Reluctant Lion plz advise

[tbone]

Hello all,
I purchased a juvinile lion about six days ago and I have not been able to get him to eat, I have tried frozen krill, frozen clams, and frozen silver sides.He looks healthy and has been stocking the four damsels since I put him in, I have 120lbs. of live rock in there and it came with all kinds of beatiful critters like crabs and snails and I think sea stars ( I am new to this so I could be wrong ) I am wondering if he has been feeding on these mentioned critters? Is there anythingelse I should be doing ? The guy at my lfs is a good person and said this sometimes happens an also guaranteed he will not starve himself, and said he would replace him anything bad happened to him.
Thank you for any words of wisdom........... Tom.

 

[fmarini]

ToM:
No offense, but lion fish just don't eat dead stuff initally, they have to be trained that the dead food is food.
You have two choices either feed it live food now until its established in your tank (say 2 weeks then ween it over), or keep tryin to feed the lion w/ dead foods.
May I ask what type of lion? Since P volitans ween over quickly i will guess that its a mid body or dwarf lion.
If you decide on feding live, use ghost shrimp first(better of the FW evils).
If you decide to try to get it to eat, you must make the dead food appear lifelike, and "trick" the lion into eatin it. i would use a small silverside w/ eyes, do the fish on a string or stick routine, and get the lion interested and excited, but not scared.
My guess is he is eating the other stuff in the tank, but since he's stalking the moving fish, hes hungry.
You job is to teach him dead food is food
frank

 

[tbone]

I am gonna go try to feed him again, please let me know if this is normal behavior...
Thanks.

 

[tbone]

No offense taken, I am new at this ... he is a P. Volitan, I will get some shrimp tomorrpw and try to get him eating thanks again ...

 

[jester]

I have a volitan that absoultly will not eat dead. He is young, but i tried the switch over thing with no luck. He will strike the krill, but then spit it up and search for live. this is normal

 

[milk man]

I had the same problem with my lion fish. I made the mistake of offering live food. My lion still to this day will not accept frozen food. I have a difficult time feeding the lion becuase of my eel & puffer fish allways find the hunt for live food challenging.

 

[jester]

Didnt feed him for 7 days one time to get him hungry, Then tried "fish on a stick" aproach in front of a powerhead to get movement. He ate it, 30 sec later spit it up and won't go near it now. He just want's live. I wish he would change over, I know it's healthier.

 

[fmarini]

Hi:
I'm w/ Ed on this. I have been able to ween every carnivore i ever had over to dead prepared foods(lions, leaffish, waspfish, pop-eyed seagoblin). What it take is persistance, cleverness, and willpower. Willpower in the sense that YOU must starve the lion (a hungry lion is a brave lion), and YOU must not give in, if after 4 days of starving him, don't feed him live and start the process over again.
P Volitans are the easist to ween. Make the food look life like, and make him interested and chasing it. Again its your job to convince him thedead stuff is food.
my opinion
frank
When isay feeed them live foods, I mean feed them live foods for about 2 weeks, til they are healthy and comfortable in your tank. 1 month MAX.

 

[tbone]

Thank You !!!!
(especially to Anthem, Jester, and FMarini) for the helpfull advise, My lion finally ate,
i used a silverside on a string (about 3 inches long)He devoured it and has a big fat stomach right now. He almost jumped out of the tank after it ... LOL scared the $@#@ out of me, but I am glad I held out and hopefully now he won't have a problem with frozen... Thank you all again

 

[tbone]

No problems now Anthem, he comes right up to the top and takes them right out of my hand, started soaking the silversides and frozen krill in garlic and he almost leeps out of the tank after it. About three times a week ? that is what I am hearing.... Thank You again for the help.

 

[tbone]

I have been working with the tongs. I have no desire to get stung at all, So once he gets used to the tongs I will get my hand out of there !!!
Thanks again....