HELP.....picky eating Russell's Lionfish!!

[Orangetruck94]

Hello guys and gals!

Here's my problem(if you can't tell by my subject/title), I just bought a juvenile(3 inch long) Russell lionfish and "he" will not eat......well "he" will not eat anything I feed him! He love to eat my Peppermint shrimp, but thats will make me go broke!

I have had the fish for about a week now and after I removed the rest of Peppermint shrimp from the tank(the second day I have had the fish) and wont eat anything I feed him?!

I have tied Krill shrimp, Silversides and Laguna Farms food but with no luck!

All "he" does is look all in and around the live rock for the Peppermint shrimp

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks

Orangetruck94

[JMCAquarium]

Perhaps you should try some "tuffies" from petsmart also known as feeder fish ya know the little peach colored guys toss one or two in alive and see if he give chase. My Marine betta only ate live until I was able to ween him off to frozen took about 2 months though.

Good luck

[azmorpheus]

If I remember correctly from back in the day when I use to have a lion fish, they do not eat every day. When was the last time he has eaten? If you let him get hungry he is probably more likely to eat other foods. Also since he is accustom to probably eating live food your best bet to ween him on to frozen is to take a silver side and place it a the end of a kabob stick and kind of make it look like its swimming around him and see if that works. I read about that working for someone a long time ago. Also try frozen mysis shrimp, thats what I use to feed mine.

[Orangetruck94]

Originally posted by JMCAquarium
Perhaps you should try some "tuffies" from petsmart also known as feeder fish ya know the little peach colored guys toss one or two in alive and see if he give chase. My Marine betta only ate live until I was able to ween him off to frozen took about 2 months though.

Good luck

Thanks JMC!
I will give the "tuffies" a try!

[Orangetruck94]

Originally posted by azmorpheus
If I remember correctly from back in the day when I use to have a lion fish, they do not eat every day. When was the last time he has eaten? If you let him get hungry he is probably more likely to eat other foods. Also since he is accustom to probably eating live food your best bet to ween him on to frozen is to take a silver side and place it a the end of a kabob stick and kind of make it look like its swimming around him and see if that works. I read about that working for someone a long time ago. Also try frozen mysis shrimp, thats what I use to feed mine.

Well When I put him in the tank Sat, he ate 1 Pep shrimp. Since then, he has not eaten much, just picks at the Krill and Silver sides...but wont eat them! So its been about 4 days without eating. All he does is look around the live rock!!

Thanks for the input azmorpheus

[clown2be]

stock you tank with small damsels!

[Orangetruck94]

Originally posted by azmorpheus
If I remember correctly from back in the day when I use to have a lion fish, they do not eat every day. When was the last time he has eaten? If you let him get hungry he is probably more likely to eat other foods. Also since he is accustom to probably eating live food your best bet to ween him on to frozen is to take a silver side and place it a the end of a kabob stick and kind of make it look like its swimming around him and see if that works. I read about that working for someone a long time ago. Also try frozen mysis shrimp, thats what I use to feed mine.

Oh.....and yes I have tried the kabob stick trick, but all he does swim at it and does not eat! So he is defiantly not scared of me or the tank now!

[Orangetruck94]

Originally posted by clown2be
stock you tank with small damsels!

I think you and JMC are right...he like the kill as much as eat them!

Thanks Clown2be

[clown2be]

Originally posted by Orangetruck94
I think you and JMC are right...he like the kill as much as eat them!

Thanks Clown2be

I was not trying to say anything about the kill.

[Orangetruck94]

Originally posted by clown2be
I was not trying to say anything about the kill.

LOL!!!!

[JMCAquarium]

only thing is with my idea is if he doesn't see it right away and nail it then the tuffies swim to a corner to hide and then die shortly after. then you upset the fish when you stick somthing in there to get it. so try a couple in a row before sticking anything in there to get the first one.
Good luck keep us updated

[Orangetruck94]

So I just came back from Petco with a few Rosey.
I made some splashes on the top of the water to get the attention of the Lionfish, as soon as he saw the splashes he went right up to them. At that time I threw in 1 Rosey and he followed it for a few seconds then.....bam!
I guess thats his new dinner!

Is Rosey and gold fish(feeder fish) an ok diet for the Lionfish?

Thanks again for everyones help!!

[azmorpheus]

No feeder fish is not the appropriate diet for a lion fish, they lack certain nutrients. It will get you by for a little while but you really need to ween him on to frozen food or feed him live feeder shrimp.

[Orangetruck94]

Feeder shrimp are Brine shrimp??

[JMCAquarium]

Originally posted by azmorpheus
No feeder fish is not the appropriate diet for a lion fish, they lack certain nutrients. It will get you by for a little while but you really need to ween him on to frozen food or feed him live feeder shrimp.

