Volitan Lion won't eat!

djminus1

djminus1

Member
I got a beautiful Volitan Lion on Sunday afternoon from my LFS. So far, I have not been able to get him to eat. I tried offering him Krill, Silverside pieces, and even Mysis. He seems uninterested.
When should I be concerned about him not eating? I know some fish take some time to "warm up" to their new surroundings. I have the opportunity to bring him back if I think he is not doing well.
P.S. He is not being picked on. The only thing in the tank that would give him any grief would be my Snowflake eel but the eel seems to be cautious of the Lion.
 
gofish85

gofish85

Member
let em settle.i wouldn't get concerned until about a week or so.offer him some live feeders depending on his size. after that he should have some sort of feeding response. once on live start weening him onto frozen and once on frozen keep em on frozen.
 
jon321

jon321

Member
Lionfish should be feeding/interested in food literally the second they are out of the bag. Try getting feeders, even goldfish if thats all you can get, float a bag with the fish in the tank so it doesnt go into the rockwork and hide, and wait for the lionfish to see it. Soon enough the lionfish should be stalking the bag and watching the fish inside. At that point grap the fish and drop it in the tank near the lionfishes head. The salt water will stun it for a split second and the lionfish will get an easy catch. Over time, drop frozen foods near its mouth instead of live fish, and then over time do away with the floating bag with a fish entirely and you have a healthy lionfish. And lionfish should be able to go over a week without feeding, so dont stress if it hasnt eaten in a few days, once initiated properly it should be fine.
good luck!
Jon
 
lionfu411

lionfu411

Member
mollies or guppies would be much better than goldfish. goldfish are terrible for sw fish.
try ghost shrimp. once you get him on a schedule and he recognizes you he'll eat frozen. also try soaking the frozen food in garlic and using a clear acrylic feeding stick. you can also try waving it anywhere where theres flow in the tank so he thinks its alive
 
djminus1

djminus1

Member
Also, I noticed that one of his fins was slightly damaged. One of the long spines on his pectoral fin was broken towards the tip. I assume that this was damages in the transport home and will grow back. Could this make him not want to eat?
I will try to get him something live.
 
djminus1

djminus1

Member
I talked to some people at the LFS today regarding "live" fish to try. They too cautioned me on adding goldfish to my tank. Instead, they told me to give the Lion "Rosey Reds". They are much smaller...sort of like bite sized portions.
As soon as I put one into the tank, the Lion began stalking it and gobbled him up pretty quick. I dropped another and he ate that one too. They were quite small.
Has anyone ever fed these "Rosey Reds" as a special treat or to intice a finicky eater? I plan to try to feed the lion a silverside piece either tomorrow or Thurs.
 
lionfu411

lionfu411

Member
Originally Posted by team2jndd
Why are goldfish bad? are rosy reds the same thing as tuffies?
yes tuffies are rosie reds or rosie red minnows depending on where you get em from. theyre the same thing.
goldfish are bad for sw fish. they have a chemical in them that causes fatty liver disease in sw fish. it will definately cut short the life of your animal
 
pfitz44

pfitz44

Active Member
Originally Posted by LionFu411
yes tuffies are rosie reds or rosie red minnows depending on where you get em from. theyre the same thing.
goldfish are bad for sw fish. they have a chemical in them that causes fatty liver disease in sw fish. it will definately cut short the life of your animal

ALL freshwater fish will cause this in all saltwater fish....
to lean my lion, i fed him guppies and brine shrimp at the same time... after the guppy was gone, he was still hungry, so he ate the shrimp.... then the flake food!! (beleve it ot not). Now hes eatting bloodworks, coctail shrimp, brine shrimo, mylas and krill
 
lionfu411

lionfu411

Member
Originally Posted by PFitz44
ALL freshwater fish will cause this in all saltwater fish....
to lean my lion, i fed him guppies and brine shrimp at the same time... after the guppy was gone, he was still hungry, so he ate the shrimp.... then the flake food!! (beleve it ot not). Now hes eatting bloodworks, coctail shrimp, brine shrimo, mylas and krill
yes but tuffies are better than goldfish at least.
the best feeder is either ghost shrimp, mollies, or guppies.
once you get him weaned you can feed brine,mysis,krill, and squid as a TREAT
 
debbie

debbie

Active Member
I sure hope that you get your lionfish to eat soon. They are such beautiful fish. Tonight while feeding my dwarf lionfish it was quite interesting to watch. A chunk of mysis shrimp fell to the bottom where the fish was, it kept circling around it and I noticed that it was using its pectoral fins to what appears to me trying to sting it. After repeating this for a while it then gulped the little pile of shrimp down. It was sure neat to watch.
Was it trying to sting this pile of shrimp thinking it was live?
I guess I lucked out when I had to wait for this fish. It came to me eating frozen foods of all kinds really well.....

Deb
 
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