Reef safe lion fish?

[TDesaulniers]

I bought a dwarf lion fish under the impression it was reef safe. I have never owned a lion fish before. Instantly, he swims into my large RBTA. Later on that night he's dead from the toxin. Was it my fault or was this an accident on the lion fish? I feel terrible.

[J-Burns]

IMOP any fish can get into a nem and get eaten/ killed. I have two nems and the only fish I have with them are a couple of clowns. My LFS has told me that my RBTA won't bother other fish but I suspected they would given the chance.

[Wannabe29]

Nems can eat/sting any hapless fish that wanders into their tentacles. So, I guess it could have happened to any fish. That being said, I don't know enough about lionfish and their habits in a reef tank to give an opinion as to whether or not a better decision could have been made.

[HatTrick]

Sounds like the lion killed the nem?

[SushiGirl]

Originally Posted by HatTrick

Sounds like the lion killed the nem?

What?



TDesaulniers, lionfish perch on stuff. That's pretty much all they do in a tank. In this case, it sounds like the lion probably perched on the anemone, which really means the reef wasn't safe for the lion.

Reef safe depends on how you define it. If you mean will it eat corals, no it won't. If you mean will it eat fish/inverts, yes it will. I've not seen the term used as to whether the environment would be safe for the fish, though!

Lionfish are not reef safe in that they'll eat anything (fish or invert) that will fit into their very large mouth. Unless you're keeping a reef tank with only fish that are much larger than the lion's mouth and no shrimp or crabs, then they're not going to be reef safe. Everything I've read on lionfish says "with caution," which means it's a risk.

[Spartanman22]

I used to have a dwarf lionfish in my 75 gallon reef. The tank had a sebae anemone that was about the size of a basketball. The lion never once had any run in with the anemone. I think it might just have been a misfortunate fluke