Scorp Stkg Sel F

FAQs about Scorpionfishes: Stocking/Selection

Related Articles: Lionfish & Their Relatives, Keeping Lionfishes and their Scorpaeniform Kin Part 1, Part 2, by Anthony Calfo and Robert Fenner, Dwarf Lionfishes,

FAQs on Scorpionfishes: Scorpaeniform Fishes 1, Scorpaeniform Fishes 2, Scorpaeniform Fishes 3, Scorpaeniform Fishes 4,
FAQs on Scorpionfishes by Category: Identification, Behavior, Compatibility, Systems, Feeding, Disease, Reproduction

Scorpionfishes: Lionfishes & Much More for Marine Aquariums
Diversity, Selection & Care
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by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Black Volitans Infection 12/23/16
<Why can't we set our too small allotment of email storage to reject too-large files? Hundreds of Kbytes is what we request. You've sent more than 8 megs.>
Good Morning Crew, Attached is a photo of my black volitans and the affected area. I was wondering if you could tell me if it looks infected to you and if I should treat or not.
<Looks like an infection from a mechanical injury... poked by another organism, decor? Sucked up against a pump, overflow?>
The spot was a little smaller yesterday and this morning is a little bigger. The tank is a 75g dedicated lionfish/Scorpionfish tank that currently houses this black lion and a Rhinopias. I believe that a small crab on the live rock is responsible for the original damage to it. It is still eating and swims as normal as a lionfish swims.
<Pteroines have ENORMOUS "powers of recuperation"... And treatment/s are too risky; likely to do more harm than good... Poss. kill off both the Lion and Rhinopias. I'd simply do my best to maintain good water quality and nutrition here... READ on WWM re the poss. use of Epsom Salt, consider moving one fish or the other... IF you have another adequate space/system>
I have additional tanks I could use as a hospital tank if necessary. Thanks for taking the time during the holidays to help and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Jason
<And to/for you and yours Jas. Bob Fenner>
Black Volitans Infection
Good Morning, I forgot to attach the photo so here it is. Sorry for the size but not sure how to shrink from the phone.
Jason
<Me neither... likely have to download to a desktop, laptop device and do there. B>

Re: Black Volitans Infection 12/24/16
<..... The eight megs... Again?>
Thanks Bob for quick reply. As long as he is acting normal and eating I won't treat him and let him heal on his own. As far as moving one of the fish, I could set up a tank but it was my understanding from reading on WWM
that different lions and scorpions could be housed together as long as they are of similar sizes so as not to get eaten.
<Though there is always the chance of them poking each other>
There are no running powerheads, the one that is in there the lion likes to hide under so I never turn it on. I will read up on the use of Epsom salt and thanks for your valuable, and much appreciated input.
Jason
<Cheers, BobF>

Lions, lions, more lions! 12/13/05 Thank you, <Welcome!> I received your message the other day and I was happy with it, <Glad we can be helpful> but it arose just more questions. <That'll happen sometimes.> I wanted to know more about the venom how powerful and what to do when stung. <It hurts like CRAZY, swells up, turns red, and burns until you cry. If you have an allergic reaction you'll need to get to the hospital ASAP. In the meantime, you run the hottest water you can tolerate (without actually burning yourself!) over the effected area.> Also i found out the fish store I am getting my lion from has been feeding it just feeder goldfish (ACK). <That is very sad, and too common.> I have decided to get a new lion and I wanted to ask you guys what one you would recommend. <The dwarf species are all nice.> I would like a small cool looking one with some red in it so I can tell the fish store what to order. <Browse the lionfish pages and pictures online!> I think it would be great to have more than one lionfish in the tank. Can I have more than one lionfish in the tank? <When they are juveniles, yes. But that doesn't last long.> Would it be best to have 2 different types? <No. Just one, please.> Is a 100 gallon big enough for two? <No.> With more than one lion can I have other fish? <N/A> Will they both have the same diet? <Each other?> Would I want to put them in at the same time? <N/A> I also wanted to know will lionfish hurt corals or vice versa? <No, they couldn't care less about corals.> Should I put corals in soft or hard? <Your choice - depends on MANY other factors, least of all the lionfish.> I know it may seem like a lot of questions but these are some I need to know. Thanks again for all your help. <Our pleasure. Good luck! -Zo Your aquarist in need (one last question do you think it would be safe to get a rock fish?) <If you mean Stonefish, the answer is No, no, no, no, no. And... NO. But "Rock Fish" is a decidedly generic common name, and even refers to certain food fishes. And some are okay for aquarium use. -Zo>

