Stonefish care

[WesternSpyKolya]

Hello, I'm new to reef2reef and I know this is a place for people to discuss saltwater things, I'm thinking on getting a reef stonefish. Before you do say that it is extremely dangerous, yes I know that and I did my research but didn't find too much information on their specific care. I have kept venomous fish in the past similar to the stonefish, such as the freshwater lionfish and a scorpionfish. Did anyone keep stonefish and if you did what was your experience like? Could I keep soft corals or macro algae with it? I'd like to keep some soft corals with it if possible.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Welcome to R2R!

I'm sure macro algae would be fine but I don't know about the corals. Since they use their spines for defense, maybe?

 

[littlefoxx]

Hello, I'm new to reef2reef and I know this is a place for people to discuss saltwater things, I'm thinking on getting a reef stonefish. Before you do say that it is extremely dangerous, yes I know that and I did my research but didn't find too much information on their specific care. I have kept venomous fish in the past similar to the stonefish, such as the freshwater lionfish and a scorpionfish. Did anyone keep stonefish and if you did what was your experience like? Could I keep soft corals or macro algae with it? I'd like to keep some soft corals with it if possible.

Thank you in advance.

Should be fine, what size tank are you planning for it? One thing to be very aware of is where they are when having hands in the tank. I used to keep lionfish, but discovered (by getting stung) Im deathly allergic to the venom and had to get rid of them for that reason. Never in a million years would I thought I would be allergic to something like that but just keep that in mind as well and have a plan for if you get stung! The only issue I see with corals is them perching on them and bothering them, my lions made my corals mad doing that a lot. Stone fish are super cool!!! Do create a build thread if/when you get one! Also might have to feed them live food. Go to @lion_king ‘s page and look for his article on feeding live fish. He has kept many predators over the years

 

[littlefoxx]

https://www.reef2reef.com/members/lion-king.70940/#recent-content

here is his page

 

[WesternSpyKolya]

Welcome to R2R!

I'm sure macro algae would be fine but I don't know about the corals. Since they use their spines for defense, maybe?

Thank you! The corals will be on the main rock where I presume he won't travel to most of the time.

 

[WesternSpyKolya]

Should be fine, what size tank are you planning for it? One thing to be very aware of is where they are when having hands in the tank. I used to keep lionfish, but discovered (by getting stung) Im deathly allergic to the venom and had to get rid of them for that reason. Never in a million years would I thought I would be allergic to something like that but just keep that in mind as well and have a plan for if you get stung! The only issue I see with corals is them perching on them and bothering them, my lions made my corals mad doing that a lot. Stone fish are super cool!!! Do create a build thread if/when you get one! Also might have to feed them live food. Go to @lion_king ‘s page and look for his article on feeding live fish. He has kept many predators over the years

He's going to be a juvenile when I get him so around 120 liters at start, planning on upgrading to 180 and 200 as he grows. The filtration in the tank is rated for 180 currently, he's going to be the only fish alongside cleanup crew (a few snails and conches). Yes, I do have a backup plan if I get stung but hopefully I'll never have to use it. For the corals and macroalgae I'm planning on placing macroalgae towards the bottom and the soft corals towards the top of the rockscape so hopefully he won't bother them that much, thank you so much for the positive comments. Will send a picture here when I'm done, currently have the cleanup crew doing their job going to wait a few more days just to be sure. Tank wasn't doing so good so I did a rip clean on it, used to be an LPS reef. I'll be sure to check out Lion King's page, thank you again.