What do you feed your lion?

[StrongHandsMcGee]

Just looking for the best thing to feed my lil' baby dwarf zebra!

[FMarini]

at first ghost shrimp...hands down..
After about 3 weeks to a month start the weaning process and get him eating dead prepared foods. You might consider using PE frozen mysis as the weaning food.
Have you read the lionfish info sheet? (see the sticky at the top of this forum entitled Nov reefkeeping on scorpionfish- its a must read for lion keepers)
frank

[StrongHandsMcGee]

Ok, tried the ghost shrimp. Nada. The lion won't touch 'em. He just lets them sit in the tank until they die a few days later. Any suggestions?

[IowaReefer]

i am picking up my baby dwarf zebra on monday... i have read that they were relatively easy to ween onto frozen. is this a myth? i did read the column posted on this forum, along with several other lionfish resources. any suggestions?

[SpearMan]

get some medium size silversides and make them look "alive" with a feeder rod. if that doesn' work, i made a feeder rig using a piece of fishing line tied to half a toothpick with a small barb cut to hold the line. it worked like a charm to fool my volitan and after a week he ate silversides as they dropped in the water.

[r0gu3]

My 2 inch Zebra Dwarf scarfed down 4 ghosts within a couple seconds the first day I got him. In a couple weeks I am going to switch him over to silversides.

[M.Dandaneau]

Often when small lionfish refuse to eat live ghost shrimp it's a sign that it is either ill or intimidated by something else in the tank, and yes, even with venomous spines they are easily intimidated by boisterous or aggressive tankmates.

If yours hasn't eaten yet, I'd suggest a few small, live mollies....they will thrive in the marine tank and if they don't inspire an attack once the live ghost shrimp have failed, the odds for success are very slim.

Not trying to rain on your parade, but it's not unusual to get small lionfish from the LFS that are ill and won't eat, many simply dying from starvation in 1-2 weeks.

Good luck to you...remember, each fish is an individual and what works for most doesn't necessarily work for all, and the exceptions can be a real challenge.

Mike

[StrongHandsMcGee]

The lil' guy does eat live mollies (teeny ones). But he still refuses to eat the ghost shrimp. He has been eating since I got him, but I'm trying to figure out how to wean him to frozen foods.

[M.Dandaneau]

Ah.....now that's GOOD news!

Do you have a small (10 gal. or so) tank where he can be isolated for a while?
If it's eating live mollies now, then the odds are it will switch to frozen silversides as well.....start out by cutting one up into small pieces, preferably one piece with the eyes and another with the tail.
A piece with eyes will often inspire a strike if dropped in front of him, especially into the return current.
Some are a LOT harder than others, with my all time hold out being a fish that demanded live feeders only for over a year.

He's now a bottomless pit that eats anything and has fathered more than 50 batches of eggs.
Hang in there!

Mike

[IowaReefer]

i am putting my zebra lion in my 20H predator tank which is hooked into my 20H reef, refugium, skimmer, ect... but i don't have much for the lionfish to hide behind. although he will be in there by himself, i know that lionfish need to hide while adjusting to a new tank. all i have in there right now is a large brain coral skeleton and a corona bottle. any suggestions (other than more liverock--that will probably come later) of what i could use for structure in my tank?

[StrongHandsMcGee]

Originally posted by M.Dandaneau
Do you have a small (10 gal. or so) tank where he can be isolated for a while?

I don't really think I should need to isolate him, he's in a 20H with a 4" Bangaii Cardinal. Thre lion is about 3." Do you think he could be intimidated by a cardinal?

[M.Dandaneau]

StrongHandsMcGee, I'm pretty sure yours isn't intimidated unless it's in with the killer bangai from outer space!

As for yours Iowa, anything works...base rock (which eventually becomes LR...I like red lava rock myself, and have been using it with no ill effect for 20 years), artificial sponges or whatever appeals to your sense of aesthetics.

Mike

[ozadars]

dont think so, bangaii cardinals are peaceful