Red Volitan Lion Question

[tomclx]

HEllo,
Well i finally decided to get a Red vlitan Lion Fish. I put him in tank last night, he seems to be doing great. However, he wont eat. I am using frozen Krill on a feeding stick, and moving it around to mimic it being "alive". The Lion just looks at it and swims away. Any advice? should i tray something different?
Thanks

 

[hammerhed7]

just be patient, keep trying. min love squid. Lions take time to be weaned onto prepared foods, you may have to feed live ghost shrimp just to keep him strong and eating while trying to get him over to frozen foods. Once they get the hang of it they will eat pretty much anything offered. mine even eat pellets now that I put in for my other fish. If you do have to resort to using feeders, or ghost shrimp be sure to discontinue this as soon as he begins to take frozen food, and be sure to offer as big of a variety as possible once he is eating.
Good Luck

 

[crimzy]

I'd try to start with silversides and do it by hand. Just hold the silverside by the tail, with your hand just out of the water and the silverside just under the surface. Wiggle it a little and your lion should get interested.

 

[sk8shorty01]

Originally Posted by crimzy
I'd try to start with silversides and do it by hand. Just hold the silverside by the tail, with your hand just out of the water and the silverside just under the surface. Wiggle it a little and your lion should get interested.

The only problem with that is you will begin to give the lion a reason to think that any time your hand is near the tank, there is food attached. You should try not to assosiate your hand with food as much as possible because it can cause things to get difficult when its time for you to do anything inside of the tank with your hands. I used a feeding stick for a while, now I just drop the food in and it sinks and he gets it off the bottom. Same with my Clown Trigger and SFE.
Lions tend to go on "hunger strikes" when acclimating to a new tank. Its not abnormal, yours is just getting used to the new surroundings. Just be patient and dont stress him out to much by waiving all kinds of stuff in his face for long periods of time. When he gets hungry enough he will eat.

 

[crimzy]

Originally Posted by sk8shorty01
The only problem with that is you will begin to give the lion a reason to think that any time your hand is near the tank, there is food attached. You should try not to assosiate your hand with food as much as possible because it can cause things to get difficult when its time for you to do anything inside of the tank with your hands. I used a feeding stick for a while, now I just drop the food in and it sinks and he gets it off the bottom. Same with my Clown Trigger and SFE.
Lions tend to go on "hunger strikes" when acclimating to a new tank. Its not abnormal, yours is just getting used to the new surroundings. Just be patient and dont stress him out to much by waiving all kinds of stuff in his face for long periods of time. When he gets hungry enough he will eat.
This is true. Most of my fish, including my stingray and lion, do approach my hand whenever it's in the tank. However they are not approaching to sting. The problem that I had with a feeding stick and a new lion was that I did not have as much control of the food, to entice my lion. There are different ways to do this, though.