[Wisdom16]

Pic courtesy of E_Americanus aka Solomon.

Scientific Name:Dendrochirus biocellatus

Common Name: Fu-Manchu Lionfish

Habitat: Ind-Pacific, stays around reefs. Hides under ledges and caves.

Max Size: 4-6 inches

Minimum Tank Requirement: 20 Gallon Long or 30 Gallon

Ph:8.0-8.3

Temperature:77-82 degrees Farenheit

Diet:Eats shrimp, crabs, and small fish.
Guide to weaning them off live foods: First, feed the Lionfish one last time. Then starve him for 2 days. Get something like a feeding prawn and move the frozen foods in a life-like motion. Usually the lionfish will not take the food right off, but keep trying. If your lionfish doesn't eat after the 5th day, feed him some ghost shrimp (gutloaded first) and keep trying. Eventually he should take the frozen foods.

Aggresion: Peaceful but will harass others of the same species to the point of sickness. Will eat anything it can fit in it's mouth.

Reproduction: Has not been bred in the home aquaria before.

Notes: This is one of the harder Lionfish to keep. Keep the water quality at a near pristine to prevent stress and sickness. This fish is venomous if stung. If you are stung, Run hot water over the wound. Then seek medical attention immediatly. You might not know if you will have an allergic reaction to this fish's sting. Please keep this species with other peaceful fish. Just because they have spines will not keep them from getting picked on by faster and aggresive fish.

Tips: Make sure you have live rock in your tank so the lionfish can hide. If you are cycling your future lionfish tank, you can add mollies to the tank. Just acclimate them and let them go. The mollies will eat the marine algae that grows. After being in a saltwater tank for a few months, they are a better meal for your saltwater preds than anything else because of the marine algae and the prepared foods in their gut. When they have babies you get another batch of food for your small preds. You can also acclimate ghost shrimp to saltwater. Make sure you do this over a period of 2 hours. Establishing a small colony of them before you introduce your lionfish could be helpful. The ghost shrimp will eat any leftover food and algae in the tank so when the lionfish eats them, he gets all of the needed nutrition.

This post has been edited by Wisdom15: 29 July 2004 - 03:53 PM