Volitan Lion only eating feeders...not good-suggestions?

giants4pc · #1 11/09/2007, 09:12 PM

He's about 7" big. I got him three months ago after he was eating frozen silversides. He was eating them no problem for about a month and a half. Then, one day, he stopped. He would actually spit them out. I tried the feeding stick. I tried garlic and selcon...nothing works. In desparation after eating my 5" blue head wrasse, I've started feeding him goldfish feeders even though I know they are not good for him. What do I do. Nothing seems to work other than those live fish???

welsher7 · #2 11/09/2007, 10:30 PM

mix up his diet. silversides, pieces of market shrimp, krill, pieces of fish fillet. he might just be sick of the silversides

TheSaltwaterGuy · #3 11/09/2007, 10:49 PM

Yeah, try what welsher said. If that doesn't work, try live feeder white shrimp (from LiveAquaria). While feeding the shrimp, slowly offer him pieces of krill, frozen shrimp, mysis shrimp, etc.

HTH

billsreef · #4 11/10/2007, 10:43 AM

Let him get hungry for several days to a week or so, than try again with the silversides and/or shrimp on a feeding stick.

giants4pc · #5 11/10/2007, 01:03 PM

I've tried the silversides in garlic and selcon, shrimp, krill, squid, and clams. He won't eat it even when he is very hungry.

billsreef · #6 11/10/2007, 01:24 PM

How long have you let him go without eating before trying?

46bfinGA · #7 11/10/2007, 02:15 PM

How can you tell he is really hungry? I would stop feeding him live food and just keep trying once or twice a week.Eventually he will eat whatever you throw in the tank.
My Dwarf Lion eats Mysis,Flake food,Krill,just about anything I throw in the tank now.

giants4pc · #8 11/10/2007, 03:52 PM

I've been going about once per week. I have tried waiting 4 or 5 days and then giving him the food and he would still let the silversides float right past him. The time I tried to go longer, he ate my 5" blue head wrasse.

LisaD · #9 11/10/2007, 07:28 PM

Could you try some small damsels for now? They would be MUCH better for him than goldfish feeders. You could also try gut-loaded, salt-acclimated mollies and ghost shrimp. I'd go with more nutritious live food for now. Goldfish are really not a good choice at all for lionfish.

pinkie · #10 11/10/2007, 11:31 PM

Also make sure that you double check your tank parameters, they have been known to refuse to eat if water parameters begin to slip, and won't start eating regularly until water conditions are improved.

billsreef · #11 11/11/2007, 01:02 PM

I wouldn't count on keeping him well fed to prevent him from eating any tank mates that fit in the mouth. It's kind of like giving me some nacho's and than expecting me not to eat dinner

Try letting him go for two weeks without feeding, than dangle a silverside or shrimp in front of him on a feeding stick and tease him with it, make him think it's alive

giants4pc · #12 11/26/2007, 07:47 PM

Well it's been over a week now of not buying feeders. He hasn't eaten anything in this time frame. So, I soaked a silverside in garlic and literally moved it around him. He appeared to sniff it and still refused to eat it. He was chowing them a few months ago. There is no way he isn't hungry and there is no way I'm spending the money on damsels everytime he needs to eat.

thepudge · #13 11/26/2007, 08:23 PM

I fed my lion live feeder goldfish and only live feeder goldfish for 18 years. I'm not saying its a good diet, but your lion isnt going to starve to death from eating feeders for a month. I would suggest this -- take a couple of feeder goldfish, freeze them, and see if you can get the lion to eat them frozen. If the lion starts eating the frozen feeders you may have a decent shot of getting it to take silversides again (you can even rub the goldfish on the silversides to get the right 'smell'). Other option -- try feeding a goldfish and a silverside at the same time and see if the lion gets excited enough to eat both.