Juvenile fuzzy dwarf lionfish feeding habits

W

WastedYouth

New Member
Ok so I recently picked up a fuzzy dwarf lionfish. I have read into lionfish in the past and have always liked them. I picked mine up at the LFS last weekend and I'm worried because I have tried feeding with thawed frozen brine shrimp and raw shrimp but the problem I have is when i put the food on the end of the feeding stick and put it near the lion he gets scared and takes off I would assume he has caught some worms from the live rock as I have seen one or two recently but I cannot be sure and am worried, he is very close to one inch total length. While he is as small as he is I have him in my DT but as he gets larger I had planned to put him by himself in the 46 gallon bowfront in a separate room. What do you suggest?
 
DAHansen

DAHansen

Member
Try some smallish whole krill. If you can let it sink past him. I had a weird way to feed mine when I had one.

They sell at PetCo or Petsmart something like a dog medicine syringes. A plastic syringe with a clear rubbery funnel/tube on the end of it. It's in the dog health-care section and costs about two to five dollars. Put a couple krill in a shot glass, thaw them with tank water until room temp. Suck up about 1/2 a syringe worth of water, then suck the tail of the krill into the end of the funnel. This will hold onto the krill long enough to put it in the tank.

Point the syringe-krill contraption in the are of the fish, and squeeze. If you can keep the air out of the syringe, you will get a nice jet of water to propel the shrimp towards the fish, and it will oscillate a bit on it's way down which may help activate his "hunting" instincts. If the shrimp floats back up, you can always try again.

It worked for me!
 
D

dobejazz

Well-Known Member
I use a turkey baster to stream food towards Lionel at feeding time

He eats Rods food, Mysis shrimp and and Krill
 
I

Ian55

New Member
Mine was a little picky the first few days I had him. Added garlic to the mysis and used a turkey baster to get it in the correct area and he started to eat. Mine is far more active at night when only the moon lights are on. When I feed him then he is a total pig and far less shy....he is about 1.5 inches now
hope this helps
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
What size tank is he in now and what other fish do you have in there with him?

did you see him eat at the LFS? It's very important to see it eat there to know that it was healthy and eating before the move.
 
W

WastedYouth

New Member
hes in a 68 gallon with a flame angel and a six line wrasse i asked and was told he was eating broken up shrimp off the stick i didn't ask to see it but took the lfs guys word for it
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Not much help here except to say avoid the mollies. They are fresh water and don't have the proper nutrition for a lion. If you need one or two just to get him to eat, that is one story but it should not be a long term food.
Brine shrimp also has very little nutrition so it is not a good long term choice either but again can be used to get him to eat.
 
DAHansen

DAHansen

Member
I'd say get a cup and some krill - krill big enough for him to make a meal out of just one or two.

Turn off any powerheads and pumps.

Fill cup most of the way with tank water and throw in a few krill.

Grab whichever ones will sink on their own and drop one in the water where you think it will sink down near him.

Back away from the tank as far as you can while you can still watch too see if he eats and where the krill goes if he doesn't.

If both the stick and turkey baster scare him, maybe having an unadorned krill pass by his face will help him get in the mood for food.

I would avoid moving him unless he looks skinny and like he's not going to make it.

HTH,
David
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top