Help with spotfin lionfish

R

rcreations

Guest
I ordered a Spotfin Lionfish online. It shipped out Monday by Priority Overnight through FedEx. To make a long story short, the fish arrived in Indianapolis and missed the flight to Ohio so Fedex told me it won't arrive until this morning (Wednesday).
Ahh.... poor little fish is gonna be stuck in a shipping bag for two days, in the freezing cold! Honestly, I didn't think it would have a chance to arrive alive.
Got it today, checked the bag and the poor thing was floating upside down. But I noticed it moving slightly so I decided to do the drip acclimation. After about an hour through the acclimation it started swimming around, not completely upright but still... better than floating right? By the end of the acclimation, it was alert and swimming around. Not 100% but I was optimistic it would make it. Now it's in the tank, hiding next to a rock.
My problem is I tried to feed it a little guppy but my other Fuzzy Dwarf just eats everything I put in the tank, almost instantly! So how can I feed the Spotfin? Anyone have any suggestions? I'm hoping the little guy makes it.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Can you

[hr]
a feeder on the end of like a chopstick or something to get it to the fish?
 
R

rcreations

Guest
For some reason that word in your post was censored. Are you saying if I can put a feeder on the end of a stick? You mean like skewer it? lol, I don't know if I can do that to a poor little guppy.
 
cars&sharks

cars&sharks

Member
feeding sticks often scare newly aquired lionfish, i would try a tank divider or make some sort of a devider yourself to split the two lions apart.
good luck man,
Jake
 
crashbandicoot

crashbandicoot

Active Member
Well to be honest you should be using a QT . It would give your new fish time to adjust from the shipping and also give you a chance to observe the animal before adding it to your tank . I realize your past that now but in the future you might think of using this method.
Try feed some ghost shrimp , if you have a way to split the tank up go that route but keep in mind your fish is already stressed and try to keep the activity in the tank to a minimum.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Unfortunately I don't have a QT available right now and to put him in a non-cycled tank would stress him even more. Poor guy's been stressed enough being stuck in a bag for 2 days, in freezing cold. There are only 2 fish in this tank. The little fuzzy dwarf and now the spotfin, plus cleanup crew, lots of LR, LS and so on. This is a second tank, besides my main reef one.
Dividing the tank can be done but I'd be disturbing them a lot with rearranging the LR. If I put a bunch of ghost shrimp in the tank, would the Fuzzy Dwarf pig out or would he stop once full?
 
cars&sharks

cars&sharks

Member
Originally Posted by RCreations
http:///forum/post/2493579
If I put a bunch of ghost shrimp in the tank, would the Fuzzy Dwarf pig out or would he stop once full?
pending on how large the dwarf lion is, yes, unless you plan on dumping 20 in there. IMO i would put in one at a time and try and put one right infront of the spotfin.
ghost shrimp work great to entice feeding for any agressive fish. good call crash.
Jake
 
michaelf1478

michaelf1478

Member
like you said eailer hes stressed maybe he needs a day or two to get use to the new tank and get over being stuck in the bag. look at his stomach if its not sunk in he should be ok not eating for a day or two. just my advice on it.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Thanks everyone. I'll get some ghost shrimp tomorrow. Right now he's doing much better, swimming around checking out everything. I still can't believe he made it here alive after being stuck in a bag for 2 days.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Yep, I left the lights off in the tank today. Shouldn't be a problem leaving them off tomorrow too.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Still no luck trying to get him to eat.
This morning the ghost shrimp walked right in front of his mouth and he didn't go for it.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Unfortunately the little guy didn't make it.
I think the stress of being in 15 deg weather for 2 days was too much. He never got back to normal. Plus I think they sent it way too small. I ordered a medium size which was supposed to be 2-3 inches. This guy was lucky to be 1 1/2", it was about half the size of my fuzzy dwarf.
 
thoroughbred

thoroughbred

Member
Awe I'm really sorry to hear that. You did all you could so dont beat yourself up. I don't know if you can complain to fedex or not but I would try cause thats just lame. Don't give up, lions are awesome.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Thanks. I did complain to Fedex, believe me they know how I feel about them killing my fish. Also, I got a reund for it from the place where I bought it and now I ordered another Spotfin from SWF.com Should be getting it next week.
 
dryvern

dryvern

New Member
Nice pic. I love lions. Sorry you lost him.
Another trick that may be useful in future (especially if like me ghost shrimp are unavailable just when needed) is the jam jar method. For this I used 2 neon glowlight tetras (20-30 mins they last & can be transferred back to fresh if not enticing).
Fill the jar with marine tank water & pop in the 2 tetras. Give them a couple of mins to adjust (previously tried a neon straight in the tank, the shock sent it straight into the reef).
Place hand over rim & place upside down in tank near lion. The activity should get attention. When interested & seeming ready gently tip the jar on its side towards the lion.
If not interested it is often good to get a few bags of brine shrimp. This is better usually for new introductions (smaller lions) & should allow the lion to at least get some.
Hope that helps.
Additionally if like me you had a fish pestering the lion snatching food (my case a pajama tang) which is too quick in a rocky/reef tank to catch. You may try the fishing technique.
Simply a clear fish bag & a length of garden wire. Put holes around the bag rim & thread wire through, noosing around wire at other end. Place bag in tank (may need small weight/rock) & place in food treat. Reel out wire far enough to relax the pest & wait. Fish enters for food, pull on wire. Fish bagged.
Now if only I could get that uncaught gorilla crab the same way & out my reef tank!
 
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