Lionfish won't eat.

[abbeyspal]

Hey some of you may remember my post last week about the guy with damsel lion and bi-color blenny. Well the fish are all doing fine. He has decided to give me the dwarf lion when my tank is ready. THe only problem is we can't get him to eat. At first we tried some thawed out squid. THen some raw shrimp. As a last ditch effort I went and got a couple of feeder goldfish but he ignored those as well. Any suggestions?

 

[Anonymous]

How long has it been since he's eaten? Has he eaten in the past? Lions can sometimes go several days between feedings.

 

[Reef Guy11]

That is what I was going to say. Sometime you just kinda have to wait it out. Wait 3 or 4 more days then try again. You may have to shake the food around, So that way he thinks it is alive. Good Luck

 

[Ben1]

Try ghost shrimp or mollys. They might be more atractable for him.

 

[abbeyspal]

Well it doesn't matter now. Apparentley the lion died sometime during the night. He was pretty cool too. When I saw him he really didn't seem to be stressed. He was actually a pretty active swimmer.

 

[Reef Guy11]

Sorry to hear that. When your tank is ready, go out and get one. I like to get them last as they won't take up territory in your tank. Get one that is taking Frozen food already, that is better in the long run.

 

[abbeyspal]

That would be a great idea but the lfs here really sucks (only feeds goldfish cuase it's the best food out there). In fact I was banned for trying to tell him he mislabled a scorpion fish as a frogfish. He told me that he has been a marine biologist for 30 years and he knows what he's talking about. Can't wait till he sticks his hand in the tank and the scorpion stings the hell out of him! :twisted:

 

[Reef Guy11]

Yeah well it like that hear to But we benfit from it though. We have a guy that is a Marine Biologist, He likes to set people up with tanks. There is one problem he stocks them from day one LR corals fish etc. well everyone comes to us. I went in there and acted like I knew nothing, sure enough he tried to do the same to me.

 

[abbeyspal]

I just wonder how well he keeps up in marine biology when he lives 300 miles form the ocean. He also sell 3 legged bearded dragons for 20% off. What a deal. :wink:

 

[Reef Guy11]

yeah what a deal 8O

 

[abbeyspal]

I really wish we could get a decent dealer in town. I really don't think there are too many reefers here cuse they all get crap information and there systems crash.

 

[Reef Guy11]

Yeah there are only 2 other places beside us that are here in Palm Spring. We do the majority of the Business. Both in service, and in the shop. Well actually three places if you want to include Petno where the pets don't go.

 

[JD'sReef]

I have not read this entire post but my Fuzzy dwarf just died from not eating. Everything in my tank is great but he just never wanted to eat. The guy said he was Not Wild Caught but I think otherwise. My Params are perfect (well what is perfect) but he would not eat. Well, only being my second loss I since I started I guess I should not be to hard on myself.
Good luck with yours

 

[Anonymous]

Fuzzy dwarfs are ONLY wild caught, as are any Pterois spp., AFAIK. There are no captively bred marine ornamentals besides dottybacks, clowns, gobies, seahorses, angels, cardinals, assesors, and...I know I'm missing one, I'm sure someone will point it out. There are lots of captively *raised* fish that are caught very small and kept in tanks until the proper size to sell. They do this with butterflies, tangs, and lots of others too. I've never heard of a lion being captively raised either.

FWIW, I'm technically a "marine biologist", and I didn't learn a damn thing about reefkeeping from school. It all comes through experience in the hobby.

 

[JD'sReef]

Good to know Matt
Thanks for the inside as that opens my eyes for the future.

 

[Anonymous]

Fuzzy dwarfs are ONLY wild caught, as are any Pterois spp., AFAIK. There are no captively bred marine ornamentals besides dottybacks, clowns, gobies, seahorses, angels, cardinals, assesors, and...I know I'm missing one, I'm sure someone will point it out. There are lots of captively *raised* fish that are caught very small and kept in tanks until the proper size to sell. They do this with butterflies, tangs, and lots of others too. I've never heard of a lion being captively raised either.

FWIW, I'm technically a "marine biologist", and I didn't learn a damn thing about reefkeeping from school. It all comes through experience in the hobby.

I thought you were a mixologist! :lol: :wink:

 

[cindre2000]

I recently got a fuzzy dwarf online. Bueatiful redish tinge and he is quite active at night since my metal halide is probably a little bright for him to come out in the day.

Thankfully he snapped up some feeder guppies that were breeding in my girl friend's turtle tank. I am going to start teaching him to eat frozen since I finally got to a grocery store (and the feeder guppies are now too scared to catch easily).