Weaning a juvenile volitan lionfish

shea1988

shea1988

New Member
Hello, I just purchased my first volitan lion 3 days ago. He is a juvenile, only about 2 to 3 inches. I want to get him to eat frozen krill or silversides but he just ignores it when I try to feed it to him. Just to make sure that he ate in his new home, I purchased a couple ghost shrimp and he went right for them both and ate 1 the other died later. Post feeding he went off into a small cave that I had made him in my live rock, layed on the sand and didn't come out for a few hours. He also had a lump in his stomache and still has it today, I'm assuming that's the lump of the shrimp he ate. Is this normal behavior after feeding? And also how do I wean him onto the healthier (and cheaper) frozen silversides and krill. Or is there something else that I should be feeding him since he is so small? Any help on these subjects would be much appreciated.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
What I did with a V Lion that size...
First, realize it is going to take a few weeks, possibly.
I bought some liquid garlic; Kent's Liquid Garlic for marine fish. I began soaking live foods (mysis and Brine shrimp) then would add to the tank. Slowly I began to add more and more frozen along with the live. Being sure to only add small amounts of food at a time, every few days.
I believe the garlic stimulates feeding. I also believe the fish became accustomed to the smell of garlic and therefore began equating it with food.
From there I moved on to bits of frozen shrimp, squid, clams, fish, etc. soaked in garlic and was able to quit using live foods entirely.
 
jag2232

jag2232

Member
Are you just dropping the frozen krill in? What I did with my Lion is I used to use a plastic skewer and put the krill on the end of it then have it swim around like it was alive. Always got his attention by doing that.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
I had to move the krill in front of the power head and let it carry it. It did take a few weeks. I had to play with the krill, yet stand back, for the first week.
 
shea1988

shea1988

New Member
I tried both the acrylic skewer and letting my powerhead do the work. Soaking it in garlic doesn't seem to be working either. Should I try every night or should I try less often? Also is ghost shrimp ok to feed them with the mix of frozen soaked in garlic?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Shea1988
http:///forum/post/2664003
I tried both the acrylic skewer and letting my powerhead do the work. Soaking it in garlic doesn't seem to be working either. Should I try every night or should I try less often? Also is ghost shrimp ok to feed them with the mix of frozen soaked in garlic?
Try every night until he eats. I did it several times per night, whenever he looked alert and may want to feed. Don't leave the food in there though if he doesn't eat. Pull it out. Adding a few drop of garlic to a live ghost shrimp will make him accustomed to the garlic smell.
 
shea1988

shea1988

New Member
Well that's what I'll do then. He bit the piece of krill that I put on my skewer. I can't tell if it was out of aggression or if he was hungry but the piece I had was too big for him (hard to get small wiggley pieces on the skewer). Since then back to showing no interest, but I love a good challenge. Thank you all so much for all your help! If anybody has anything else to add to this, please do.
 
zoiescout

zoiescout

New Member
My lionfish did not eat for a few days. I tried putting food on a feeding stick and he looked interested but did not take to it. So i dropped in a silverside in front of him he went right for it. Never had any issues after that feeding him.
 
hammerhed7

hammerhed7

Active Member
Once they get the idea that they are supposed to eat the frozen foods you wont have any problems. I used squid to wean mine, I cut it into long thin strips and used a feeding stick, the longer pieces are easy to wiggle and catch his attention, also when he comes after it move it away from him to make him strike. I also tapped on the glass lid several times before putting the food into the tank, now years later when I tap on the lid it's like a dinner bell and the lions come right to the top to eat.
 
tr1gger

tr1gger

Member
I got lucky with my Lion, he ate mysis right off the bat. I was also told that Lions need Algae to help there intestinal tract. Many lions eat smaller fish that are algae eaters. I feed him some mysis and some formula 2 with gel binder. HE LOVES IT. I couldnt believe he actually eats it but he loves it. He also steals some of my trigger formula too, but the trigger usually gets the most mysis. Gl with you lion and happy tanking
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Keep trying and don't give up. I have 2 lions, one ate frozen food from the first day, the other it took me a month to wean it on frozen foods. In the mean time don't let it starve. Make sure to give it some live ghost shrip but not too many. You still want it hungry so it'll at least think of eating the krill or silversides.
 
slackjawed

slackjawed

Member
Originally Posted by RCreations
http:///forum/post/2693287
Keep trying and don't give up. I have 2 lions, one ate frozen food from the first day, the other it took me a month to wean it on frozen foods. In the mean time don't let it starve. Make sure to give it some live ghost shrip but not too many. You still want it hungry so it'll at least think of eating the krill or silversides.
try live silversides>why do all of you steer people away from live?
 
jag2232

jag2232

Member
Originally Posted by Shea1988
http:///forum/post/2660355
And also how do I wean him onto the healthier (and cheaper) frozen silversides and krill. .

There's your answer, he doesn't want to pay the money for live food. Maybe if you read posts instead of always trying to sound like a punk you'd know. Seriously.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Use krill, if he won't eat it then use ghost shrimp until he will. I just got a Zebra lion to eat krill for me tonight. For those that don't know, they are not the easiest lion to get eating.
 
slackjawed

slackjawed

Member
Originally Posted by jag2232
http:///forum/post/2695757
There's your answer, he doesn't want to pay the money for live food. Maybe if you read posts instead of always trying to sound like a punk you'd know. Seriously.
a p --k sure sounds like a insult
thanks guy!!
 
slackjawed

slackjawed

Member
Originally Posted by jag2232
http:///forum/post/2695757
There's your answer, he doesn't want to pay the money for live food. Maybe if you read posts instead of always trying to sound like a punk you'd know. Seriously.
if the guy cant afford 2 feed his fish mabey he shouldnt have em!!!and live silversides are cheep what like 2.00 $ a dozen? that gonna break you??? mabey get a pet rock,i here there cheep to feed
 
kjr_trig

kjr_trig

Active Member
Slack feeds freshwater minnows and calls them silversides

BTW Slack, you live in Wisconsin, why do you type like your from Compton?
 
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