I've finally got my first Lion fish. It's a Dwarf Zebra Lionfish. It's about 3" in size. What type of live food should I feed it ? The LFS I got it from tells me that it has been eating prepared food at the store. I read somewhere that it is better to feed live marine feeder fishes and not fresh water feeders, it this true ?
Marine vs Fresh feeders for Lion fish
- Thread starter mling
- Start date
Feeding live marine fish is fraught with risk. Every time you do it you run a very good risk of introducing disease (unless you plan on quarantining and treating your feeders). Although they don't have the same risk of disease transmission, freshwater fish are not very nutritious for lionfish to eat either. A steady diet of goldfish will kill a lionfish pretty quickly from a fatty liver.
If it's eating prepared foods, there is absolutely no need to feed it live animals in any case. It's diet should include whole frozen mysid shrimp/krill, chopped table shrimp, marine fish flesh, squid, etc.
If it's eating prepared foods, there is absolutely no need to feed it live animals in any case. It's diet should include whole frozen mysid shrimp/krill, chopped table shrimp, marine fish flesh, squid, etc.
While I disagree with Matt a bit about the "killing it quckly" part. (I fed feeder goldfish to lions for years back in the day) It's definitely not good for them, and I abandoned that practice years ago.
Keep in mind however, that one way or another, your lion needs WHOLE food items, NOT just flesh -this is an important part of the husbandry of any predator, and is overlooked by many fishkeepers. Failure to do this will result in deficiencies.
Jim
Keep in mind however, that one way or another, your lion needs WHOLE food items, NOT just flesh -this is an important part of the husbandry of any predator, and is overlooked by many fishkeepers. Failure to do this will result in deficiencies.
Jim
JimM":2jngw7hj said:
I do mean in instances where freshwater guppies or goldfish are the only food source. The very few times I've been able to see this happen the fish lasted about 12 to 18 months. It certainly won't kill a fish to include some goldfish in an otherwise well balanced diet now and then! Hopefully my comment didn't sound like a "goldfish are poison" warning.
From my own experience....it's pretty difficult to find live "marine" feeders in most areas. At least, cheap ones, that is.....
I've had a few lionfish in my lifetime. All of them croaked in a relatively short period of time. None of them took to frozen. Most of them ate "freshwater" feeders quite eagerly (only because I couldn't find marine ones). They're awesome fish.....but because of my previous failures, I'm hesitant to try for another.
Because of their nature.....and the other fish in the tank......the lion was usually the last one to eat (the triggers usually killed everything they could get their teeth on well before the lionfish would even think about coming out). They're more of a "I'll hide here and wait for something to come by and I'll kill it type fish).
If anyone can come up with a "cheap" source for live marine feeders, please let me know. Lionfish are quite awesome predators.....they're great to watch. Fantastic fish. I wish I could keep them.
Thanks,
Eboman
I've had a few lionfish in my lifetime. All of them croaked in a relatively short period of time. None of them took to frozen. Most of them ate "freshwater" feeders quite eagerly (only because I couldn't find marine ones). They're awesome fish.....but because of my previous failures, I'm hesitant to try for another.
Because of their nature.....and the other fish in the tank......the lion was usually the last one to eat (the triggers usually killed everything they could get their teeth on well before the lionfish would even think about coming out). They're more of a "I'll hide here and wait for something to come by and I'll kill it type fish).
If anyone can come up with a "cheap" source for live marine feeders, please let me know. Lionfish are quite awesome predators.....they're great to watch. Fantastic fish. I wish I could keep them.
Thanks,
Eboman
i have not ordered from any of these but here are the links...
http://seawaterexpress.com/index.php
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod ... d=2191&N=0
They claim to be "marine" not freshwater. My 2.5" lion is eating ghost shrimp (freshwater). I'm trying to wean it towards frozen food. I'm not sure, but maybe someone can verify feeding damsels instead? I know it's better to feed marine versus freshwater. Not cheap to feed live feed, so I'm trying to get him to eat prepared foods.
http://seawaterexpress.com/index.php
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod ... d=2191&N=0
They claim to be "marine" not freshwater. My 2.5" lion is eating ghost shrimp (freshwater). I'm trying to wean it towards frozen food. I'm not sure, but maybe someone can verify feeding damsels instead? I know it's better to feed marine versus freshwater. Not cheap to feed live feed, so I'm trying to get him to eat prepared foods.
Matt / JimM,
I can personally attest that "goldfish are not poison". Lord knows, I ate enough of them back in college.
Any liver problems that I may have aquired were more that likely from the massive amounts of alcohol I was consuming while eating the goldfish.
hehehheehehehe.....
Just kidding....I couldn't resist.
Eboman
I can personally attest that "goldfish are not poison". Lord knows, I ate enough of them back in college.
Any liver problems that I may have aquired were more that likely from the massive amounts of alcohol I was consuming while eating the goldfish.
hehehheehehehe.....
Just kidding....I couldn't resist.
