New lion and a few questions

[toughguy80]

Hi all,
I just picked up my new Antenneta lion from my LFS yesterday. He's about 4" long and looks nice and fat! I've read through these boards before buying one, but theres still some questions/confirmation I was wondering if I could get some info on.
1st off, I've noticed that my lion doesn't move around much. He just hangs down by the sandbed. The only time he moves is when I chase him around trying to get him to eat something and then it's in little spurts. I know it's natural for them to lounge around but I'd like to know if they ever get more active after being in the tank awhile? I'm just not sure if he's "lazy" because it's just his nature or if he's still adjusting to the new tank?
My next few questions are about feeding. Like I said above I know I've only had the lion a day but I was wondering how quickly I should expect to see him eat? I didn't bother trying yesterday but today I attempted it. I tried feeding him a frozen silverside which he showed no interest in. I then threw in some homemade stuff with shrimp, clam and formula 1 mixed in. This also, the lion just ignored. I read that many people with lions get them to eat frozen food by putting it by a PH. I tried this and he just sat on the bottom showing no interest. I figured since he's grown to be 4" he's been eating something:thinking: So I think my next attempt will be with live food. How would you recommend going about this? I have some mollies I already converted over to SW for this in a seperate tank. Should I just release one into the tank until he meets Mr.Lion or should I somehow try to release him near the lion? Finally, how long is a safe time for them to go without eating?
Don't worry, I'm not panicing and thinking my lions going to starve in the next hour, I just would feel better getting some feed back from people who've been doing this and know what to expect. I also realize most of you have answered these same questions many times so if you would be kind enough to give each question a quick reply or just drop me a tip on what/how you did something I'd greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[squidd]

Yes...
Yes...
When he's ready...
Drop it in...
See above...
Week, Ten days is not gonna kill him...
Just keep trying different foods, when he's hungry and you hit the right combo he'll eat...Be sure to remove uneaten food from the tank so it doesn't mess up the water...
Try to avoid "chasing him around to get him to eat"...The stress will take away his "willingness" to eat..
Same with waving a feeding stick in his face...think about it...It's like "Whoa, Dude, Get that stick outta' my Face"...
Live food will move on it's own and if he's hungry he'll find it and eat it...
In the same way ....the powerhead flow will make frozen look live and a gentle waving "near" the fish (moving away as in trying to escape) can elicit a feeding responce...
Don't worry and don't try too hard...a little splashing on the surface to get his "attention" and then releasing food in the current will go much further in getting him to eat than chasing him in the corner and poking him in the mouth with a "Krill on a stick"...

 

[squidd]

Sorry, I believe the PMs have been disabled...:nope:
If it's "Tank" related just post a question, then lots of people can learn/answer...
If it's private...e-mail me...>>Good place for a "Winkie" Smile<<

 

[toughguy80]

OK, no more chasing the lion around

Thanks for the help Squidd.

 

[luv4reef]

Hi!
I also just purchased a V.lion and he did the exact same thing as you described(not eating/lathargic) I tried diff. frozen foods and the garlic but no response, after a week I broke down and bought some live ghost shrimp and tossed them in and man did he eat! He ate so much his stomach swelled, my puffer who also would not eat devoured them too. So now I have to feed them live, it's a pain but at least they are eating. I have tried just about everything to get either of them to eat frozen but they ignore it. My lion also didn't move much for a few days & not much at that. I read that they are nocturnal so I peeked in on him late last night and boy was he out and about! He was all over tank and even hunted down my last damsel (sad but very interesting to watch) Hope this helps, I have had alot of help from this site!
(picture of him hunting down the damsel)

 

[squidd]

Luv4reef: The beauty of a P.Voltain is that they are not as nocturnal as most other Lions...
Mine is out "cruising" the tank most of the day with the rest of the fish...
Might be that your's is still just a "baby" and needs his rest but as they get older they should become more active...
As far as "he'll only eat live"..:nope: ...keep trying
Again, a little "splashing" at the surface to get his attention...as he moves in to investigate, release a ghost shrimp (live) ...boom he'll grab it...then "slash" again, and this time when he comes...release a peice of Krill or squid in the flow...I'm betting he'll grab it as well.
Soon he'll recognize you...the splashing...and what ever floats by as "Feeding Cues"...and will eat most anything you put in the tank...

