Lion Fish Feeding Question

[jbeanz]

Hey everyone went out and bought me a Black Volitan Lionfish today, I was wondering if it would be safe to feed him freshwater feeder fish or are there better feeing options for my fish.

 

[Josh]

Send a PM to "hitsnorth", lionfish are his forte.

 

[Hitsnorth]

You can feed him freshwater fish to get him started eating. But long term they are not healthy for him and you will want to get him eating frozen foods. Ghost shrimp are a good option to get him started. Volitans tend to be easier to get started eating. Dont be alarmed if he doesnt start eating right away. Be patient and before you know it he will be eating out of your hand (literally)

 

[Awibrandy]

Volitans are the easiest of the lions to keep & feed! As already stated do not be alarmed if it doesn't eat right away! It will! If you do decide to feed it fresh water fish do not do this long term!! What I did was I would not feed live food for 4 days, while feeding frozen prawns/silversides, if it didn't take the frozen then I would do the whole thing over again. I never had a lion that went more then the 1 week to start eating frozen.
Word of warning; Do make sure all your other fish are way bigger then the volitan other wise they will be eaten. My volitan ate my fully grown Maroone clowns some years back. They also grow very fast, so I hope you have a large tank. Gorgeous fish, they and the panther grouper were the ones that pulled me into the salt water hobby. My very best wishes on this awesome addition to your system.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Ok here's a question, if you gut load the FW fish or the ghost shrimp with mysis shrimp is that ok for long term feeding?

 

[Hitsnorth]

Yes one of the problems with freshwater fish is the lack of nutrition for the lion. If you "gut load" them it would get some of the nutrition

Silversides are your best best for the volitans once you get them eating frozen silversides you can also pack additional nutrients into the silversides(Selcon,etc). Ive also heard success stories using garlic extreme in the silversides to get them interested in the food.

I have never had a Volitan not eat frozen and like awi said anything that can fit in his mouth is fair game.

 

[Awibrandy]

The other problem with fw fish I found was that long term feeding of such, be it fw cichlids or sw fish can cause hole in the head. So not the best choice. Don't ask me why this happens, I have no idea. What I know is from personal experience only. When I raised Oscar, and fed them live fw fish they always ended up with Hole in the head. With sw fish that I have seen others feed fw live fish, I've also seen that they too got Hole in the head.
I also believe that all frozen, freeze dried, pellets, flakes should be soaked in vitamins, selcon & garlic.

 

[Davidl919]

I feed mine frozen Prawn and just brought him a block of Krill. He loves the Prawn. Is that healthy?

 

[Awibrandy]

I feed mine frozen Prawn and just brought him a block of Krill. He loves the Prawn. Is that healthy?

Yes David! I add vita, garlic just to add some extra nutrition. :bablefish

 

[thepudge]

About 20 years ago I kept a volitan in a tank with an undergravel filter, etc. I fed the lionfish freshwater feeders and only feeders (about 2 a day) and it lived for 18 years. Now I know that it wasnt the best diet, but if feeders kept my lionfish alive for so long, how bad can they be? I'm not asking to be difficult, I am just really curious about it.

And don't flame me, as I owned this lionfish before the Internet was invented, and none of the books I had at the time said freshwater feeders were bad