hello all,

q-tip

q-tip

New Member
hello all, i'm Q-tip new to this or any site. for the last month i have been checking this site-out, must say very very impressed. you guys and gals know your stuff.as of march/06 i started a 55g salt tank it going O.K but, i can't get the lionfish to eat its stays on the bottom behind the rock. what is in the tank now is one each,sfe,clown,por.puffer,hermit and a damsel. after reading some of your posts i'm going to wait til this weekend before i bother it. i have other questions but i'll put them out later. for right now i'm just saying hi and i enjoy reading your post ,keep up the good work.
 
who dey

who dey

Active Member
Originally Posted by Q-tip
the only food i put in the tank is silvers for the eel, krill for the puffer.
a few drops of kent garlic extreme may do the trick?? How long has it been since he's eaten anything??
 
snapperboy

snapperboy

Member
are you saying your lion hasn't eaten for 6-7 months?? (assuming you cycled for a month, or didn't add him that far back)
In another recent post i posted to stay away from bloodworms in a saltwater tank, but if your fish hasn't eaten for a while i've read that pretty much most fish will go for a worm floating by
:happyfish good luck with your lion, try the garlic too, it makes all my fish go into a frenzy for the food
 
shaunda

shaunda

Member
I use the Kents Extreme Garlic and I agree it makes all the fish go crazy when I soak my sfe krill in it.
 
cubsfan

cubsfan

Member
try using a feeder stick of some sort and wiggle the food in front of him. Mine wont eat anything that doesn't have movement to it. You may want to try feeing it a couple of rosy reds (fresh water feeder fish) just to get it to eat something but it will need a better diet. And get the garlic like everyone has already said.
 
q-tip

q-tip

New Member
thank you all for your input, i'll be picking up the garlic on friday. i do have a feeder stick, i wiggled silvers and krill. i only had (him/her) for two weeks. i was thinking it may need to ajust to the tank.
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
Did you see the lion eat before you bought it? What did it eat? If your fish passes on a live feeder fish, then you have a problem. If it takes live, then you have to train it to non-live foods.
 
q-tip

q-tip

New Member
i'm not sure. i will ask when i go back to the shoppe. no i did not see it eat.it was in a tank with about 10 or more lions
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Q-tip
i'm not sure. i will ask when i go back to the shoppe. no i did not see it eat.it was in a tank with about 10 or more lions
First, Welcome to the boards!! We need to know your tank parameters. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, salinity. Lions won't eat if there are any stress factors. How long have you had this lion and what kind is it?
 
q-tip

q-tip

New Member
i only had him for 2wks, i'm due to do a water change this weekend (sat)all the other fish are doing fine,eating well.i don't have a test kit. i normally take a water sample over to the shoppe(it's really close) and everything is fine.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Q-tip
i only had him for 2wks, i'm due to do a water change this weekend (sat)all the other fish are doing fine,eating well.i don't have a test kit. i normally take a water sample over to the shoppe(it's really close) and everything is fine.
First, do yourself and your fish a big favor and buy your own master salt kit. It is like $30. We see posts all of the time that the lfs said their water was fine (just to sell them something else). Please post your water parameters. What kind of lion is it? you have alot of fish in a new 55. The type of lion makes a great deal of difference. We need to know your exact specs. You have an eel, a lion and a puffer not to mention the damsel and the clown in a new 55.
 
q-tip

q-tip

New Member
thank you for your post last night. i just found out the lion eats live, i put some ghost shrimp and guppies in the tank then he came alive snapping up everything. even the other fish joined in eating the shrimp. now!? will this be a problem?, having fish that eat live food. how would i break the lion of this
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by Q-tip
thank you for your post last night. i just found out the lion eats live, i put some ghost shrimp and guppies in the tank then he came alive snapping up everything. even the other fish joined in eating the shrimp. now!? will this be a problem?, having fish that eat live food. how would i break the lion of this
Long term it is bad to feed saltwater fish freshwater fish (guppies, goldfish, etc.) And of course if you try to feed saltwater foods live to the tank you run the risk of introducing diseases and parasites.
I weaned my baby V. Lion off of brine by dosing live brine in Kent's Garlic Extreme. That way the fish came to equate the smell of garlic with food. Then I slowly, over the course of several days, began introducing frozen foods with the live brine (all of it soaked in garlic). From there i just kept reducing the amount of live food. I think you can get your Lion to do the same. Mine now is eating frozen krill right from my hand.
My "theory" is that the brine stimulated eating>garlic smell>all foods soaked in garlic>to finally me=food. Now whenever I go to the tank the Lion comes up top. I think he would eat dirt if I fed it to him.
 
q-tip

q-tip

New Member
great! there is hope.the type lion i have is a volitan, about 4'' maybe 5 the total amount of fish in the tank is 5. 1 lion-1sf eel about 8-10'' 1 clown 1striped damsel 1por. puffer for clean-up there is 1 lg hermit crab and about 8 small ones. i was thinking about adding afew cleaning shrimp, but they may get eaten.i'm about to leave to go get the test kit, so if i don't respond back right away that means i'm out. again thank you all for your help. i'm fairly new to this on-line stuff but once i get things up and going i will try to post some pics of the tank. again you have all been a great help
 
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