[Cougra]

Was the lionfish eating at the LFS? When you get a new fish, you should always check to see if they are eating. Ask the attendant to feed the fish for you. However with predator fish they don't need to eat every day so they may not eat while you are in the store. If you can, try seeing if they will hold the fish for you until it starts eating.

As for it not eating right away, don't worry about it too much as long as it looks healthy and doesn't get cloudy eyes or a shrunken stomach. Most fish can easily survive a couple weeks without any food. Fish like Lionfish can go a surprising amount of time without food as they are very good at conserving energy (not very active fish!) so they can live much longer without food then more energetic/active fish.

New fish can be difficult to feed at the best of times. Some lionfish can be very fussy eaters and do best if offered live foods to begin with like a couple freshwater feeder shrimp then they can slowly be switched to dead shrimp and dead fish. You are doing the right thing by using a feeding stick, I would keep trying that for a few more days to see if he tries to eat it. If that doesn't work, then try live foods. Their hunting instincts are very strong and given good water conditions, a chance to settle in and find a place they feel safe they should begin eating after a while! Each fish is different so it's hard to place any sort of timelines.