How do I properly feed my lion fish?

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by redleg
i agree aw2 ,but yes u could keep a lion fish in your tank for a year or so but u will have to get rid of it sooner or later, i wanted to keep a large angel fish had to start with a 8x2x2 tank .what do aquarist do with fish that outgrow their tanks? chuck them in the ocean i expect as lionfish are seen around u.s.a coast
YES!!! Sad but true. This is what irresponsible hobbyists do, because they have all the answers and they wanted a fish. Surely it is fine in ANY old ocean, right?
AW2 gave all the dietary answers needed right off...it should be noted that those who DISLIKE AW2 gave no advice on diet, just that they don't like AW2.
Feeding live feeders in uncessary...feeding freshwater feeders is just bad. The fish has you trained. Lionfish, IME, are not all that picky. Once they start eating, anything that might be moving through the water is worth of investigation as possible food. Those I worked with didn't think twice about what was thrown in, it was in their mouth so fast....shrimp, krill, silversides, a specialized "gel" food cut into squares, squid, salmon, pollock....ANYTHING! But they do need to be starved out now and then to get them off the feeders. They become spoiled. At least try ghost shrimp over feeder guppies. Personally I would never buy a lionfish that was only being fed live foods. Just adds to the trouble, and is, IMO, the sign of a poor LFS with outdated ideas.
As for the rest of this thread:
So far as I can tell, this is where the post went from being informative to name calling, and it is suprising to me that people blame AW2 for this. I'm no moron either and it is clear who regularly contributes.
Listen to EVERYTHING AW2 says. He is the smartest kid in the world, and is great at telling you how stupid you are.
There are a few people on this board who seem only to post to say that AW2 is mean. A simple search will tell you who has advice to share, and who just gets annoyed by this one poster. :notsure: You can disagree with the advice given, but I encourage a few to start to contribute more than this bickering. Its getting old. I think everyone can learn to disagree. And if you do have the support of reading, research and experience just say that you disagree, read so and so, and move on. I have no problem if you disagree and can do so productively, that can be respected.

 

[whitey]

All excellent points Ophiura.
You come off as very informative and educated. You know exactly what you're talking about but you never make a new member feel like they've made a mistake so huge that they should give up.
That is the thing that makes me mad and it's why several of us respond to you know who's posts the way we do.
You have the ability to give opnions that help people, not make them feel like they're the dumbest person to own a fish tank. I will stop responding to this guy's so called informative yet insulting posts. Although he should take a lesson from you and learn how to be someone people can respect, and like.
Thank you for your contributions to this board. And my appologies for getting this thread off topic.

 

[aw2]

Originally Posted by Whitey
All excellent points Ophiura.
You come off as very informative and educated. You know exactly what you're talking about but you never make a new member feel like they've made a mistake so huge that they should give up.
That is the thing that makes me mad and it's why several of us respond to you know who's posts the way we do.
You have the ability to give opnions that help people, not make them feel like they're the dumbest person to own a fish tank. I will stop responding to this guy's so called informative yet insulting posts. Although he should take a lesson from you and learn how to be someone people can respect, and like.
Thank you for your contributions to this board. And my appologies for getting this thread off topic.

Seems to me that you're the only one that seems to think these things.
To my knowledge, I've never made a new member feel like they'd made such a huge mistake that they should give up, as you put it. Maybe I posted something, giving you advice and you felt that way? I apologize if I came across like that...I'm not the type of person to do that.
I may come across as harsh or directly to the point, sometimes, but I dont beat around the bush. I tell people exactly how it is, when I know what I'm talking about. I dont make it a point to be rude or inconsiderate, but I'd never make someone feel stupid intentionally.
Seems that the majority of the people here think I give good advice, including the mods.
I've got no problem with you, but you're annoying when you constantly follow me around the boards, making rude comments about me, expecially when we're trying to help new people, in this hobby. If you dont like me, dont post about it...I think you already know that I dont care what you think. There's no reason to clutter up the threads with useless nonsense like the crap above. The only thing that we've accomplished is to scare of a new member.

