Weaning a Lionfish

fishgirl2010

fishgirl2010

New Member
Hello-I just purchased a lionfish (not quite sure the type). The LFS told me "it" was eating goldfish and silverslides. However, I am now assuming it was only fed goldfish because it has no interest what-so-ever in silversides or any other frozen food for that matter. My question is HOW can I wean it from goldfish or other live "fresh water" food? I gave in and fed it a goldfish today, but would like to wean ASAP! Any help greatly appreciated, thanks!!!
 
antwon

antwon

Member
i weaned mine to frozen by feeding ghost shrimp for about two weeks and then try small silversides. now he loves them and is always hungry!
 
antwon

antwon

Member
ok im wanted to use krill too( besides seafood from the market), but i am a little weary because i heard 1). its causes lock jaw, and 2). fish will become "addicted" to it, and will only eat that.
 
fishgirl2010

fishgirl2010

New Member
Sadly, the lionfish died last night. Not sure why, but I am guessing being fed goldfish its entire life did not help. I only had it 4 days, poor thing, not happy :( Anyone know of a good place to purchase "frozen fed" lionfish online? They are hard to come-by in my state.
 
S

saxman

Guest
That sux about your lion...if you only had it 4 days, it wasn't the food that killed it.
What size tank do you have? We can help you choose which species would be a good fit for you and the system.
You might want to google "Frank Marini lionfish" to find his excellent article on lionfish care, which also has some pix of different species as well as descriptions of them.
Frank also has a great new book out called Lionfishes and Other Scorpionfishes, which goes much more in-depth, but is still very "readable". It has some great photos in it as well. It's < $10 on Amazon.com, and I consider it a "must-have" for those interested in lionfish.
 
fishgirl2010

fishgirl2010

New Member
I have a 120 gallon tank with about 10 fish (puffer, tang, trigger, grouper, clowns, and damsels) including an anemone and they are all fine (water tests fine too, with the exception of a bit of nitrate). I bought this fish from a questionable fish store, so it might have been sick although it did not show any signs of illness. I think I am now going to wait a few months to make sure nothing else dies and then move forward with purchasing a new fish. I need something of the "bigger" variety and not sure about lionfish anymore? Although they are beautiful, they are a bit of a pain to feed when not used to frozen food.
 
S

saxman

Guest
Depending on WHICH trigger and puffer you have, a lion may not be the best fit. However, if you're looking for a larger lion, a Pterois volitans or P. russelii would be your fish. To be honest, these two species are the easiest to wean, and often take no more effort than to drop the food into the tank. You may even be able to find one at the LFS that is weaned.
If you can QT the fish for at least the time it takes to wean it, you may have better luck. Also, check the fish's breathing out carefully...if it seems to be "gilling" (breathing heavily) it may have gill flukes, which I have seen in lots of fish lately. We had to treat our P. mombassae for flukes right off the bat from the wholesaler.
 
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