If you’re an aquarist, you probably have a preference for a certain type of fish. Some people like little peaceful fish, some like big aggressive fish, and others like rare oddball fish. I’ve always been inclined toward small, weird, peaceful fish like Seahorses and Curious Wormfish. I never imagined myself wanting a large predator like a Lionfish until I met “Serendipity.”
Serendipity is a Yellow Dwarf Fuzzy Lionfish (Dendrochirus brachypterus). I know Serendipity is a female because she has only five bars on her pectoral fins; males have more. Yellow is a rare color for this type of fish, and she is a gorgeous shade of yellow. In addition to her yellow fins, she has beautiful blue eyes and reddish-brown bars on her body.
Serendipity is the only fish in the coral tank I keep in my kitchen. I think she likes being in the kitchen as she gets lots of attention and can be where the action is. She has been outgoing and friendly since day one. If I am looking into the tank, there is usually a curious little Lionfish face right in front of what I’m trying to look at. I suppose I wouldn’t be afraid of anything either if I were that venomous. I have to be careful when I work in my tank so that I don’t bump into her venomous spines. If I am stung, I’ll put the affected area into water that is as hot as I can stand it, and that may help deactivate the venom. If not, I’d have to take a trip to the ER.
Serendipity is also unusual for a Lionfish because she eats frozen food. Most Lionfish will only eat live foods. The “fish guys” here at LiveAquaria’s Aquaculture Coral and Marine Life Facility do their best to try to train the large predatory fish to eat frozen foods like frozen silversides and krill before being sold on Diver’s Den. I was lucky that Serendipity learned to eat frozen food.
I feed her a diet of mostly thawed, cut up silversides three times a week. Sometimes she gets a piece of krill as a treat since a diet of krill only has been reported as a cause for lockjaw in large predatory fish. I use a blunt bamboo stick to transfer the food to her. I impale the food on the end then wiggle the food in the water to entice her. She swims up to the food and pauses for a moment while flaring and vibrating her fins before striking. I try to let the food go off the stick in front of her face right before she strikes so she doesn’t hurt her mouth on the stick. We both have to have perfect timing or else the food floats to the bottom of the tank where she won’t eat it and I’ll have to get it out.
Do you have a Lionfish or other large predatory fish in your aquarium? We’d love to hear about it!
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We have 2 Bichirs (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=830+2241) in the tanks in our office. Both came to us after they modeled for the LiveAquaria.com website.
The Ornate Bichir lives in a 55 gallon corner tank with 2 angels, a Gold Gourami, a Paradise Fish, and a Long-fin Congo Tetra. Anything smaller silently disappears shortly after acclimation (usually the second evening, after we’ve gone home). He’s at least a foot in length and 1-1/4″ thick. He gets 2 whole silversides 3 times a week.
The Albino Cuvier is a bit smaller. He’s about 7″ long and 3/4″ thick. He lives in a 29 gallon planted aquarium. His tankmates include some beautiful Emperor Tetras and Pristella Tetras. While the occational sleeping beauty may become a snack, he seems quite happy to eat chopped silversides and sinking Hikari Massivore Pellets.
Count me for the “small and peaceful” fish… my tanks are mostly gouramis and guppies! But if we ever work our way up to marine, my first choice would definitely be an angler ( http://liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+19 ).