Lionfish Info
Written by FMARINI - "The Lion Guru"

volitanlionfish.jpg (14321 bytes)The P. Volitans is the most common, and the quickest growing (actually its either P.  Russells, P. Miles, or P. Lunlunata - they are always misidentified at stores - and called P. Volitans) ...it is a red/brown striped one with really showy pectoral fins.  It will grow to be about 15"- max,   and will obtain this size in about 1.5 yr.  Its growth is too quick for me,   and will tax your tank size very quickly,  also they are too greedy as far as eating.  In exchange for this they are by far the most tolerant of poor water quality.   As an aside there is a great looking black striped volitan morph (actually the true P. Volitans) which has great webbed extensions off its pec fins... its just like the red volitan as far as growth.  There is some confusion in what is truly a P.  Volitans,  and what is a P.  Miles or P.  Russells.   This is due to the P. Miles and Russells form of lionfish looking a lot like P. Volitan...so in reality I have lumped P.  Volitan,  P. Russells and P.   Miles into the same category,  (P. Miles has a clear center portion of the pec fins,  and it doesn't not have any facial projections- it acts and grows just like the P.Volitans       dwarf lion2.jpg (16510 bytes)

Next are the dwarf lions, these are smallish lions. The dwarf lion" is smallish, and has brown/reds as well(similar coloration to a volitan), but the rays between the pectorals fins are webbed to half way up, it stays relatively small, about 6-8" (although there are reports of them reaching up to 10"), and grows slowly, a nice fish for a smaller tank.

dwarffuzzylion.jpg (13718 bytes)The other dwarf is called the "dwarf fuzzy lion"..its actually a full bodied lionfish that has no extended rays on it pec fins, and is also smallish in size (about also 5-6" ), these fish have blue green eyes, and it also grows slowly. This dwarf fuzzy lion is also a great little lion w/ lots of personality, in that these lionfish actually swim around quite a bit....a rarity for lionfish.
fu2.jpg (15511 bytes)

Next is the fu man chu lionfish, its kind of a weird lionfish ...but very cool. It doesn't swim but walks... it has almost a spanish dancer like pec fins and two extensions off its mouth, which look like a fu man chu mustache (hence the name). It also stays small- about 6-8", and grows slowly..I like this lion because its has a weird undulating dorsal fin, but honestly it stays hidden and immobile except for feeding time. I have found that Fu lions are actually slightly mean..in that you can only have one Fu/tank, as they seem to be territorial.

clerfin-ant.jpg (15821 bytes)The last two lions are large forms of lions: the antennata lion (often called the peacock lion), and is somewhat rare, and radiated (or radiata) which is quite rare-especially from the red sea. The antennata lionfish has the same body colors of a volitan but its pectoral fins are as thick as pencil lead, and white, with very little connecting webbing between them, it grows slow, but not as slow as the dwarfs...gets almost big as the volitans (10-12"), but it takes a few years. The antenna lions come in two color, a brownish striped, and a red striped...        radiatated.jpg (16594 bytes)

The last lion is the radiata..its maroon and black, with two horizontal stripes on its caudal peduncle (the area right before the tail fin), it has pencil thin rays on its pec fins and no webbing. This fish gets about10-12" but grows very slowly. I have seen this fish have reds, maroons, blacks, greens....very beautiful, and the most expensive (about $60-90), also the least hardy of the lions-it does not tolerate poor water quality, and it is very particular in its feeding (it appears to radiata-in-flight.jpg (13194 bytes)like shrimp better than fish)-10 times more difficult in caring for than the volitans. You should be able to keep the lionfish together no problem, and they will actually help each other hunt for food. A herding behavior. Remember that lionfish are dawn/dusk hunters in the wild so there are not very active during the day, and on top of that very lethargic...so expect these fish to be more active when hungry, but hiding and "laying around" most of the time. It takes about 2-3weeks for the fish to adapt to a feeding day cycle, however none of my lions were ever shy about eating.       

Feeding (short version): Right at first you should probably feed live foods...like ghost shrimp, guppies, mollies, rosy reds(minnows-do horrible in salt water), and goldfish (last resort). Once they are stable and happy (about 1 month), starve them for 4 or 5 days, then introduce small silversides (this is a marine fish which is sold as "silversides", it is packaged in 25, 50, or 100 packs, its frozen and full of nutrients). The key point here is that you have to link the dead non living food as a food source to the fish-since the lions are use to seeing moving wiggling food before they eat it. I wiggle the silverside in front of the lion and when he extends to eat it -let it go (obviously thaw them in warm water first).