possibly considering dwarf lionfish for my SPS tank

justinl · #1 08-06-2008, 05:20 AM

good thing you didn't get a fu manchu... their survival rate sucks. read that reefkeeping info sheet link in its entirety. That single link is just about the best link on the web on all lionfish care. jmo. It also has a very good section in it about weaning lions on to frozens.

Also just wanted to point out for reefshark that freshwater shrimp are far from a natural diet for a saltwater predator. feeder shrimp and fish are fine, but as mentioned, no goldfish. the shrimp, mollies and guppies seem to be the best. Feel free to mix it up a bit. Obviously a saltwater organism qould be infinitely better, but will probably be stupidly expensive by the end. It probably will not eat hermits... if it does then that's a problem since it will probably choke on the shell. hope you dont have any fish in that tank any smaller than the lion.

the key to weaning is to make the fish hungry enough to try something else. that means that you have to realize that lions have very slow metabolisms and often they can go for weeks without food. their natural behaviour is to gorge themselves at a single time, then hide in a hole for a long time. Do not feed feeders often... no more than one molly twice a week... or else you run the risk of ending up with a live food junkie.

edit: oh you will also want to try a variety of foods from krill to mysis to chunks of herring or silversides, etc. in the weaning process this is just to see what it likes best. Long term, it is vital because a single type of food will cause health problems. choose at least two, much more preferably three or more. Lots of people only feed krill for example and this causes liver failure (or was it lockjaw...? nothing good anyways).

reefshark · #2 08-06-2008, 12:59 PM

Aw come on now Justin, True enough that yes the fresh water shrimp are not their natural diet but cost wise for getting them on the frozen food items like plankton, krill and mysis, unless of course you have no cares with money then sure go spend the money on saltwater shrimp.

And yeah I agree a mono diet isn't the way to go your fish will live longer on a varied diet. As for the amount of food i feed my juv. zebra lion every other day as they grow they need more food, as adults twice a week is fine. Lions are often found with fatty liver disease from over feeding.JUST BECAUSE THEY BEG DON'T MEAN THEY NEED IT

corpusse · #3 08-06-2008, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefshark

Aw come on now Justin, True enough that yes the fresh water shrimp are not their natural diet but cost wise for getting them on the frozen food items like plankton, krill and mysis, unless of course you have no cares with money then sure go spend the money on saltwater shrimp.

And yeah I agree a mono diet isn't the way to go your fish will live longer on a varied diet. As for the amount of food i feed my juv. zebra lion every other day as they grow they need more food, as adults twice a week is fine. Lions are often found with fatty liver disease from over feeding.JUST BECAUSE THEY BEG DON'T MEAN THEY NEED IT

How many times are you going to feed them shrimp? Once twice, maybe 3 times? Just spend the money on salt water shrimp. If anything it will give you the incentive to get them off the shrimp and onto frozen foods.

You're basically feeding them the salt water shrimp so they won't starve and to lesson the stress when they are first moved. In the grand scheme of having a lion in your reef tank spending $30 instead of $5 on shrimp is hardly going to kill you.

Stab_Master_Arson · #4 08-08-2008, 03:14 AM

Good news. Since i forgot to go to petcetera afterwork I decided to give the krill a go again. I tossed in 3 pieces by the powerhead and the lionfish ate all three pieces. hopefully it is cured of it's pickyness.

kwirky · #5 08-08-2008, 09:18 PM

ok so the discussion is sounding a little promising. I'll hold off on getting the fish until I have the time available to ween it off live food.

Ian · #6 08-12-2008, 07:51 AM

I have had mine for about 6 weeks now and no issues at all. It hides most of the day but comes out in the evening and at night. It has not bothered a single resident of my tankbut that being said it is a little under half grown so we'll see what happen as it matures.

Mine is a pig. It wouldn't eat for the first day or two but then I offered him mysis with a little garlic and that was it. He now eats as many mysis as I will give him. I just use a turkey baster to put them in his line of sight and sit back and watch the show.
Easily my favorite fish in my tank