Lion taming

[goby2]

I have been trying to ween my dwarf lionfish off of freshwater feeder fish for several weeks with no luck. I have seen people easily hand feeding their lions peices of cut meat. I tried sticking a feeder on a stick, and he ate it, but when I stuck a peice of smelt on the stick he spit it out when he couldn't get it of right away. Ive tried squid and salmon which is what I feed to my other fish. If I let a peice of meat float around in the current sometimes he will follow it halfheartedly and give up after a few seconds. He is a very aggressive feeder when I drop a live feeder in the tank though. Any suggestions on training him are apreciated. thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Sometimes appetite makes the best sauce. Don't feed him for 5 or 6 days, then begin again. Try different types of seafood as well.

 

[EmilyB]

Unless your lionfish is plump and healthy I would not recommend starving him. I have had good luck using ghost shrimp, which I usually gut load first. When your lion is actively anticipating the ghost shrimp feeding you can gradually hold the shrimp in your fingers (or tongs if you worry about stings) and release when he comes near. A switch to PE mysis/silversides isn't far from that.

Good Luck ! They are great fish.

 

[Tackett]

best of luck to you. I have found that alot depends on the fish too. Ive had dwarfs that take readily to frozen foods, and some that simply refused.

let us know how it turns out.

 

[Anonymous]

Make sure your food is well thawed! I fed mine grass shrimp from a net for a while, and when I switched to frozen shrimp in the net the transition was pretty painless. You just bounce the net around to make it look lively. Mine occasionally goes after pieces that fall out, but mostly he needs the good movement.

 

[Anonymous]

Unless your lionfish is plump and healthy I would not recommend starving him. I have had good luck using ghost shrimp, which I usually gut load first. When your lion is actively anticipating the ghost shrimp feeding you can gradually hold the shrimp in your fingers (or tongs if you worry about stings) and release when he comes near. A switch to PE mysis/silversides isn't far from that.

Good Luck ! They are great fish.

The amount of time I specified hardly qualifies as starving. These fish burn very few calories, and can easily go two weeks without a meal.
I will reiterate - letting him, or other finicky fish (such as an oscar who only wants feeder fish) go 5 or 6 days without food can help get him going on other foods. We're not talking tangs or angelfish here, their caloric needs are quite different.

 

[SpecialK]

I have to go with not feeding for 5-6 days, than try frozen Silversides on your feeding stick. I have a fuzzy that ate frozen foods in no time & one that took months of working with him.
I fed Ghost shrimp gut loaded with cyclopezee every few days than I would not feed for so many days. I even tried putting a silverside in a nori clip & let it move in the flow....
The way he finally took frozen was just dropping a piece of krill in the tank one day and he chased it than ate it. Whew I was getting worried about him.

Kaye

 

[goby2]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll try starving him again, but a bit longer this time and I'll try a few different foods. Ive been trying to cut the foods into the shape of a feeder fish and making them "swim" around the tank. Will that work or should I just drop it in?

 

[goby2]

He finally ate a peice of smelt today! After four days of starving himI was trying again with the feeding stick and he looked pretty uninterested. Then my niger trigger came along, grabbed it off of the stick ond started chewing it. The lionfish actualy grabbed it right out of his mouth! I guess he made it look more alive than I did. thanks for the help.

 

[WRASSER]

Congrats you are on your way :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

He finally ate a peice of smelt today! After four days of starving himI was trying again with the feeding stick and he looked pretty uninterested. Then my niger trigger came along, grabbed it off of the stick ond started chewing it. The lionfish actualy grabbed it right out of his mouth! I guess he made it look more alive than I did. thanks for the help.

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I'll cut you a deal on the next one.