 

[fallnhorse]

I have one last question. I don't mean to rustle any more feathers but here it goes. We all know fish grow to the size of the fish tank right? Or not? Fresh water fish do of course been down that road many of time with fish. One rings to mind is the pacu. I seen them in the store and they of course look like the parina. So i got one. He was dime size and in six months he was size of my hand then stop growing. I had him for a year and then gave him to a friend. One day at the Aquiarium in Niagara fall i seen another tank of pacus. They were 3 feet long and 2 feet tall. Unbelieveble huge. I was really suppress his grow due to his enviroment but he had shown no sign what so ever of stress. He was an agress eater and always hungry. What is different in saltwater? Is cause they are mostly dragged in the ocean bottom and genics are not use to having growth suppressed? Is this how come tank bred clowns are reported smaller? And wild caught one never grow to their true size in captivty? I'm problay opening a huge bag of worms but it's curious thought. Reptiles have this problem of breeding and having genic flaws of being smaller generation by generation. No health problem but this effect is not desired. I had the same thing happen to convicts when breeding them. I would leave them with there breeding tank too long(as i tried to give them away to pet store, they bred faster than rabbits.) They would sexual mature too soon and never reach there true size cause of lack of room. They were healthy and no genic defects( fortunely they never bred down the line). But they were smaller than thier parents. However they were heathly. Can fish be live fine with out reach to length?

 

[aw2]

No bag of worms open...I'm still more than happy to answer questions and help, just like the majority of other people here.
The myth that fish will only grow to the size tank their in is an old one. For those of us who have been around fish keeping have heard it for as long as we can remember.
It is, however, purely fiction. Some fish grow at such amazingly slow rates that you could purchase one as a juvenile and never see it reach it's full adult length, even if it was given a proper habitat.
Freshwater fish, as well as saltwater fish, will continue to grow no matter the size tank they're in. I've owned Pacus too...when I first started in fish keeping, aprox. 15 years ago. I had 2 Pacus and 2 Oscars, in a 30gal. tank. I was young, uneducated in fish keeping and didnt have resources such as saltwaterfish.com.
When they outgrew the tank, I got rid of them. Then, I moved on to a 55gal. tank with a South American Gar, that grew to 38"...the poor thing couldnt even turn around in the tank. If the myth was true, there's no way that Gar (which I got at 6") wouldve grown to 38" in a 55gal. tank, which is 48x13x18. I know it was 38" because it was taken out of it's tank and donated to a LFS that had just set up a 1500gal. South American freshwater biotope.
I saw a tank once...a 30gal, I believe, that had a Silver Arrowana in it. The Arrowana was so big that it's tail was sticking out of the water because it was longer than the tank. The guy had purchased it as a juvenile.
When I give advice about tank sizes, fish sizes, overstocking, etc. I take into account the adult size of said fish. My whole outlook is to not buy a fish if you're not prepared to keep that fish for it's full life cycle. There are alot of people who say "I'll get a bigger tank, when I need to" and some do, but there are others that when that time comes, they cant get a bigger tank, for whatever reason (space restrictions, finances, etc). Then, they're stuck with large fish that become unhealthy because there arent too many LFS that will take large fish. Public aquariums, back in the day, took donations of fish...but not anymore. There's too much concern for disease, etc.
You may purchase, let's say a Yellow Tang and put it in a 30gal. tank. It may be fine for a while, but it'll quickly outgrow the tank. Then, you'll see the same person posting threads like "My Yellow Tang is sick and I dont know why". It's because of improper housing, which leads to stress and then on to death.

 

[fallnhorse]

ok i think i get the point. Basically people selling these fish at store and the net are saying they can be in a tank. But he can be the only thing by himself and nothing else. Pretty shading dealings sounds like. Oh well.....live and learn.

 

[aw2]

The conclusion that I've come to is this...
Whenever you're at a LFS, or even at an online store, such as *********** or even saltwaterfish....these places are a retailer, they're in this business for the money.
Whenever I see "minimum tank sizes" for fish...ESPECIALLY on ***********, I double it.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by AW2
When I give advice about tank sizes, fish sizes, overstocking, etc. I take into account the adult size of said fish. My whole outlook is to not buy a fish if you're not prepared to keep that fish for it's full life cycle. There are alot of people who say "I'll get a bigger tank, when I need to" and some do, but there are others that when that time comes, they cant get a bigger tank, for whatever reason (space restrictions, finances, etc). Then, they're stuck with large fish that become unhealthy because there arent too many LFS that will take large fish. Public aquariums, back in the day, took donations of fish...but not anymore. There's too much concern for disease, etc.
You may purchase, let's say a Yellow Tang and put it in a 30gal. tank. It may be fine for a while, but it'll quickly outgrow the tank. Then, you'll see the same person posting threads like "My Yellow Tang is sick and I dont know why". It's because of improper housing, which leads to stress and then on to death.

Originally Posted by AW2
Whenever I see "minimum tank sizes" for fish...ESPECIALLY on ***********, I double it.

