Live food for Lion Fish

[mling]

I've finally got my first Lion fish. It's a Dwarf Zebra Lionfish. It's about 3" in size. What type of live food should I feed it ? I got it from Centreville Aqua and Larry tells me that it has been eating prepared food at the store. I read somewhere that it is better to feed live marine feeder fishes and not fresh water feeders, it this true ?

[jamesbuf]

If its eating prepared food, I would stick with that. If you must feed a small fish every now and then, I would stick with baby goldfish. That way if you are introducing and bad things (parasite, flukes, etc) they will be freshwater based and wont effect your tank. Thats what I was told by several LFS back in my aggressive FOWLR days. Whether its true or not, I can't say. I never had any problem with it when I had triggers, puffers, and wrasses.

Edited July 15, 2007 by jamesbuf

[toastiireefs]

I was talking about this with one of the zoo keepers in the invert house-

basically (and what i have been reading about lion fish- and i think it says something about this in the conscientious marine aquarist) is that you should feed marine based-

 

i do know that if you feel the need to feed live food that you should feed it something a good size smaller than its mouth- cuz they will try to swallow it whole- or munch down on it and they can choke or kill themselves- cuz they dont know better not to eat something bigger than it can swallow.

 

but i suggest sticking to prepared foods- or silversides- or shrimps- im not positive- but definately whole and meaty- but not HUGE pieces- ummm and you know they only need to be fed like every 2-3days or 3 times a week.... i would think you would know how many times because you have a lion fish but just putting out that information incase you didnt-

 

but they can die from over feeding- or eating things too large for it to swallow-- watch the youtube video with the lionfish and the frog- what a shame-

 

 

any ways- what size take do u have cuz i LOVE lionfish- which is why i was doing research on them and know this foody stuff... but i dont have any personal experience- sooooooooo if someone comes along with personal experience trust their opinion WAY oover mine

 

sorrry for my long windedness

i dont think you should really feed them live food anyways- and also fw feeder fish might not be the best because they wont be swimmin round the ocean and find a gold fish would they?? its not natural and might not have all the adequate nutrition- on he other hand- they could have more nutrition.. im not an expert on nutritional value of fish. but again i think stick to the prepared foods except for maybe a once in a while treat of hunting the fish down

Edited July 15, 2007 by toastiireefs

[davelin315]

You should never feed goldfish to anything from what I know. Not sure if this is myth or not, but goldfish supposedly have some sort of natural defense mechanism in that they contain a protein kinase inhibitor (I think it's that). Apparently this prevents animals from absorbing what they need and they slowly over time will deteriorate. There's nothing that happens suddenly, but again, it's a slow defense mechanism. Again, this may be fiction, but I'm not sure. I have been told it enough times and heard it from enough responsible people to believe it.

 

On top of that, goldfish are not nutritious. If you are going to feed something live to it, get yourself some feeder shrimp or even get some mollies which are saltwater fish as well.

 

Also, if the lion is already eating prepared diet, it won't stop just because you feed it live fish. I had many a lion in my predator days and the most successful ones were when I mixed the food up periodically. I did feed goldfish but eventually stopped because of what I had heard.

 

Sara is correct as well in saying that they can over gorge themselves and essentially suffocate by eating something too large. Be careful what you stick in the tank, if it's edible, they'll try and eat it and could get food caught in their mouth and choke to death. There's not a whole lot you can do to remove something from the mouth of a lion fish as I would not recommend grabbing hold of the fish to pull the food out (I've been jabbed by a lion and cried like a baby for 4+ hours with my hand in running icy water, most painful experience I have ever had, no lie).

[AndrewB]

Ghost shrimp. Nice and small (no choking), no disease on them and the lions love 'em! Plus they're a bit more nutritious than the goldfish and they'll survive long enough to be hunted and eaten in a marine tank.

 

BUT, get them on frozen food as soon as reasonably possible.

[mling]

Ghost shrimp. Nice and small (no choking), no disease on them and the lions love 'em! Plus they're a bit more nutritious than the goldfish and they'll survive long enough to be hunted and eaten in a marine tank.

 

BUT, get them on frozen food as soon as reasonably possible.

 

Where would be a good LFS to get Ghost shrimp ? I live in N. VA.

Any recommendation for dry food that can be put in a auto feeder. I am often away on long weekends.

[davelin315]

Where would be a good LFS to get Ghost shrimp ? I live in N. VA.

Any recommendation for dry food that can be put in a auto feeder. I am often away on long weekends.

 

It does not need to eat every single day and if it has a large meal would probably benefit from not eating every day. Personally, I would not recommend an auto feeder for this type of fish, too much risk involved with it not eating. I would closely monitor what it eats and when it eats and then feed based on that. If you have other fish in the system that will take care of the excess food, then go ahead and set up your auto feeder, otherwise just let it digest when you're away.

 

A fish that is as sensitive to ammonia and nitrite as a lion fish will succumb if your feeder goes awry or it decides not to eat the food that is presented, so just feed it before you leave and if you're gone for too long, get a fish sitter.

[lletellier]

I'm in fairfax, if you need someone to feed your fish and i'm in town i can do it no problem... may ask to return the favor later down the road

[Rascal]

Where would be a good LFS to get Ghost shrimp ? I live in N. VA.

 

 

They usually have them here: http://www.petland.com/findpetlandstores/V...fax/Fairfax.htm

[mling]

Ok well, I guess I won't need food for a Lion for a while -> it died yesterday :(

 

Only 2 days in my tank and 5 days since it arrived at the LSF. It looked fine until yesterday afternoon when I knew it was in trouble. Other fish, a Racoon is doing real well. Water parameters all fine.

 

Was this a case of this Lion not surving the trip from the wild, or was it sick in the first place ?

 

I am looking to replace it but now I wonder how long I should wait before knowing it will surive being captured. Would it being at the LFS for more than a week imply it survived the trip from the wild ?

[davelin315]

I would double check your tank levels again (the old "fine" means very little to most). As I said before, they are very sensitive to water quality and any ammonia or nitrite could cause it to kick the bucket. Lionfish are in general very hardy otherwise and can handle a lot (as evidenced by the fact that they are spreading out into areas where they should not be).