How Long?

[Justaerin]

How long could I keep "nemo" and "dory" with a lion fish before the lion decided to eat them?
As for what lion any one and everyone I've been instructed to find out...
Minimum tank size is 75gal and the situation is completely hypothetical, the tank doesn't exist and there are no fish. Just thought id say that as another forum went berserk at me for threatening poor "nemo"

Thanks

 

[Donya]

Erm...so if this is only a hypothetical tank, is this some kind of philosophical puzzle like the tree falling in the forest? If nobody was there to see the lionfish eat the clownfish...

Sorry for that silliness. I just don't really understand the purpose/setting of the question in order to answer it. If one knows that there is a risk that A will eat B, then there is no reason to assume that A won't try to eat B as soon as A is hungry enough to expend the effort to eat B. So, I don't understand what use a time estimate would be. Many predatory fish prefer live food, so keeping them well fed on other foods doesn't always work to prevent or delay B getting eaten. Individual fish vary though, and the environment available to B greatly affects its chances of being caught to be eaten. The question really needs to be framed more concretely to have a good answer. Specific species do matter.

 

[Justaerin]

My other half wants a clown and a regal tang and I've seen a fuzzy dwarf id like. How long can they coexist before the clown fits in fuzzys mouth? Im aware that lions will eat anything small enough to fit but I have no idea how quickly they grow or the size of their mouths so i dont know how long it would be safe for the clown to be in the same tank as the lion. the tang im less worried about as it will get bigger than the lion (unless we opt for a bigger growing one)

 

[Donya]

Well...it is a bad idea that I can't recommend trying. It is just never a good idea to plan a time bomb tank with the idea of something changing in time to stop a bad event. Among other things, predatory fish can be adventurous with what they think might fit in their mouths. They can surprise you in that regard, but they can also become stuck. Either keep a community tank or a predator tank, or do two tanks. If you really want the fuzzy, consider setting up a small species tank for it.