New Lion Owner

[shaeckh]

I had a lion a couple of years ago I got from a family member, she told us to feed it goldfish, which we did. He died after a couple of months & now we have a new lion. The petstore said not to feed it goldfish but frozen brine shrimp. We do, but I never see him eat any of it, so I'm worried that he's not eating.
I'd like to get the advice of seasoned lion owners, what and how much do you feed your lion?

 

[ophiura]

Frozen brine shrimp is not a suitable diet. It falls apart so by default you have to feed it frozen which is not good, IMO, and it is nutritionally very poor.
Feed just about anything meaty - frozen thawed silversides, squid, shrimp, krill, etc....
And welcome to the board!!!

:cheer:

 

[fccman]

I feed my lionfish krill. I buy it frozen from the pet store thaw a couple pieces and hand feed him about once a day. He'll usually take 3 or four krill. Good Luck and welcome to the site.

 

[dvincent]

If he is not taking to frozen foods buy some ghost shrimp for him, they sometimes will only eat live food. once he starts eating live food try feeding him with a large pair of tweezers, if he takes to those you can start substituting frozen silver sides, krill, or mysis shrimp. It took me about a week to train mine and now he comes to the surface for all feedings. Hope this helps. D

 

[fungus]

My lion eats almost exactly like fccmans. I feed him once a day with chopsticks; which he eats 3-4 krill per day. I de-thaw it with saltwater and usually let it sit so it's not ice cold when he eats. He will not eat any food if it touches the bottom thats why we hand feed him. I'll give him one krill at the top of the tank where he swims to and he'll stay there until he is full. The moment he's had enough he leaves. The first dayafter we had got him he did not eat but since then no problem.

 

[tnt]

When we first got our lion, he would only eat live ghost shrimp. My husband bought a seafood mix (squid, fish, shrimp, mussels) at wal-mart in their seafood section. I started dropping squid legs (they look like a little shrimp) in front of the powerhead in between ghost shrimp. He would chase them and gobble them up, probably thought they were alive. He eats anything offered now. He even sticks his head up out of the water to take food. We feed him silversides too. I only feed ours every other day. I've heard stories of gut rot if they do not have time to digest. Anybody know anything about that?

 

[ophiura]

Not sure exactly but I didn't feed my lions every day either. Every other day...or sometimes even 3 times a week. They will reach the point that they will eat just about anything, though people have to be reasonable about it.

 

[verde_ad]

It also depends on the lionfish. My dward fuzzy won't eat anything but ghost shrimp. I can get him to eat dead ones, but that is it. I am sure in time I will get him to switch, but as of now it has been two months with little success. Be patient and enjoy the process. I mean isn't that all this hobby is, one big problem solving adventure.

 

[jonny bolt]

I use frozen silversides and freeze dried krill for my Dwarf Lion. On occassion, he will also eat up big chunks of frozen Emerald Entree that I feed the rest of the fish. I also treat all the fish with live brine shrimp every couple of weeks, and Rubble (my lion), likes to pick out certain ones and stalk them, then eat em up.
I was lucky, it only took several days to get him eating. I started by feeding him small amounts every day, instead of large amounts ever few days. This way, he has able to learn the feeding "schedule" easier. Now when I turn the lights on, he knows its feeding time and races right up to the top right-hand corner of the tank to get his fill lol. These fish are not dumb by any means, and will LEARN the routine. Rubble eats right out my fingers. I feed him between 2-4 krill one day, then the next I feed him cubes of the frozen silversides. He'll gobble up anywhere between 3-6 pieces of that.
You have to entice your Lion with foods like this. If your becomes atleast somewhat active and swims to front of the tank, try holding a piece of silverside in the water. If you can get him to know its there, drop it and let it fall right by his face. He might be hungry enough to eat it up. If so, once they get a taste of the "menu", they begin to learn fairly quickly.

 

[tltgf]

i have heard of this, lions are very greedy and gluttonous and if you are not careful you can easily overfeed them... most people tell me that 3 times a week is enough

 

[jonny bolt]

Feed 'em small amounts every day...they will learn quicker.
I never feed my lion WHOLE silversides or large amounts of krill at a time.

 

[dougai]

would a sfe also eat frozen krill?

 

[unleashed]

most lions do well on a variety of meaty foods brine shrimp has the nutritional value to sw fish as popcorn has to humans a great filler no nutriants.gold fish are a nono becuase they are a fresh water fish and they eat garbage that most others wont eat.if your lion is on the smaller side and large chunks or whole silverslides wont fit break them up into to smaller bite sized peices .you can either stick feed your lions or eventually teach them to hand feed(i hand feed mine)stick feeding can be the easiest way to feed a smaller specimen than hand feeding they are easier to get acustomed to the feeding tube(clear acrylic stick)my lagest wont go near the stick so he has to be hand fed.lions are preditorial fish and require a moving dinner.if it just sits or floats slowly they tend not to bother with it.your job is to mimic life into its food to provoke its attack.btw this is kinda fun to do.for a real treat (kinda costly but cool)black mollies as a treat for agressive sw fish.sometimes i buy in bulk amounts to lower the cost but still end up with a $50.00 meal that last about 3 min.if you have spair small tank its much lest costly and can breeed your own for treats.mollies are brackish fish not fw so they can be acclimated to full sw.uneaten fish will live in a main tank if acclimated properly to sw untill the others get hungry again.once your fish realizes that you bring him his dinner you find that he will be the first up top to feed if hes hungry.