How to get new fish to eat

[cartman101]

Yesterday i received a lionfish and a butterfly fish from my dad as a gift. Today they are swimming fine, doesn't look like they are sick at all. I tried to feed my lion some squid/krill/live ghost shrimp and he turned them down! I tried to feed the butterfly fish flakes/broccoli/lettuce/spinach and she turned them down! So what do all think? :notsure:

 

[fedukeford]

try soaking the food in garlic, it usually works, can you post some pictures?

 

[cartman101]

i tried the garlic too, forgot to mention that, is there a certain kind i should be using? I dont know if i soaked the garlic right but i took some garlic cloves, put them in with the food and froze it then later on i took the food out and tried feeding it to my fish. Um, i cant post pictures because of a bad camra i have and if i did it would take like 2 weeks before i can post the pics on here

 

[1journeyman]

Lions can be picky. You may have to feed it live foods until you can wean it over.
Get some algae for your Butterfly. Use a clip to keep it in the tank. Also, watch the Butterfly; it may be eating off of your rock and you just aren't seeing it.

 

[jon321]

For the lionfish, start on live foods, even if its only a couple feedings just to get the lion interested. Float the live foods in a bag at the top of the tank so they dont get lost in the rockwork. The lion should quickly come up to the top to investigate then u can drop the live food near the lions head.
For the butterfly Id use frozen foods, brine, mysis, etc, doubtful it would take flake right off the bat, if ever. If its one of the longer-nosed varieties an opened, live, supermarket clam can do wonders. Is it picking at the live rock?
What kind of lionfish and butterfly is it? and how big are they?
Jon

 

[cartman101]

Yeah the aguria(sp) butterfly fish is definitly picking at the rocks, about 4-5in. The lion is a volitan lionfish, about 4in.

 

[unleashed]

as for the lion try soaking the foods in garlic as suggested if feeding frozen foods thaw them first in the garlic .you need to try and mimic life for hem to be bothered with it so using a feeding stick is recomended.as for the butterfly its also canivorous its not a herbavore depending on which type you purchased some love aiptasia some will also eat soft corals but mostly do well in a non reef enviroment eating small foods such as mysis shrimp and other small chopped meaty foods.dont bother with brine ,it will eat it but its not nutritional and the fish eventualy starves to death due to malnutrition

 

[cartman101]

Well i accidently purchased brine before i read your post unleashed. The brine is not open and i was wondering if the lfs would take the food back since its not open?

 

[unleashed]

Originally Posted by Cartman101
Well i accidently purchased brine before i read your post unleashed. The brine is not open and i was wondering if the lfs would take the food back since its not open?

if they are a good store they will understand if not I know brine is very inexpencive thats why they sell so much of it.its ok for fw fish somewhat but is not a sw food source.I realy dont underastnd why they sell it for sw fish.kinda of like living on choc we might like to eat it but that doesnt mean its nutritous.I would ask for a replacement if pos. mysis shrimps just simply explain you grabbed brine by mistake and would rather have mysis and pay the difference.

 

[cartman101]

woah! Hold on there was a BIG typo! I mean i have mysis, not brine, oops

 

[wanabebell]

Why do you guys spend money on live feeders for the lion
I agree, they may be picky but theres a better solution.
go by some silversides at the LFS
offer the lion one one a feeding stick if he dosent take it thats ok... Wait another day
sooner or later he will learn what hungry is and eat the silversides. That is how I got my Volitan to eat.
In four or five days he still reguses to eat then i would buy live feeders. The lion will be five days easily

 

[cartman101]

yea, but he refuses almost everything so that is why i'm going to go to the lfs to pick up some live feeders just in case.

 

[wanabebell]

I personally think you need to wait a couple of days let him get hungry

 

[cartman101]

well i got the lion to eat live food

Now i just need him to eat the frozen. I threw in a piece of krill and squid along with a live ghost shrimp, well the lion went right to the ghost shrimp and ate it. Then he stared at the frozen but never took it

 

[mitzel]

wiggle it around and then move it away from the lion then wiggle it and move it back a bit , wiggle it and move it to the side, you have to trick them into thinking its alive and live fish dont just stay in one spot and wiggle they move around.

 

[cartman101]

yea i did that. Guess i gotta wait awhile before he starts to eat frozen

 

[unleashed]

are you using a feeding stick?you can buy a clear plastic feeding stick from your LFS they cost maybe 2-3 bucks its a long acrylic tube I cut on end with a sharp knife to make it pointed then stick the krill or whatever food Im using,wiggling the stick about its easy its mimic life.lions normally wont go for food thats not moving until they have completely adjusted to captive living

 

[cartman101]

yup, i'm using a feding stick.

 

[jcrim]

Cartman, this is JMO but lions can do well for a while on live ghost shrimp. Don't worry if it takes a while to wean him. For now, give him the shrimp that he loves and get him comfortable in your tank. Even if it takes 2-3 months on just live food, don't worry. Just keep him fat and healthy first.