Dwarf lion fish won't eat.

Kristin1234

Kristin1234

Active Member
Over the weekend we bought a dwarf lion and he is literally the smallest I have ever seen.

Lfs said he was weaned and eating frozen mysis.

He won't touch them or even look at them. When I feed, he actually swims away from them.

Bought some krill and bounce it in front of him and still, nothing.

I don't want to spoil him and go and get him any live ghost, especially if he was truly weaned.

Any advice?
 
Kristin1234

Kristin1234

Active Member
Should I try some chopped silverside?


I'm worried he wasn't as weaned as I was told...

I don't want the little guy to starve, he's already so small.

Should I just suck it up and go get some ghost shrimp?

Will he actually predate them and get them before any other fish do?
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Dwarfs are tough. I would have made them show me him eating. Mine I could never get to eat frozen. I could hand feed him and he would grab the frozen then spit it out. Now lions dont have to eat every day. Most people feed 3-4 a wk. That said, yes they will hunt ghost shrimp. Mine would take them out of my hand also. There are marine feeder shrimp avb online aswell. Mysis is a bit small for a lion.you can try a piece of fish, cod, haddock, ect you want it to be sw fish flesh.
 
Kristin1234

Kristin1234

Active Member
jay0705 said:
Dwarfs are tough. I would have made them show me him eating. Mine I could never get to eat frozen. I could hand feed him and he would grab the frozen then spit it out. Now lions dont have to eat every day. Most people feed 3-4 a wk. That said, yes they will hunt ghost shrimp. Mine would take them out of my hand also. There are marine feeder shrimp avb online aswell. Mysis is a bit small for a lion.you can try a piece of fish, cod, haddock, ect you want it to be sw fish flesh.
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Well my local lfs sells them. How many ghost should I buy and how many do i put in at once? He hasn't eaten since Saturday, he seems hungry. He stalks my clown who is almost twice his size lol. It worried me for a bit but I'm scared of him starving!!
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Lol wait til he gets bigger. Its up to u. I would buy about 50 . Keep them in a 10 gal, use as needed.I also would gut load them. Feed them flake, pellets, ect. So when the lion eats them he also gets the nutrients from that
 
Kristin1234

Kristin1234

Active Member
jay0705 said:
Lol wait til he gets bigger. Its up to u. I would buy about 50 . Keep them in a 10 gal, use as needed.I also would gut load them. Feed them flake, pellets, ect. So when the lion eats them he also gets the nutrients from that
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I'm hoping the clown will grow at a steady rate and stay a step ahead of him. I will be sad that day I came home and see his tail fins hanging out. I'm also just hopi g since this dwarf is so young he will just leave it alone. Wishful thinking? Probably.

Will the ghost hide from him or will they get eaten quickly? Will my fox face or sailfin go after them too?

Ugh, hate to admit it but he was an impulse buy on my husband's part. I am quite intimidated by this little guy. I know I should have read up on him and knew about all this, but it was an impulse buy..
: /
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
The tang and fox are good tank mates. No they wont eat the ghost.
Generally yes once he sees them there gone. Does he come to the top when u feed?
What type of clown?
Impulse buys are tough. However we all have done it. The plus side dwarf lions are hardy and stay small by lion standards lol
How big is ur tank?
 
Kristin1234

Kristin1234

Active Member
jay0705 said:
The tang and fox are good tank mates. No they wont eat the ghost.
Generally yes once he sees them there gone. Does he come to the top when u feed?
What type of clown?
Impulse buys are tough. However we all have done it. The plus side dwarf lions are hardy and stay small by lion standards lol
How big is ur tank?
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100 gallon. Snowflake clowns. 2 of them.
I'm about to go grab some ghost. I just want him to eat. He doesn't come up to the top but he does get moving.
 
Kristin1234

Kristin1234

Active Member
jay0705 said:
Ok, feed the hell out of the clowns lol.
Drop a shrimp where he will see it
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Should I net the shrimp right up in his face?

I feed those buggers mysis everyday. Maybe some flakes at night every other day.

I also have a flame angel in there, he should be good right? He's already a good 2" or so.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Expensive food lol . Dwarf angel should be ok.
No net. Just a single shrimp dropped where he will see it. Then he should notice where its coming from. Mine would swim up I help shrimp by antenna and he would grab it.
 
Kristin1234

Kristin1234

Active Member
jay0705 said:
Expensive food lol . Dwarf angel should be ok.
No net. Just a single shrimp dropped where he will see it. Then he should notice where its coming from. Mine would swim up I help shrimp by antenna and he would grab it.
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Stupud question :

When you say put the ghost in a 5 gallon bucket, must it be sw or can I just put them in fw? They will die in fw, right? I will have to get some water from them too if that's the case. I can never seem to mix my own properly. Add a small pump in there too or no?
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Its not stupid. Most places keep them in fw. Ghost shrimp can live in full sw, just like fw mollies. Its all about acclimation. I will bet u they keep them in fw
 
honu808

honu808

Member
I bred mollies and kept them in sw and gut loaded them. Took me about a week or so to change my fw mollies over to full sw. I kept a tank in basement with a lot of females. They bred constantly. I fed my fuzzy dwarf lion dried krill and the mollies. I soaked the krill in sw with a drop or two of garlic extract. I would hand feed her. I came home one day and saw my large Bangai cardinal hanging out of her mouth. I gently tapped her on the head with the handle of my net and she spit it out. BOTH fish survived and she never tried to eat other fish in my reef.
They are predators so eventually will try to eat the clowns, even if the clowns are as big or bigger than the lion. Good luck.
 
Kristin1234

Kristin1234

Active Member
jay0705 said:
He eat the shrimp?
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I didn't see him eat them, but I ran home on my lunch break and added 2 and had to leave in a jiffy. Last night I only saw one of the shrimp. so I am hoping he caught it and ate it.
When I get home today I am going to add one at a time and set up camp and watch him.
 
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