 

[mightyoxjuice]

My lion is at the point where it even eats flake food. It also likes scallops, shrimp, squid, and anthing else meaty.
I do not intentionally feed my lion flake food though, he steals it from the other fish in the tank.

 

[rstiles]

I've been lucky in feeding all my loin fish,first I go with live food
tuffies,mollies,guppies,by releasing in front of the loin he will hit any thing that moves,after a week I do the same thing but with
frozen silver sides in the same net then release in front of the fish sometimes it takes a few feeding like this and then thay get the message,after converting never use live or you will start all over agin.Its alway worked for me.

 

[harlequin]

Antenattas and any other lion I have had tend to be lazy for a few days until they figure out whats going on. try feeding ghost shrimp. Do not use freshwater fish as food for lions, its bad for them. Use a feeder stick or your hand and wiggle thawed frozen shrimp in front of them if it isnt too big a piece. I can put a piece in my tank at the other end and usually the smell is enough to eventually get their attention. I have mine to the point where they will eat formula 1 and frozen shrimp, occassionally I will throw in a saltwater minnow if I catch one. Not too worried about disease with lions, especially since they are established in the waters around here anyway. They are about as fool proof a fish as you can find.

 

[canadiandude]

Silversides on a food stick worked for mine. I started with it on the stick splashing around the top of the tank and then moving it along the surface and gradually moved lower in the tank doing the same. He would chase down the stick and do the little flaring dance and then rip it off the stick. Now I dump it in the tank and it's a feeding frenzy.

 

[conogre]

OK....first off, antennatas are a little more reserved and delicate than some of the other lionfish.
As to live feeders this always depends on the size of the lionfish, which I often forget to ask about...my big ones are all over 12", but keep in mind, if properly fed a P. volitans will grow from 2" to 6"-8" within 6 months.
Fpr most people a good live food is mollies, due to the fact that they will live indefinitely in a marine tank and even help somewhat as they are vegetarians and will eat algae growing in the tank as well.
Mollies, by the way, aren't freshwater fish but rather brackish water animals and among the toughest, most disease resistant fish you can get in a marine tank (my choice for breaking in a new tank...300% better than damsels) and acclimating them isn't necessary.......here in Florida they go from pure freshwater to pure marine water twice each day and often expeience temperature changes of as much as 30 degrees F as well.
If you feed the mollies a good quality marine flake food you're also "gutloading" them, meaning the lionfish also gets all the flakes INSIDE the molly!
The DWARF lionfish are actually shrimp/small crab specialists (there's a hint here....even cleaner shrimp usually aren't safe) in the wild.
I currently have 4 12" lionfish and a spawning pair of Dwarf Fuzzies, all of which now eat almost anything, even though I intentionally fed them live feeders whenever thay wanted them.
On days when the other fish were being fed raw table shrimp, they just decided to join in on their own and a couple of them are so LAZY that they STILL want dead feeders even with live ones swimming around in the tank.

 

[chandler04]

I took silversides and wiggled thme at the top of the tank, then plunked em right in. They twist around, and he ATTACKS! Just scope around, cuz they all have different tastes. They are great fish wen u get them settled on their food.

 

[toughguy80]

Hi all,
I've had my lion for around a month now and I found something he likes... ghost shrimp. He eats them like a pig

I've been trying to ween him off them but haven't been having any progress. I'll run you through the process of feeding him and see if anyone has a better idea or other ways of doing this.
First thing I do is turn off the PH's. When this happens my lion "puffs up" starts to move to the spot where I always add the food. Then I net the shrimp and put them in my tank. As soon as the net hits the water the lion is hobering around it. I then simply release the shrimp and he attacks. Lately I've extended feeding times 4 days to make him nice and hungery and add either some thawed brine or silversides to the net. Welp, my lion's a clever little guy and before he eats anything he looks at it 1st to see what it is. When he see's it isn't his shrimp he lets it just float away. I've also tried hand feeding. Once again he shows interest and will shoot towards my hand but when he see's it's not his ghost shrimp he loses interest! So, anyone have any other tricks? And my bigger concern, will long term feeding of ghost shrimp hurt him? I always feed the shrimp some flake food and some homemade stuff I feed the rest of my fish before feeding them to the lion so they're gut loaded. I don't have a problem live feeding but if long term feeding will hurt him then I'll have to figure something out. Sorry for the long post, I just didn't want to exclude anything