Trying' To House Some Lions! (lionfish Stocking Levels> Hi crew, <Hi! Scott F. your Crew Member tonight!> I have a new tank 6 x 2 x 2.5 ft. The tank will be used for lion fish only. How many fully grown lion fish can this tank hold? <Well, depends largely on species...If you're talking about the bigger guys, like P. volitans- you probably wouldn't want to keep more than 3, IMO...On the other hand, if you're talking about the "dwarf" species, you may be able to keep a few more. Remember, Lionfishes are messy eaters and impart a lot of metabolic wastes into the water. Excellent filtration capacity and water quality is essential here!> I am planning to build a corner overflow with a 1" drain and ? " return. What size should I make the overflow box? <Frankly, I'd recommend a larger overflow; one that could accommodate at least 2 one inch standpipes. I'd rather have extra drain capacity, instead of too little> I am planning a sump of 3 x 1 x 1.5 ft. Is this large enough? <Seems about right to me> What size pump (gallons/litres per hour) should I use for the return? I would prefer not to have any power heads in the tank. Do you have a simple drawing of the piping? <I'd utilize a pump/circulation system that can turn over the entire tank volume at least 10 times per hour, more if you can do it. I like lots of turnover! Unfortunately, I do not have a diagram I can provide to you, but there are many in-depth discussions of plumbing schemes on the WWM site...Do a bit of searching, and you'll find some good information> Thank you in advance. Karun <And thank you for stopping by! Regards, Scott F>

Gone Lion Mad :-) Hi Steven, As I am mailing you RE: glass weights etc, and tank construction, I may as well explain to you my plans and proposals, and get your opinion on them too, if that is ok. <Sure> Along with my new Maculosus angel, I also got a Volitans lion, which is currently housed in my 84"x18"x20" FO system. He is only a couple of inches long, but already has noticeably grown. What a great fish..... over night I have been transformed to a lion lover. Inspired by a video titled the "video Fishtank", which details a lion setup, housing 4 large volitans, a fuzzy dwarf, and what looks like a Russell's lion, I have decided that I want to go that way..... i.e. make my tank predominantly a lion display. <Ok> I am hoping to house a group of 3 or 4 volitans, and a fuzzy dwarf, along with my maculosus angel, and maybe a couple of yellow tangs or the like, for activity etc. <Ok> What size tank would you recommend? <Pretty big, nothing in a standard size would work, definite custom job.> I was thinking along the lines of 6'x2'x30"(front to back).....this is about 230 US gallons...... that is allocating 50 gallons to the angel, about 30-40 gals per volitans, 20 gals for the fuzzy dwarf, and the remainder for a couple of tangs. <Seems just a bit small for all these large fish.> Do you feel that is a reasonable proposal? <It could be done with two large skimmers, big sump, and algae nutrient export, but bigger is better.> As far as feeding, I presume the angel and tangs will seriously out-compete the lions at feeding time, <Not necessarily. I have a large lionfish in one of my customer's tanks and it eats first over a large Domino Damsel, Sailfin Tang, and pair of Tomato Clownfish.> so I would feed daily with small sized frozen foods and of course the lions would take no interest in Nori etc. fed daily, and then twice a week a lion specific, more substantial meal... chunks of fish or shrimp or whatever....which I am sure the angel will pick at too :-). <Agreed> Decor.... probably a few large rocks in the center piled up, cave in the middle of the cluster..... plenty of swimming space for the lions. Lighting just a few fluorescents..... nothing too intense, probably peaking in the blue spectrum, to simulate the slightly deeper water lighting....2 or 3 actinics, and 1 or 2 white. <I would suggest several caves for these ambush predators.> RE: filtration....... I would plan this once a tank has been decided on..... but it will obviously involve a huge skimmer........ might plant out the whole tank with Caulerpa too, <It will be hard to maintain the Caulerpa with the Tangs.> and get it well established on every available surface before the tangs and angel go in...... and probably a fluidized sand bed filter to cope with the waste...... <I am not a fan of the fluidized bed filter for hobbyists. The technology has its place for stores and wholesale facilities, but I would not use it for homes.> but this would be part 2 of the planning phase..... first decide on what I'm keeping, then decide on how big a tank is required, then decide how to filter it. Want to try and stick to the 6' tank size category though. <The 6' long x 2' deep x 2 1/2' wide tank seems ok. I would use two skimmers and a Caulerpa sump for additional nutrient export. I think you would be able to do this without non-natural biological filtration (W/D's or fluidized beds).> Your views on my plans would be greatly appreciated, as would suggestions.... Thanks for reading. Regards, Matt <Good luck. -Steven Pro>

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