dwarf lion not eating

Argentiner · #1 03-29-2008, 06:40 PM

Anyone ever had any problems getting a dwarf lion to start eating. Got him from someone on canreef who said he eats everything and he just perches on something when I'm feeding. All the other fish are doing great, including a new flame angel I got about the same time. It's been about 9 days now. Tried mysis, brine, and krill. I've tried mixing them all with lipovit as well. No fish are bothering him at all and he seems very healthy. Any help or hints would be great...

justinl · #2 03-29-2008, 07:14 PM

here, read this. it will answer most questions that might pop up regarding lions.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

specifically for yours, brine shrimp is probably too small for it to even regard as food. have you tried soaking it anything else that might make it more appetizing? What was the previous owners diet for the lion? If prepared food fails then you might have to resort to live food just to get him feeding.

remember though that lions can go long periods of time without eating. especially since this one was just introduced into the tank. Three weeks is not uncommon.

scub steve · #3 03-29-2008, 08:58 PM

i had the same problem go buy some feeder fish and try them

Argentiner · #4 03-29-2008, 09:05 PM

what kind of feeder fish would be best? Thanks for the help by the way...

justinl · #5 03-29-2008, 10:42 PM

Dont go buying live just yet. Keep trying different frozens like squid, silverside, krill etc.

When you do go live, if you're rich, then stick with saltwater critters like shrimp and small fish. If you're like the rest of us, then mollies usually do the trick. Stay away from the ones with lots of fin like goldfish. Note that freshwater feeders as anything more than an occasional treat will cause fatty liver disease in the lion in the long term. Once you get it eating freshwater feeders, you'll want to wean it off to something else asap.

scub steve · #6 03-29-2008, 10:59 PM

weird i kept my fish alive for 3 years on just freshwater feeder fish it acctually died when i switched it to krill but i think you should try it now just to keep him alive till you can find something he likes. and i dont know what the feeder fish were called they were gold but they were not gold fish.. or so i think

Argentiner · #7 03-29-2008, 11:25 PM

I don't really have anything else I could soak the frozen food in. I did try putting garlic with some frozen krill and mysis as well. Seems really strange that the previous owner said he ate flake food, pellets, frozen, everything, and now he won't look at anything. Maybe I'll try one or two more frozen types and then get a couple mollies. I've ordered Catherines homemade brew, but not sure if I have time to wait for that. Thanks for all the help.

Glennrf38 · #8 03-30-2008, 12:08 AM

Mine took about 3 weeks to finally eat fully. I started him off with live feeders and slowly worked him into mysis.

justinl · #9 03-30-2008, 01:27 AM

Like i said, they can go for a long time without eating. 9 days isnt even close to a long time. It's still probably freaked out from the move. live should be a last resort kind of thing as the last thing you want is a live food junkie lion. Dealing with fish addicts isnt fun.

fwiw, a lion is a carnivore and should only really be eating fleshy marine meat. flake and pellets just dont cut it imo.

Glennrf38 · #10 03-30-2008, 01:34 AM

Mine eats mysis now and hasn't even looked at the other fish. Just got a small 6 line wrasse and clown wrasse today. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.