Small Lionfish (Fish School)

I'm pretty sure this is a Russell's Lionfish.

Russell's Lionfish: To be honest, I don't know very much about taking care of lionfish, so most of what I say comes from "Marine Fishes" by Scott Michael. Russell's lionfish can grow up to a foot in length, and require a 55 gallon tank, at minimum. This is what they recommend in the book, but it seems a little small to me. I'm going to recommend a 75+ gallon tank, just to stay on the safe side. Lionfish can seem intimidating, but they're actually pretty easy to take care of Feed them standard marine carnivore foods such as live shrimp, chunks of meat, etc. Lionfish are apex predators, and will eat just about any small fish. They don't mention this in the book, but Lionfish are confident and aggressive predators, who will probably go after medium sized fish given the chance. Lionfish do have venomous spines: You can't get them "de-spined' like you can get stingrays. Be suspicious if your fishstore says that their lionfish have been "de-spined". Overall the spines are not a threat to you as long as you don't plan on trying to grab or touch the fish. Keep a laminated sheet with instructions on what to do if you get stung near the tank. If you have allergies to venom, consider getting a different fish. While owning a lionfish doesn't mean you'll get stung, it always is a possibility, even if very unlikely.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• lionfish
• saltwater
• russells
• aquarium
• tank
• fish

[demilavatoisawsome88]

are they easy to take care of?

[PreuschoffPerrier]

Very nice! Greets Inge - Agnes

[danielbui23]

Yeup, thats a Russell's. These are my favorite out of the large bodied Lionfish. These are also always mistaken for Red Volitans and sold to misinformed customers.

[ilikelimegreen1234]

This is pretty nice dude