea serpent (fairly large). I don't have any shrimp or crabs with it due to the coris wrasse.

If you don't get many responses in this forum, maybe try the fish only / agressive forum as I've seen a number of people there do it as well.

beez · 03/05/2007, 06:42 PM

I kept a dwarf zebra in a 125 softy/mushie reef years ago, and had him in there with pretty small fish, even a small school of chromis and 4 perc clowns, and he never ate anybody. BUT.....I added him when he was really tiny, (2 1/2" maybe) and as he grew he was so used to prepared foods that I wonder if it even ever occurred to him that he could eat his tankmates. He was the only lion I ever had too, so I'm far from an expert....good luck!!

ruiny · 03/06/2007, 05:59 AM

how did you find the lions with current.
I have a sps tank so the water flow is pretty strong. Do you think that a dwarf lion will do well in those conditions?

Also for those with the dwarf zebra. What was the max size to be reached in your tank and after how many years?

Thanks

beez · 03/06/2007, 11:12 AM

Well my tank didn't actually have a great deal of flow, being primarily a mushroom reef (so that I could have angels, etc

) but I did notice that the lion tended to stay near the rocks and away from the pumps discharges. If yours is going into a high flow reef you might want to make sure that he has some decent-size caves and lower flow spots to hang out in.

beez · 03/06/2007, 11:13 AM

oh, and he grew to about 5 inches. Had him 2 1/2 years before selling him to a buddy

techigirl78 · 03/06/2007, 04:02 PM

Mine is small and seems to do fairly well with the tunze nanostream I have. When it was in QT, it did seem to avoid the maxi-jet flow which was more direct. As beez said, make sure its got some caves with lower flow to relax in and it should be fine.

ThomasinKind · 03/07/2007, 09:17 AM

Keep in mind that lions are not particularly fond of bright light either. Should you decide to try one, provide it with some lower-light areas.

ruiny · 03/08/2007, 12:03 PM

Thanks for the info

03/05/2007, 03:02 PM	#1
ruiny Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 462	dwarf lions in a reef Does anyone have a dwarf lion in their reef tank? If so what type and what is the smallest fish in the tank with it. Also any other comments would be great. Thanks __________________ Go Sens Go Current Tank Info: 93 cube under way.

03/05/2007, 06:42 PM	#3
beez Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 248	I kept a dwarf zebra in a 125 softy/mushie reef years ago, and had him in there with pretty small fish, even a small school of chromis and 4 perc clowns, and he never ate anybody. BUT.....I added him when he was really tiny, (2 1/2" maybe) and as he grew he was so used to prepared foods that I wonder if it even ever occurred to him that he could eat his tankmates. He was the only lion I ever had too, so I'm far from an expert....good luck!! __________________ After years of frustration with get-rich-quick schemes, I know I'm going to get rich with THIS scheme. And quick.

03/06/2007, 05:59 AM	#4
ruiny Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 462	how did you find the lions with current. I have a sps tank so the water flow is pretty strong. Do you think that a dwarf lion will do well in those conditions? Also for those with the dwarf zebra. What was the max size to be reached in your tank and after how many years? Thanks __________________ Go Sens Go Current Tank Info: 93 cube under way.

03/06/2007, 11:12 AM	#5
beez Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 248	Well my tank didn't actually have a great deal of flow, being primarily a mushroom reef (so that I could have angels, etc ) but I did notice that the lion tended to stay near the rocks and away from the pumps discharges. If yours is going into a high flow reef you might want to make sure that he has some decent-size caves and lower flow spots to hang out in. __________________ After years of frustration with get-rich-quick schemes, I know I'm going to get rich with THIS scheme. And quick.

03/06/2007, 11:13 AM	#6
beez Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 248	oh, and he grew to about 5 inches. Had him 2 1/2 years before selling him to a buddy __________________ After years of frustration with get-rich-quick schemes, I know I'm going to get rich with THIS scheme. And quick.

03/05/2007, 03:39 PM	#2
techigirl78 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 1,739	I just added one a few weeks ago after looking into it for awhile and waiting for a good one to purchase. I added a dwarf zebra to my 75gal (30 gal sump with refugium & skimmer) with 2 wrasses (halechoeres melanarus and coris venusta) and a large midas blenny. I plan on moving the blenny and smaller wrasse out though in the next few months. It is doing very well and eating frozen food readily (try to make sure of this if you purchase - much easier). It already comes up to the front when I approach the tank like the other fish. I like it very much and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite fish. I only have a few frags from my softy tank at this time, but nothing has seemed to suffer after the addition. The lionfish also hasn't gone after any snails and shares its cave with my sea serpent (fairly large). I don't have any shrimp or crabs with it due to the coris wrasse. If you don't get many responses in this forum, maybe try the fish only / agressive forum as I've seen a number of people there do it as well.

03/06/2007, 04:02 PM	#7
techigirl78 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 1,739	Mine is small and seems to do fairly well with the tunze nanostream I have. When it was in QT, it did seem to avoid the maxi-jet flow which was more direct. As beez said, make sure its got some caves with lower flow to relax in and it should be fine.

03/07/2007, 09:17 AM	#8
ThomasinKind Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lake Charles, LA Posts: 198	Keep in mind that lions are not particularly fond of bright light either. Should you decide to try one, provide it with some lower-light areas. __________________ - ThomasinKind Current Tank Info: none - researching for a nano to be set up in the near future

03/08/2007, 12:03 PM	#9
ruiny Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 462	Thanks for the info __________________ Go Sens Go Current Tank Info: 93 cube under way.