is my lion is sick!

[luv4reef]

Ok, first I could not get him to eat untill I bought some live ghost shrimp then he ate almost all of them and a good size damsel, the problem is his stomach is really swollen and he hasn't moved much since yesterday morning. Obviously he over ate, could this be a problem or will it go down in a couple of days?
(I also have a puffer that wasnt eating frozen so thats why I put alot of shrimp in but the lion ate them so fast the puffer did not get much, how can I make sure the puffer gets his share too w/out the lion eating it all?)
Thanks!

 

[squidd]

you really don't want to make a habit of overfeeding your Lion...
If you can see his stomach bulge "just a little" that's generally enough...
My Lion has "pigged out" from time to time as well...and usually he won't eat or show much interest in food for a day or two after..especially after he ate my Dragon Wrasse...
I have several aggressive in my tank with varying levels of speed and assertiveness at feeding time...
In order for everyone to get a "fair" share you can try a couple things...
Try different "sizes" of food...If I toss in a good sized chunk of fish for the Lion he'll grab it and swim off for a second...then I can add a bunch of Krill for the others...
Or you can feed in different parts/sides of the tank...
Or you can "hand feed"or feeder stick...if I don't direct food to the bottom My Crocodile Fish would never get fed (food never makes it to the bottom)...you can also "entice" the puffer to eat out of your hand ...being more "personable" than Lions you should be able to get him to come up to eat out of your fingers while the Lion will hang back, then you can drop in food for him....
You don't want to just "drop in" all the food at once though, cause someone will get most of it, someone will get a little, and someone will get none...

 

[luv4reef]

well the problem was neither fish would eat at all since we brought then home last sat. We tried garlic and diff. kinds of frozen food with that not working I went back to the lfs and they said to put all the ghost shrimp in and see if they eat, well they did but the lion over ate. (the problem w/live is they swim all over & my puffer is not too swift) Will the lion recover?
Also how much and often should I feed the puffer & lion?
Thanks!!!

 

[squidd]

Can't really say how much as in 2-3 oz's or 1/4 cup...depends on the size of your fish...Generally enough till you can just start to see their stomach buldge a little bit...
Kind of reminds me of people saying how they feed 2 or 3 Krill...My lion will eat 20 easy...But he's pushing 12"
On the other question ...you can feed them a "little" everyday, and let them fast one day a week...
Or as most people do, feed them a decent amount 2 or 3 times a week... That's really all they need as they are not expending alot of energy "hunting" as they would in the wild...and even there they don't "get lucky" everyday...
And as far as "not eating"...they can go "several days" not eating and be fine (especially when you first bring them home)
Eventually, when they are "hungry" they will eat what you offer, so don't get stuck on feeding live only "cause that's all they'll eat"...they just got you trained...

 

[luv4reef]

Thanks 4 the info!
So I should not worry about his stomach?
:happyfish

 

[squidd]

There's not a whole lot you can do about it at this point...
Unless he is extremely distended and "busted a gut" he'll probably be fine...may have a bellyache for awhile and not eat for a day or two ...but not to worry...

 

[gasguzzler]

Its hard to make sure everyone gets their ration in a populated tank. I used to

[hr]
the ghost shrimp with a small diameter hard air line tube, then shake it in front of my lion at the surface to get his attention. When he comes at it, I shake it off the stick. The shrimp is still alive, and initiates the hunting behavior of the lion. Give it a shot and see how it works out. Now, every time I take the cover off, hes conditioned to come to the top to feed. But now the rays have figured it out so it makes it kind of tricky. Stingers flying everywhere!!!