Volitan Lion Fish

[Daisy1]

Hi All!

I am no stranger to fishkeeping, freshwater or saltwater. I have SEVERAL tanks in my apartment and my friends all think im nuts! But to get to the point- I am about to inherit a Red Volitan Lionfish, which my friend who is moving and doesnt want to take him describes as 3-4 inches in length. The only problem is that at the moment I only have a 20g tank spare. I know these things get big, and its going to be a month or 2 before I can buy a tank suitable to such accomodate a fish that will get that large (my other large tanks are community reef and full of little "delicacies" for the lionfish). I dont know how fast they grow, and while I think it would be ok to keep him in a 20g tank for a small period of time, I thought I should get a second opinion.
Thanks for any input!
Rachel

 

[danmhippo]

IMO, if you can plumb the 20G with other saltwater tank of yours, you may be OK for a while. Not that they grow that fast in 2 months, but it's going to be tuff to deal with the volume of waste he produces everyday in small tanks like that. Plumbing the tank to other established saltwater tanks ensures a more stable and forgiving water parameters.

If that's not an option, it would be the best interest of the volitan to wait until you can provide a proper home for it.

 

[Daisy1]

Well, I dont think its possible, as they are in 2 separate rooms, however I do have pretty heavy duty filtration on the 20... double canister and protien skimmer, both of which cycle about 250 gallons an hour, which I figure would be pretty good for the 20. I have heard they produce a lot of waste, is this simply detritus, or is it skin emission type waste? ( as this is my first poisionous fish Im not really sure, just getting into my reading up) The tank he is in now is a 20 gallon with less filtration and no skimmer ( she has had him for about 3 months, and truthfully im amazed she hasnt killed it, but she is pretty good about her water changes... once a week about 20%) Also, what size tank should I be buying? I have heard these things can get about a foot long, and if I want to add things like say a panther grouper (my other fave aggressive fish) Do you think a 75 G would be big enough or should I go bigger? Bear in ming I live in an apartment, and while Id buy the hugest thing I could afford, Id have to get rid of my bed to put it in my house =)
Thanks for your replies!
Daisy

 

[danmhippo]

As you have indicated in another post helping out another to-be-reefer, bigger is always better!

You have also stated that you are amazed that friend of yours managed to keep the volitan alive in the 20G for 3 months. These beauty eat a lot and poo a lot. Skin slime is far less a concern then the pooping waste they produces. BTW, the poisonous gland is in their spines not skins, so you probably don't need to worry about that. Just be very careful handling them and best to wear a good needle proof gloves when handling them. You don't want your hands ends up like a bear claw!

Your filtration sounds massive, overpowering in fact. As long as you are not creating a tornado in the tank, I guess it's probably OK for a couple of weeks. Keep up with rinsing the sponges and prefilter media in the canister to prevent organic buildup in the system. Keep up with the religious water change scheme.

IMO, keeping him in the 20G, you are probably into more work then other reef systems you've kept.