AW2, your advice could not be more right. Don't get discouraged by those who criticize. Any sensible person knows that you are only giving facts.
And as for your last statement in the first quote, I actually know of one public aquarium that does still take donations. I did not know this, but a customer of mine told me that he sold his 17" panther grouper to the Jersey Aquarium in Camden. I did not know they took fish, but it was good to know.

 

[fallnhorse]

anyways back to the subject. My lion fish is eating krill now and has shown more activate behavior. I'll be looking for some squid, octopus and etc. And i understand have to have another tank ready for him shortly in a few months then. Can we agree on a size? i heard 90, 125, 100? bigger is better i know but what is nessary?

 

[lion_crazz]

A 125 would be preferable. I am glad that he is eating better and displaying more actibe behavior.

 

[aw2]

Originally Posted by fallnhorse
anyways back to the subject. My lion fish is eating krill now and has shown more activate behavior. I'll be looking for some squid, octopus and etc. And i understand have to have another tank ready for him shortly in a few months then. Can we agree on a size? i heard 90, 125, 100? bigger is better i know but what is nessary?

Awesome!! Glad he's eating!! It's always fun to watch them come to the top and "pop" krill off the surface of the water.
You may also want to get some Garlic Guard, by Kent Marine. It's a Garlic supplement that you soak your fishes food in...helps with internal digestion, finicky eaters, etc...just basically promotes a healthy fish, from the inside out.

 

[yimmy]

I have a question...I'm aiming for a FOWLR tank which will be a peaceful community tank. The smalles fish that will be in there are 2 ocellaris clowns. I think lions are the coolest fish, I was thinking about a dwarf fuzzy lion. I have 2 questions
1)I'm allergic to bee stings, does this mean if I get stung by the lion I'm SOL
2)Would the lion eat 2 clowns (2in big) and a cleaner shrimp?
I also have a clean up crew. If it won't work I'm just gonig to have to get a summer job for an aggresive tank...what's a comftorable size to keep a dwarf lion and how big will they top out? Almost forgot to add I have a 95gal tank, lxwxh 48x18x25. Thanks for the help
Jimmy

 

[cartman101]

Yimmy,
1) Possibly. Theres a good chance it could be a problem if you get stung.
2)YES
Dwarfs dont get big at all, 7in max, some get up to be 4in.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by Yimmy
1)I'm allergic to bee stings, does this mean if I get stung by the lion I'm SOL
IF you get stung, then yes, you are SOL. However, you would really have to make your lion mad to get stung, especially by a fuzzy dwarf. They are much nicer than the volitans.
Originally Posted by Yimmy
2)Would the lion eat 2 clowns (2in big) and a cleaner shrimp?
Possibly the cleaner shrimp, but the clowns would probably be fine. Neither of my 2 lions bother my maroon clownfish.
Originally Posted by Yimmy
I also have a clean up crew. If it won't work I'm just gonig to have to get a summer job for an aggresive tank...what's a comftorable size to keep a dwarf lion and how big will they top out? Almost forgot to add I have a 95gal tank, lxwxh 48x18x25. Thanks for the help
They will top out at 4 to 5 inches. A 95 gallon is more than enough room for one to live its life in.

 

[unleashed]

wow AW I didnt realize your cologne had this type of effect on people.you realy should stop wearing od'to defish

 

[ophiura]

Keep these in mind:
These venoms are totally different. I, for example, and very severely allergic to wasps and hornets - but not at all to bees. There is no comparison between lionfish venom and bee venom. Being allergic to one or the other really doesn't impact anything. You may be fine with bees, and allergic to lions. You may be allergic to bees, and not to lionfish.
But I am assuming that you have an epipen as well if you are allergic to bees?
Also, no worries. It is not really a matter of making a lionfish "mad." Lionfish do not use there stinging fins aggressively in a offensive manner...as in swimming after you and poking you. They use them defensively. They stay in one place and flare the fins out. You generally get stung simply because you were not watching were your hand was going in relation to the lionfish. I cleaned like 10g tanks with multiple lions in them at the LFS and never got stung. It is not, IMO, difficult to avoid all in all.
But there is always a risk to think about.

 

[aw2]

Ophiura is right. I am highly allergic to bees and have been stung by a Fuzzy Dwarf, as well as my 15" Volitan and have never had anything more than redness, swelling and pain.

 

[lion_crazz]

Wow, I didn't know that. I am just going by experience and I have met people who have been allergic to bees that were affected very badly by lionfish stings. I just thought that was the way it was. Thank you for the correction.

 

[yimmy]

I think I smell a semi aggresive tank for me...now to convince my parents...my mom was like you need to get one of these, I said their venemous, she almost passed out.

 

[aw2]

Just remind her that there's a difference between VENEMOUS and POISONOUS.