Lionfish Care

A lionfish is one of the most colorful fish, characterized by a highly striped body and gracefully flowing pectoral fins that also exhibit a striped appearance. The stripes are in shades of white, yellow, orange, red, maroon, brown, navy green and black. With so many colors, you can imagine the variability of lionfish. At times, lionfish are known by other names such as scorpionfish, Turkey fish and fire fish. Whatever name you called it, lionfish is a combination of beauty and danger for aquarists.

Native to the reefs and rock crevices of the Indo-Pacific ocean, lionfish belong to the Scorpaenidae family and are saltwater venomous species. However, today they are found in almost all oceanic regions, including the warm waters of Atlantic ocean. Though it is challenging to keep lionfish as pets, many hobbyists prefer rearing it in their aquariums. And with proper lionfish care instructions, it is not so difficult to keep this venomous marine fish as aquarium inhabitants. Watching lionfish swim with their flamboyant fins is worth the effort required for caring them.

Tips on Lionfish Care

If you happen to be a novice aquarist, think twice before incorporating lionfish in your newly installed fish tank. You can spend time gathering information about this vivid looking fish, pertaining to its feeding, surviving requirements and caring guidelines. Do not forget that lionfish bear venomous spines which when disturbed, deliver painful stings.

Tank Setup
Establishing a correct sized fish tank (preferably reef aquarium) is a crucial step for rearing lionfish. While installing aquarium, you must have a thorough knowledge about native lionfish habitat. To be more precise, you will succeed maintaining active lionfish in captivity, only when the tank conditions resemble their natural habitat. Also, the size of the fish tank should correspond to the lionfish species that you are planning to keep.

Select Lionfish
Popular lionfish species for aquariums are Volitans, Radiata and Antennata. The size of lionfish may vary depending upon the particular species. For example; a dwarf lionfish grows to the size of a tennis ball, whereas a typical species measures about 30 - 35 cm in length. In contrary to these, lionfish larger than 55 cm are found in the Caribbean oceanic regions. Consider your tank setup and maintenance levels at the time of purchasing lionfish species for your aquarium.

Choose Other Fish
A lionfish can be reared with other lionfish of the same size. Some people even succeed keeping them with other compatible marine fish of equal size. However, it is not always possible, because lionfish are dangerous to other tank inhabitants. Very often, they injure and kill other fish in the aquarium. If you prefer maintaining them together, seek advice from the supplier regarding compatible species.

Water Quality
Lionfish when kept in saltwater aquariums are adaptive to a wide range of water conditions. This does not mean that they thrive well in poor water quality. When kept in dirty water for a prolonged period, your lionfish may get infected with bacteria, that too in the eye portion. Hence, make sure you install a filter system and perform regular cleaning of the aquarium. Also, change water as per the guidelines of the supplier.

Feeding Lionfish
Food options for captive lionfish include a mixture of feeder fish, small crustaceans, shrimp, worms and pieces of beef heart. They are most active at the time of feeding, from late afternoon to early morning. The rest of the day, lionfish behave like sedentary creatures and prefer resting at the bottom of the aquarium. It is best to lay a soft substrate, so that your lionfish will not get injured during resting.

Lionfish Diseases
Aquarists who maintain lionfish in their fish tanks are of the opinion that these venomous fish are very hardy, as compared to other common marine fish. They hardly show worrying signs of diseases or infection, when fed and cared properly. In case you notice mucus like shedding by lionfish, it is an indication of ill health. Diseases that affect lionfish are cloudy eyes and fin rotting. Check the water chemistry for any impurities and abnormal conditions.

Speaking about dwarf lionfish care, they require more open spaces in the tank. Accordingly, you are not required to create caves and hiding places for keeping this small version of lionfish. Also, it is to be borne in mind that the caring of freshwater lionfish is totally different from the marine or saltwater lionfish. In fact, the so-called freshwater lionfish belong to a completely variant family and are not venomous.