1 year old fuzzy dwarf not eating

[Soakem]

This last week or so my lion fish has no interest in eating at all. Im starting to get a little concerned and I wanted to see if you guys have any trick or tips into enticing them to eat.

The previous owner had him for 9 months and fed him mollies and guppies. When I first got him 3 months ago I stuck with the same foods until he got comfortable in the tank and then I switched over to live ghost shrimp slowly. He ate the ghost shrimp well for a good month and a half and then I decided to try feeding him frozen ghosties, which he loved as well. The last week though he has no interest in food at all. As ive been investigating more on the situation it seems that it sometimes happens with lionfish?? I tried getting him back on live mollies and still nothing. They swim right infront of where he's perched and has no reaction what so ever.

Any ideas on what I can do to get him to eat?

 

[jsker]

#reefsquad, some help please. @Lovemyreef2015

 

[HotRocks]

I was going to suggest guppies or ghosties. Looks like you have already been down that road.

Any symptoms of disease? Spots, infections, lethargy etc.?

@4FordFamily has a miles that eats the heck out of freeze dried krill, you could try that, although it's a long shot since the fish won't even eat live foods at the moment.

 

[4FordFamily]

If ghost shrimp don’t work I fear nothing will— that’s the secret sauce for these guys.

Have you tried offering them at different times of day? Some picky predators prefer to eat midday, just before lights out, in the dark (some puffers), or first thing in the morning when the lights come on.

 

[lion king]

First check all the usuals, even high nitrates have thrown my lions feeding schedule off, low temp also, I just had a heater fail on one of my tanks. Any new additions or change in the tank dynamics that could be giving him stress.

But sadly I see it very often around the year mark. Do you know if he had been treated with any meds. Previous copper treatment, extended treatment with antibiotics are 2 things that many time start to show up at a year or so. It seems as if they will be doing fine, then just stop eating, then you know the rest. I think the meds must play havoc with their internal organs. Even dwarf lions that were keep for an extended time from sources that run sub therapeutic levels of copper in their system, many times barely make it a year or so.

 

[Soakem]

If ghost shrimp don’t work I fear nothing will— that’s the secret sauce for these guys.

Have you tried offering them at different times of day? Some picky predators prefer to eat midday, just before lights out, in the dark (some puffers), or first thing in the morning when the lights come on.

As soon as the lid comes off the tank he would swim up to the top knowing I was about to drop a live fish in or feed him the frozen ghosties with tweezers. It was generally mid day or towards the end of the night I’d feed him. I’ll try early morning and see if he likes that.

Thank you!

 

[Soakem]

First check all the usuals, even high nitrates have thrown my lions feeding schedule off, low temp also, I just had a heater fail on one of my tanks. Any new additions or change in the tank dynamics that could be giving him stress.

But sadly I see it very often around the year mark. Do you know if he had been treated with any meds. Previous copper treatment, extended treatment with antibiotics are 2 things that many time start to show up at a year or so. It seems as if they will be doing fine, then just stop eating, then you know the rest. I think the meds must play havoc with their internal organs. Even dwarf lions that were keep for an extended time from sources that run sub therapeutic levels of copper in their system, many times barely make it a year or so.

Parameters are all in check. I did add a leopard wrasse to the tank a few weeks back. He didn’t seem stressed out by the addition though.

That’s a bummer hearing it’s a common thing around the year mark. I’ll keep trying and keep you posted.

Thanks!

 

[Soakem]

After 10 days of no food and multiple times of trying to get him to eat frozen ghosties, live ghosties, mollies, and guppies he finally ate a rosy red minnow last night! Im gonna try to give him the same fish for a few feedings and then switch back to the preferred mollies. It seems that it could have possibly been the stress from adding the leopard wrasse to the tank or maybe constipation?? Im not sure but im glad he ate some food and seems to be back to his normal self this morning.

Thank you all for the tips

 

[JDtimk]

I have had two dwarf fuzzy lionfish over the years, but i am no "expert" on them. I will share what I found from researching husbandry and noticed from experience. I think sometimes they can be fed too large of a meal or appropriate sized meals too often and risk having undigested portions of food begin to rot in their intestines, which can kill them if the blockage doesn't pass and they get an intestinal infection.
How big is your DFLF? How big are the meals you feed him, especially relative to his body size? How often do you feed him?
They will definitely beg for food no matter how well fed they are, but they digest their food and pass their waste relatively slowly. I often go two to three days between moderate sized meals for my dwarf fuzzy.

 

[JDtimk]

Oh, i also forgot to ask if you are sure that he didn't eat another inhabitant of your tank recently lol. That happened to me with my first fuzzy. He ate a large chromis relative to his size and didn't eat for almost a week lol. If i hadn't seen him do it, i might have wondered why he wasn't hungry.

 

[lion king]

How's he doing

 

[Soakem]

How's he doing

He’s doing great! Back to his normal eating habits. I haven’t transitioned back over to ghost shrimp yet but I’ll probably try and slowly reintroduce then to him within the next few weeks. I’ve been doing 1 mollie every 2-3 days and he gets them right away. He’s also more active and swimming around the tank as he was before.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

This has nothing to do with your post, but I wanted to say that's a awesome picture in your original post!

 

[Soakem]

This has nothing to do with your post, but I wanted to say that's a awesome picture in your original post!

Thank you! Being a photographer helps out a little bit. Haha. I love shooting photos of my tank. It’s a nice break from the stuff that I usually photogragh.

 

[lion king]

He’s doing great! Back to his normal eating habits. I haven’t transitioned back over to ghost shrimp yet but I’ll probably try and slowly reintroduce then to him within the next few weeks. I’ve been doing 1 mollie every 2-3 days and he gets them right away. He’s also more active and swimming around the tank as he was before.

Did you ever figure out what could have thrown him off. My old fu stopped taking dead and ghosties after years, she would then only take guppies and mollies, now she will take a ghosty when she doesnt have to move to much to catch them(haha). She's been with me over 7 years so I thought she might have had trouble seeing the ghosties, but just stopped and refuses to eat anything dead.