my lion eats wayyyyy too much!

antwon

antwon

Member
hi everyone so as the title reads lately my lion has been full to the max. i feed him a normal amount(either one half to one whole silverside depending on the last time i fed him and his stomach shape) however, he always seems to get more, wether it wuz intended for the eel, for the nems, or for the arrow crab. does anyone hav any advice on how i cud distract him while i am feeding the others. his stomach expands pretty far but i hav read that overfeeding lions(or any fish) will in the long term kill them. actually right now, he is full, and is holding half a silverside in his mouth. i dont get how he just keeps eating! any help wud b great thanx
 
antwon

antwon

Member
u dont understand.... his stomach was waaaayyy far out i dont intend him to eat that much i know it sounds odd cuz i feed him but he just always end up getting more than needed and i feel this is really bad for him i mean i guess if he didnt regurgitate it he cud handle it but still..... u know what i mean right?
 
S

saxman

Guest
Quote:
Originally Posted by levinjac http:///forum/thread/381444/my-lion-eats-wayyyyy-too-much#post_3322538
well reduce feeding to every other day.......
This pretty much nails it.
None of the critters you mentioned should be fed every day...3x a week is fine. Also, if push comes to shove, you need to distract the lion and lure it to another part of the tank with a "blank" feeding stick and while it is investigating the blank stick, feed the other critters, assuming you're target feeding. If not, you should probably start if this is an issue.
 
antwon

antwon

Member
I don't feed everydat I feed re reg fish everyother day and the lion evvrythree days just wen he eats he eats a lot
 
S

saxman

Guest
If the lion is eating that much, and you can't seem to control it, cut it back to two days a week. I kept an adult volitans for 10 years on a 2 day a week feeding schedule.
 
antwon

antwon

Member
ok i feel bad bucuz whenever i walk into the room he calms out from behind a rock all majestic lookin with those pectoral fins and is like begging for food, like a puppy i MUST resist LOL
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by antwon http:///forum/thread/381444/my-lion-eats-wayyyyy-too-much#post_3322952
ok i feel bad bucuz whenever i walk into the room he calms out from behind a rock all majestic lookin with those pectoral fins and is like begging for food, like a puppy i MUST resist LOL
They will beg, this I've heard. So resist! lol
Congrats, you are known as Food God to your fish ... you should see my fish in my 155. The tank is literally 4' in front of me when I open the door to come home from work and they swarm the front glass like little rats that haven't been fed in a year, even though they were fed that morning.
 
antwon

antwon

Member
LOL every fish i see seems to never get enought to eat. i feel like my lion would eat until he exploded no joke haha
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Get a second feeding stick and "tap" him away from the food when he's had his share. I push fish out of the way all the time with one.
 
antwon

antwon

Member
my lion actually goes after the orange end of my feeding stick and tries to eat. i like yell at him lol i feel like one day he is going to hurt his jaw
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
You basically learn in time how to keep one fish away from food meant for another. We have a 60g filled with preds that require stick feeding and then three anthias who have learned to eat from it as well. In time you'll become a master of distraction. No one else could come in and feed my tank successfully, I'm sure of it... makes vacations hard. I also use the "dive bomb" approach.... I see who the food is intended for.... line him up... and put the food really quickly in. It's hard to explain. I'll have to video me feeding that tank someday.
But it really is a learned skill..... you'll learn what works for you.
A second lion would not help with this.... the more there are, the more difficult it becomes.
 
S

saxman

Guest
Renee (Cranberry) is indeed the mistress of stick-feeding, and as she mentioned, it's a skill that she has learned and adapted just as the fish learn to stick feed. Back awhile, I used to distract the volitans so she could feed the Rhino, but after awhile, she was able to dispense with me (just like a woman, right?
). Altho I can feed the stick-feeders, I'm not as good at it as she is, and besides, these fish are like her babies in many cases (we've mostly grown all of them from juvies), so she feeds them and I feed the other fish.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
How big is your lion these days Cranberry?
I miss my big guy sometimes when I come accross left over silversides in the freezer :p
I do love my reef though :)
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I'm going to go measure him now.... it's hard though because as soon as he sees me he assumes the upward begging position.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
10.5-11" long. Fin span about 12" wide.
He chased around the silver tip on the measuring tape.... I better go feed him now.
 
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