Lionfish questions

So I was hoping to pick your brains a little and I was looking to buy an antenna lionfish since they are my favorite. But I have gotten into corals recently and I noticed that most of the info I see online is that lionfish are not reef safe... This is a problem so I was hoping some light could be shed on this subject.

 

they are "reef safe"....kinda. they wont eat your corals. but will eat any snails or hermits or fish that are small enough to fit in their mouth. But i would not worry about it messing with your corals.

 

Lions will not touch snails or hermits. They will eat shrimp and crabs that don't have borrowed shells. They won't touch corals, but of course will eat smaller fish.

 

wait, i swear i have read all over that they will, err wait...maybe that's puffer fish. haha whoops.

 

+1 they won't touch your snails/crabs with shells. Unless maybe it get really really really hungry which better not ever happen... Just don't plan on having anything small enough to fit in its mouth. I loved my lion when i had him but he really limited what i was willing to purchase and add to my tank. Don't want to feed him a $30+ snack...

 

Even when hungry they won't eat them. They know it's not a digestible food item.

 

So to care for him since he is reef safe, should I feed live food? I fed my old puffers shrimp and he ate snails

Also online I saw info about lionfish and clowns in the same tank, I know this is highly unlikely but is it possible or are they blowing smoke?

 

A dwarf lion can eat an ocellaris/percula.... I've seen it. I'm sure there are some people keeping them together, but it's just that the lionfish hasn't outgrown the clown yet. It will it time.

But there are also lions that are not quite as big as they should be and that you can blame on diet. If your adult dwarf can't eat your adult clown, you're not feeding your lion adequately enough. That's nothing to brag about or promote.

Don't feed live food. Switch them over to a varied diet of saltwater fare from the market. I bring home the slab, cut it up into chunks, freeze separately on a board/plate and then put the frozen chunks in a baggy. That way you can take them out one piece at a time. I also use those handheld vacuum sealers to keep it nice and fresh.

 

So you actually feed it frozen fresh fish? That's cool

 

I want one, the fu manchu looks really cool. I have a 40 breeder tnak on my frag system that I just use as a fuge that I may use. This thread has been helpful so far!