Lionfish

[Ian]

hey guys, I just bought a small lionfish tu put in my tank with a Nigger trigger and some clown but he seems to be shy or scared..He`s been in my tank since wenesday and he didnt eat since...well, exept my coral banded shrimp that it completely distroided hahah


I tried mysis, brine shrimp, small frozen shrimp..

what else ?

[Bob P]

I've had mine 2 weeks, still not eating.
It's been suggested to try ghost shrimp.
Which I will.

[Ian]

tell me where you found some.. I really like him and dont want to loose it..

dont know what to try now!

[Bob P]

Just got the suggestion this morning.
And I'm not in Ottawa, so my hands
are tied at the moment. Let me know if you find some.

[Saltcreep]

tell me where you found some.. I really like him and dont want to loose it..

dont know what to try now!

Big Als in Kanata gets them in occasionally as feeders. If I'm counting my weeks right, some feeders should have come in Friday. Might be worth a phone call.

[Ian]

awesome thx, I`ll give it a call and might go to Kanata later on today !!

[Saltcreep]

Presentation of the food is everything to these guys. When I first got mine (sadly, he's gone now), he wasn't eating much either and the suggestions I got for food were pretty much what you're trying to feed now. Krill works well too. Sometimes, you have to entice them to eat, put a piece of krill or thawed shrimp on a wooden skewer and try dangling it right in front of him. Play him a bit like you're out on the lake, fishing. Although they are opportunistic feeders, being predators, they still enjoy a short chase. It only took a couple of weeks feeding this way, soon he was coming out looking for food evertime I walked by. Once you get him eating, he'll take anything he can get his mouth around. I think Mysis and Brine shrimp may be a bit small to excite him much. How big is the Lionfish and what kind?

[Ian]

its a Zebra Lionfish about 1 1/2 - 2" long..I`m going to Big Al right now to get some ghost shrimp and hope it will works..

so far, Lion is verry calm and relax in the tank, moving from rock to rock and then lay down on it for a while... not verry hidding but not really swimming ether!

[Bob P]

Mine's a spotfin.
Same size 1 1/2 or 2 inch.
Very active, the fishing bit is close to
working, he knows something is up.
Gets antsy with the smell drifting in the
water. Closer to biting all the time.

[Saltcreep]

Mine's a spotfin.
Same size 1 1/2 or 2 inch.
Very active, the fishing bit is close to
working, he knows something is up.
Gets antsy with the smell drifting in the
water. Closer to biting all the time.

Good luck, just keep at it. After two weeks he's bound to be hungry, so he will eat.

[Saltcreep]

its a Zebra Lionfish about 1 1/2 - 2" long..I`m going to Big Al right now to get some ghost shrimp and hope it will works..

so far, Lion is verry calm and relax in the tank, moving from rock to rock and then lay down on it for a while... not verry hidding but not really swimming ether!

Good luck with the shrimp. Sounds like very typical behaviour, they just lie in wait for their next meal. Even if you have great luck with the Ghost Shrimp, I still highly recommend getting your Lionfish used to good prepared food. Both you and Bob P have young fish with lots of time to learn the feeding behaviours that you want. You won't always be able to get live foods, so better they learn to accept fresh and frozen alternatives. I find them to be very intelligent fish and easy to 'teach'.

[Bob P]

I'm working on raw shrimp, and pellets
I have a dogface puffer that accepts
pellets already.

[Ian]

problem SOLVE!! well so far so good...Liony just hate 2 ghost shrimp in <1min haha.. lets hope he`s stay like that!

[White Lightning]

When I had my lion I started him off on feeders but this was only short term until I could get him to eat frozen. After that I always fed mine silversides and krill.

[bandit]

You could also get some small feeder goldfish too, as he gets big watch he dosn't eat your clown.

[NjOyRiD]

yeah the clowns will be a gonner soon hehe

[Saltcreep]

You could also get some small feeder goldfish too, as he gets big watch he dosn't eat your clown.

For anything more than an occasional treat, or for something to chase around a bit, comets are very poor feeders for predatory fish. Low nutritional value and more likely to carry diseases. The key here is to get the Lion off the live food as soon as he will allow, and if the Clown looks threatened, move the Clown. I always tried to feed my Lion, (and still do with the Piranhas), to satiation, maybe twice a week. They are gluttonous eaters, but will stop when they're full. They will definitely let you know when they're hungry again, but wait a couple more days after that; they're just funnin' with you.

[Bob P]

Ghost shrimp worked.
Now to wean onto something easier.