Advice On Capatablity

[bae1994]

hi i have a fuzzy dwarf lion fish thats about 1.5 inches i no it will grow and a spotted manderin goby but i would like to have a clown fish with them would this be possible i would also like a cleaner shrimp with them would this be possible.
please reply as i am going to my lfs tomorrow so need advice quick.

 

[ben1987]

Lion fish will eat smaller fish.

 

[SkiFletch]

Agreed, expensive treats for your lionfish

 

[bae1994]

what are the shrimp or the clown

 

[SkiFletch]

All of the above

 

[bg7003]

I dont see why not. If the manderine is in the tank already, and the lion fish is only 1.5 inches long, the clown will out grow it and the cleaner shrimp will grow to be the same size as the lion. They probably won't even bother eachother. The cleaner shrimp will do his job!

 

[seffieuk]

How big is your tank?

Seffie x

 

[andywg]

I dont see why not. If the manderine is in the tank already, and the lion fish is only 1.5 inches long, the clown will out grow it and the cleaner shrimp will grow to be the same size as the lion. They probably won't even bother eachother. The cleaner shrimp will do his job!

The cleaner shrimp will get to about 5" long? Are you sure? Have you ever actually kept a lionfish?

Dendrochirus brachypterus have a trap-door mouth like all of the Subfamily Pteroinae (and indeed the Family Scorpaenidae) and is more than capable of swallowing things half of its size. It is possible that a cleaner shrimp will not be eaten as they are less often a snack than other inverts, but let us not forget that motile invertebrates are the natural diet of most lionfish until you get to the larger of the Pterois genus.

Basically, anything which is not half the fish's length is a potential snack. You may get away with it for some time, but it only takes 1 second of not getting away with it for the lion to have a very expensive meal in its gullet.

 

[ben1987]

Do it if you like throwing £20 notes down the neck of the fish. I saw a small lion eat a fish that looked almost the same size the other day. I would put money on the mandarin going pretty quickly

 

[bae1994]

my manderin has been with the lion for a couple of months no problem so it is not eaten yet so ill get a pair of clowns and if needs be then ill put them in my other tank as i have seen videos on youtube where theres a lion and a clown together with a considerable size difference.

 

[shibby]

best not ask about compatabilty again then if your not going to listen.

 

[andywg]

my manderin has been with the lion for a couple of months no problem so it is not eaten yet so ill get a pair of clowns and if needs be then ill put them in my other tank as i have seen videos on youtube where theres a lion and a clown together with a considerable size difference.

A couple of months? Not exactly long term success is it? And how long do you know that the clownfish survived with that lionfish in the youtube tank?

The point you will realise you need another tank will be after the lion eats the clown/mandarin. Some might suggest that is a bit late to get another tank.

best not ask about compatabilty again then if your not going to listen.

Aye. There seems little point in offering advice to this person in the future if they will just ignore it.

 

[bae1994]

no i already have an established tank and if the lion fish shows any interest or aggression i will move them to my other tank as i will notice it as there is always some one looking at it as its a busy house and i do take advice but my lion fish is very small and yes i do realise they have a trapdoor mouth and he will eat frozen food but when a little shrimp swam out into the open the other day in front of the lion it watched it and left it alone and he does not seem very interested at all however it would be aragent of me to asume he wont eat live things but he seems a little sympathetic of things that move eg fish

 

[andywg]

no i already have an established tank and if the lion fish shows any interest or aggression i will move them to my other tank as i will notice it as there is always some one looking at it as its a busy house and i do take advice but my lion fish is very small and yes i do realise they have a trapdoor mouth and he will eat frozen food but when a little shrimp swam out into the open the other day in front of the lion it watched it and left it alone and he does not seem very interested at all however it would be aragent of me to asume he wont eat live things but he seems a little sympathetic of things that move eg fish

But the problem is nothing to do with aggression.

The problem is the lion growing larger and eating the fish. The first you will realise that the lion wants to eat the fish will likely be as it eats the fish. I would say that is a little late, wouldn't you?

 

[bae1994]

yes and i now have now taken onboard what you have said and moved my clowns and manderins into my other tank as the lion seemed a little to interested last night.