I agree with Morph, Stick to Tuffies though Gold fish are all scales and cartilage nothing worth feeding anything that you don't have to. Also try and get him to start eating frozen as his main diet and just give him a tuffie or two every once in a while as a treat. My betta lived for almost 5 years never once fed him silver sides just went and got him a tuffie. he ate krill, earth worms, F. brine ,L brine, blood worms and black worms. Also ate flake food or at last tried to but he was just to big I think.
Glad to hear the Tuffie worked for ya.
Mine ate every other day

[JMCAquarium]

Originally posted by Orangetruck94
Feeder shrimp are Brine shrimp??

I don't think so the shrimp he was speaking of are good sized kinda like Ghost shrimp for fresh water....I think, Morph would have to tell the names and where to find them as I don't know.

[Doglover_50]

I've not had a lion, but the ghost shrimp that seem to be mentioned here can be bought at Petsmart. They are quite cheap, like 50 cents or less. I've never used them in saltwater, so I don't know if the can live for a while or what, but in your case, if you can get the attention of the lion, I suspect you could
splash around, then toss in a live ghost shrimp.

If that works, you could probably set up a little 2 gallon FW with filter and heater (if they need heater) to save yourelf trips to the fish store.

[Angel9111]

I had a Voltain for several years that I got as a baby. He wouldnt eat either at first. I ended up setting up a fresh water tanke for a few weeks with feeders and ghost shrimp, and feeding them fortified flake food.

Batty (my lion fish) ate the ghost shrimp right away, but took a while to go for the feeder fish. It seems like it took a little less than a month for him to cooperate with eating frozen food, but I had him for 5 years after that.

Good luck!!!

[Orangetruck94]

Originally posted by Doglover_50
I've not had a lion, but the ghost shrimp that seem to be mentioned here can be bought at Petsmart. They are quite cheap, like 50 cents or less. I've never used them in saltwater, so I don't know if the can live for a while or what, but in your case, if you can get the attention of the lion, I suspect you could
splash around, then toss in a live ghost shrimp.

If that works, you could probably set up a little 2 gallon FW with filter and heater (if they need heater) to save yourelf trips to the fish store.

I went to Pets Inc and they have Ghost shrimp there to....6 for $1....great price!
I was thinking about buying a 10 gal tank, just for them.

Thanks for the info Doglover_50

[Orangetruck94]

Originally posted by Angel9111
I had a Voltain for several years that I got as a baby. He wouldnt eat either at first. I ended up setting up a fresh water tanke for a few weeks with feeders and ghost shrimp, and feeding them fortified flake food.

Batty (my lion fish) ate the ghost shrimp right away, but took a while to go for the feeder fish. It seems like it took a little less than a month for him to cooperate with eating frozen food, but I had him for 5 years after that.

Good luck!!!

He like the Rosey/gold fish, he ate them right away. I would feed him Rosey/goldfish all the time but the guys at AT said I am taking a chance...he might get parasites from them.

Thanks for the input Angel9111

[Angel9111]

I did guppies as feeders more often than gold fish , mostly b/c my daughter's 30 gallon fresh water tank was beyond over populated, and they'd been with us since birth, so we knew they were as safe as fish can be. Glad to hear you got him eating something though!!

[Orangetruck94]

Originally posted by Angel9111
I did guppies as feeders more often than gold fish , mostly b/c my daughter's 30 gallon fresh water tank was beyond over populated, and they'd been with us since birth, so we knew they were as safe as fish can be. Glad to hear you got him eating something though!!

Thanks for the info Angel9111!

BTW...your daughter wasnt sad about her fish!

[Angel9111]

She came home with 2 from school, and they bred until she had/has literally hundreds. She knew that she needed to get rid of some so that the others could stay healthy, and this way it helped another of our fish.

She's really pretty practical, but honestly, at first I didnt tell her b/c she had SOOOO many that she didnt/woudlnt have noticed either way.

When he finally died years later (window guys didnt give me a chance to cover my tank before cutting on drywall beside it, and he jumped out a few hours later) she was the one who found him on the floor, and was absolutely hysterical.

We haven't gotten another since, but they really are awesome fish. He ended up being tame enough that I could pet him, he would swim between my fingers, and he would eat from my hands.

[Orangetruck94]

Originally posted by Angel9111
She came home with 2 from school, and they bred until she had/has literally hundreds. She knew that she needed to get rid of some so that the others could stay healthy, and this way it helped another of our fish.

She's really pretty practical, but honestly, at first I didnt tell her b/c she had SOOOO many that she didnt/woudlnt have noticed either way.

When he finally died years later (window guys didnt give me a chance to cover my tank before cutting on drywall beside it, and he jumped out a few hours later) she was the one who found him on the floor, and was absolutely hysterical.

We haven't gotten another since, but they really are awesome fish. He ended up being tame enough that I could pet him, he would swim between my fingers, and he would eat from my hands.

Thats a GREAT story Angel9111!!!

[JMCAquarium]

I have tears in my eyes Angel...my Redtailed cat was the same way very tame.