Fu Manchu Lionfish- doubly sad

[Psycho graphic]

.
LOL at post above.... taping a picture of other clowns hosting in one HAHA how bout just remove the clowns put them in a net w/ the anemone AND FORCE EM to house it.

I thought this was stupid the first time I heard about it, but a few people claimed it works.

 

[masterswimmer]

Russ,
Fu Manchu will not touch any frozen prepared food in the beginning. And he may not even eat it in the future, but you never know. So don't even try to feed him with prepared food now, it won't work. Best bet is live guppies and live ghost shrimp. Perhaps live brine shrimps to make him comfortable, definately not a long term solution.

My lion fish went crazy when I put ghost shrimp in the tank.

Still no luck. I got a 1/2 dozen ghost shrimp today from PetSmart. My damn coral banded shrimp is one fat shrimp with all this food he's getting. But my Fu Manchu still isn't touching anything :sad2:

What to do, what to do? I'm not giving up, just losing hope.

R

 

[Dmitry]

Yep, I'm having the same problem with my Mombasa Lion. He ate when I got him, ate well. And a few weeks ago stopped eating. I've moved him into my sump to give him some peace and privacy from the other fish. And I've tried feeder guppies, but he ignores them. I'll try ghost shrimp as well, but at this point he hasn't eaten anything in two weeks.... I keep coming home and expecting to find him dead. At this point I've already lost hope for him. I don't think I'll ever get another Lion, though he's a way cool fish. :-(

 

[jawwad2004]

I had one of these when I first started the hobby. It usually won't eat at all for the first two weeks. It started eating, but only live food. What I would do, was feed it live brine and mix some frozen mysis in there. That is the only that worked for me.

 

[masterswimmer]

D, sorry to hear about your Mombasa. I hope it turns the corner for you.

Jaw, I hope you're right. I haven't abandoned all hope, but I am not overly confident either. I'll give the bbs a try too.

At this point, the only thing I haven't tried to feed him is a scuba diver!

R

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Have you tried silversides?

 

[masterswimmer]

Have you tried silversides?

B, thanks for the suggestion. From my very limited experience and feedback from everyone, it seems he's only going to eat live food (if anything at all). I don't think the silversides will be any different than trying frozen: mysis, krill, ocean plankton etc. I will try it if the bbs idea doesn't work.

Thanks,
R

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

A friend suggested to another friend to feed his lion silversides on a feeding stick and shake it to mimic a live fish. Dunno if this will work.

 

[masterswimmer]

I could try that. Might work. I'll let you know.

R

 

[Psycho graphic]

One thing I learned about feeding sticks and uncooperative fish, make sure you don't have the silversides attached too well. You want the fish to be able to get the food of the stick on the first attempt. I have found that if they don't get it on the first shot they don't always go back for the second try. I hope this helps.

 

[Psycho graphic]

Any good news yet?

 

[masterswimmer]

Dave, he's now behind my rock wall and hasn't eaten from what I can tell. Still 'alive' ATM, but not good and definitely not hopeful. :sad2:

swimmer

 

[Dmitry]

I'm sorry to hear that Master! My Mombasa died this morning. :frown:

 

[masterswimmer]

D, I'm also sorry to hear that. :sad2:

RIP

 

[masterswimmer]

Update

It's been three weeks since I introduced this Fu Manchu into my nano. He was the only fish in the tank. I did have one coral banded shrimp in there. I never saw the lion eat anything. I fed the tank various frozen fare and crossed my fingers.

Many of you know that this tank was set up as my reef wall biotope. Well a few weeks ago the Fu Manchu found his way behind the wall. There was absolutely no possible way to get him out. I figured he was a goner. Well lo and behold he surfaced last night, alive, in the front of the tank. No longer 'trapped' behind the wall. I couldn't believe it.

I went to get my camera and he darted behind the wall again. :sad2: However, tonight he resurfaced and I was lucky enough to get a short video of him before he retreated to his safe zone.

The other day I removed the coral banded shrimp and relegated him to my fuge. I'm wondering if the Fu Manchu felt safer being the only fish, predator, inhabitant in the tank (short of some snails and all my coral). The CBS did show some signs of aggression towards the lionfish. I'm sure he felt just as threatened.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, here's a short vid of the Fu Manchu (shot with lights out).

Enjoy............

 

[Tonyscoots84]

what a beautiful fish u got there russ... good luck wit him and congrats on a job well done .....

 

[DonCisco]

AMAZING, what a gorgeous fish. I hope he turned the corner, you should be proud of your accomplishments.

 

[masterswimmer]

Tony, DC, thanks for checking it out. Finding him in the front of the tank was a real nice surprise.

swimmer

 

[House of Laughter]

Russ,

Wow, that is wild - I bet he just doesn't like the bright light - ne of the problems of keeping a predator fish in a reef environment - hopefully over time he'll feel moe comfortable "coming out" or you could plug up the hole in the rock work so he can't scoot back there anymore - make sure you wear gloves

Enjoy and a job well done.

House

 

[scarf_ace1981]

awesome little guy. love the way they flare those fins. he seems happy. russ do you know how he's getting in and out of the wall?