Eboman
Mrktplayer":dy6uj0v5 said:
I believe the second link is supplied by the first.
I feed a lot of marine feeder shrimp. The best prices are from www.livebrineshrimp.com (look for live marine janitors) and from www.aquaculturestore.com. Both are good, and have comparable prices, I like aquaculturestore a little better because they take paypay and use a lot less styro in their packaging. On the other hand, livebrineshirmp ships next day DHL.
There is some evidence that freshwater crustaceans are ok as food for saltwater animals, freshwater fish are not ok as a regular food. There is an advnaced aquarist article about it somewhere.
I have raised a generation or two of cuttlefish on freshwater ghost shrimp, but my source became inconvenient so while the animals are small, I use the above sources.
Ok well, I guess I won't need food for a Lion for a while -> it died yesterday
Only 2 days in my tank and 5 days since it arrived at the LSF. It looked fine until yesterday afternoon when I knew it was in trouble. Other fish, a Racoon is doing real well. Water parameters all fine.
Was this a case of this Lion not surving the trip from the wild, or was it sick in the first place ?
I am looking to replace it but now I wonder how long I should wait before knowing it will surive being captured. Would it being at the LFS for more than a week imply it survived the trip from the wild ?
Only 2 days in my tank and 5 days since it arrived at the LSF. It looked fine until yesterday afternoon when I knew it was in trouble. Other fish, a Racoon is doing real well. Water parameters all fine.
Was this a case of this Lion not surving the trip from the wild, or was it sick in the first place ?
I am looking to replace it but now I wonder how long I should wait before knowing it will surive being captured. Would it being at the LFS for more than a week imply it survived the trip from the wild ?
With few exceptions, these are among the most hardy of marine species. Really, there shouldn't be a problem. They generally ship well, and adapt readily to captivity - both very young and mature specimens alike.
The only issue is getting them to accept a food item that isn't swimming, but with patience it can be done.
The only issue is getting them to accept a food item that isn't swimming, but with patience it can be done.
JimM":rklk7jx4 said:
Dwarf lions, especially D. brachypterus, seem to be really bad shippers in my experience. I've never had problems moving the Pterois spp. I agree though that there shouldn't be any issues in getting one to adjust to a tank if water parameters/tankmates are okay.
Hmm...aside from Mr. FuManchu (D. biocellatus, and they ended up spawning for me)...I've never had a lick of a problem with any of them, and have had very good results with D. brachypterus. This is over years and years, and not just getting lucky with a single specimen. Agreed though that whatever the case, the larger Pterois species are hardier.
The radiatas can be a bit finicky though....
The radiatas can be a bit finicky though....
JimM":akg9un19 said:
Ditto on the radiata.
I've kept D. brachypterus twice. In both cases I asked for a LFS to order them. In both cases they ordered "several" that were DOA or died after about a week before getting a healthy one. I don't know if this was a case of bad shipping, bad LFS (pretty sure this wasn't the case), touchy fish, or a bit of all three.
In both cases it took me several months to get them feeding on dead foods.
Getting them to feed on dead foods is tough, but I've found with all members of the genus that the key is getting them acclimated in all other ways to the tank first. Full acclimation takes longer than most people realize...months usually after all appears to be normal.
If I brought one of these fish home today, I'd keep it alone for now. I'd feed it guppies or mollies for the time being until it was enough at ease with me and it's surroundings that it started coming to the surface when I approached to feed it, or at the very least wasn't always stashed behind a rock somewhere.
Then I would slowly start introducing dead food items. The fish would refuse for a while, maybe for quite some time, but eventually it would come around and I would be able to discontinue feeding live fish.
This is basically the pattern I've observed over and over with these fish. P. volitans usually comes around fairly quickly.
A few non-aggressive dither fish may help with these species.
If I brought one of these fish home today, I'd keep it alone for now. I'd feed it guppies or mollies for the time being until it was enough at ease with me and it's surroundings that it started coming to the surface when I approached to feed it, or at the very least wasn't always stashed behind a rock somewhere.
Then I would slowly start introducing dead food items. The fish would refuse for a while, maybe for quite some time, but eventually it would come around and I would be able to discontinue feeding live fish.
This is basically the pattern I've observed over and over with these fish. P. volitans usually comes around fairly quickly.
A few non-aggressive dither fish may help with these species.
thanks for the post JimM. I was going to ask that. I'm at the point where he looks at the dead food, then he looks back at me. Is it recommended to starve them for 3-5 days then try to feed them dead food? Or should I give a ghost shrimp first, and then try with dead food?
Sometimes it helps to feed something it will eat, then drop your non-live food item in while he's in feeding mode. Starving for a few days can help, just make sure he's healthy first.
I've also run monofilament through non-living items, and dragged them through the water. Once the fish gets a taste for it, you won't need to trick it.
Whatever the case, it takes patience.
I've also run monofilament through non-living items, and dragged them through the water. Once the fish gets a taste for it, you won't need to trick it.
Whatever the case, it takes patience.
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