 

[conogre]

Good job and pretty thorough...it's hard to get all pertinent information into a post.
Feeding it the ghost shrimp won't, IMO do much, if any long term damage, as the same shrimp are found down here in fresh, brackish and full marine environments. Exactly WHERE that puts these animals in food value probably hasn't been fully determined yet, but the gut contents probably have a great deal to do with it.
At 4", I'd forget the brine, frozen or otherwise, as they are too small and not worth the trouble, food value-wise, and are probably just adding to tank waste unless your other fish are cleaning them up completley.
As to the feeding, how many ghost shrimp are you feeding each time?
I'd consider freezing 1/2 of a feeding's worth after soaking in Zoe, Selcon or such, then give him a live one, wait a few seconds and drop a well thawed dead one in, another live, etc.
until you can get him eating all enriched dead ghosties.
Mollies, like the ghost shrimp, also occur in all 3 environments and are actually hardier than the ghost shrimp, meaning if he doesn't eat it right away, not to worry...it'll be fine, healthy and disease free until he's ready for it, and like the ghost shrimp, they can be gut loaded as well.
Use smaller mollies (and no, guppies, platies or swordtails won't do, JUST mollies) and if he accepts them as well use the same tactics until it's eating ALL thawed dead feeder animals of the types he's used to.
Eventually, possibly soon, he'll start accepting other fare as well, having you firmly fixed as his food source and fully trusting you.
A 4" antenatta, by the way, would probably feed 2-3 times EACH DAY in the wild, catching 1-3 shimp or small crabs at each hunting foray and repeating this every 8 hours or so, with the occasional small fish thrown in as a treat.
And no, they rarely go a full day without food....shrimp/crabs in the sea are simply too plentiful.
My bet is if there's an area where you can't easily catch a small shrimp any time you want it, there won't be any lionfish there either.....I can catch a wild ghost shrimp within 60 seconds, any time, day or night (when I'm at the water, of course **grin**)in the wild, and they are far better and less clumsy than I.
Mike

 

[toughguy80]

Thanks for the reply Mike. I have mollies in my tank for him to eat but like everything else, he just ignores them:notsure: As for feeding, he'll eat about 5-8 1/2" ghost shrimp before he's had enough. I normally feed him every other day when I feed the rest of my fish but reading they eat 3 times per day I might bump that up to once a day. I live up in OH so I can't catch my own ghost shrimp but my LFS has a deal worked out with me and I get them in bulk at a great price. I have a 10G set up just for the shrimp too in the hopes that maybe overtime they'll spawn on there own. Thanks, for the 1/2 frozen idea. I think he might just fall for that 1.

 

[conogre]

Hope it works and helps.
Since I'm originally from Michigan and know about the shrimp situation (although I hear there ARE now shrimp in the Great Lakes, and the fish there aren't adapted to dealing with that sharp rostral spine, so it's being considered a pest...that's straight rumor so far, and something I need to do a search on.)
Sorry...anyways, baby to smaller crayfish would likely suffice as well, but only as PART of the diet, and gut loaded would help as well. I was staioned in Dayton in the USAF and you have LOTS of crawdads, so there's a good reason to take the kids on a nature outing.
Or not....keep me posted.
Please?
Mike

 

[toughguy80]

I'm about an hour SW of Dayton, awesome airforce musieum! I'm a big WWII buff and I love seeing the old birds they have up there it's what really got me into my career:yes: There are tons of creeks around here and crawdads are everywhere. I'll keep ya posted on how it goes.

 

[conogre]

Cool.
Ayyup, I worked on some of those old birds, even the type with the funny spinny things on the front of the engines, and was stationed for a while at Wright-Patt, just before Nam.
Uncle Sam, by hte way, got me hooked on marine aquariums by sending me to Eglin AFB for survival training...when I saw the GofM it was love at first sight,with my first marine tank set up in 1968.
Jest call me gramps, Sonny.
Heh heh heh. **grin**
Mike