I picked up a Fu Manchu lionfish from my lfs a little more than a week ago. He's been eating live ghost shrimp (gutloaded with spirulina pellets) from the first day I got him and is doing quite well in my coralife biocube 29. He's been taking the shrimp from tongs, and I'm going to try and feed him a fresh killed one tonight. If I can get him onto frozen food which I think I should be able to, I'll likely go to the Asian market and try and find some small whole saltwater shrimp or fish or something like that, since I hate breaking apart those little cubes of mysis. I was also thinking about squid if that is a good option. I've been feeding him 1-3 (depending on size) ghost shrimp every 2 or 3 days, and I was wondering if this is considered an appropriate amount. He's fairly small, only 2" so I don't know if I should be feeding him more to help him grow. His only non-invertebrate tankmates are two mollies, which are far too big for him to eat but I've seen him take a swing at them when they pass him in his little overhang. He also flares up his fins when they do this though, so I don't know if this is defensive rather than predatory in nature. I'm probably going to take the mollies out, as they poop constantly and were only put in there so I could make sure the tank could support fish before putting a $70 lion in it and also just to have some movement in there while I was waiting. I'm trying to decide if I should get another fish or two in there after I get them out. My main concern is just overloading the filtration, which I need to add more of, as I already have some algae problems. I was thinking of maybe a leaf fish, or an orangebanded stingfish if I can somehow track one down. The only coral I have in there at the moment is a little mushroom. I think I'm going to do different types of macroalgae, like halymenia and blue hypnea. I also want to get some lps and maybe some rock flower and tube nems but I'm worried about the lion being stung. I had a tube anemone in my tank before I broke it down and it was a perfect customer, but since lions don't have scales I'd be a little worried about it getting stung. Also I'm just running chemipure elite, sponge, and poly filter in the back chambers, does anyone have any other recommendations for filtration? (besides a skimmer, they always get messed up in my tank) anyway, any advice is appreciated! (also the fu has kind of a weirdly shaped mouth but it doesn't stop him from eating)
Fu Manchu Advice (Feeding/Tankmates)
- Thread starter zonatus
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Your feeding schedule sounds good, you want to see a nice little bulge in his belly. Not a huge bulge, overfeeding can sometimes be deadly. Feeding fresh frozen dead ghosties is the 1st step, if he's taking from tongs already you're doing bang up. At 1st you'll want to offer dead food that look alive, eventually any kind of meaty chunks of food will be good. you'll want to cut up bite size chunks. I go to Ranch Market(our local asian market), in their frozen sections there's krill or tiny shrimp as they call them, they break apart whole and look like the raw shrimp from the market. There's also silverfish from the frozen section, a bit harder to break apart, but you can get whole fish pieces.
An algae reactor is the best thing I added to my bc29 for filtration. https://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMaxx_Algae_Reactor_Package_-AquaMaxx-UJ5355-FIFRAS-vi.html
An algae reactor is the best thing I added to my bc29 for filtration. https://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMaxx_Algae_Reactor_Package_-AquaMaxx-UJ5355-FIFRAS-vi.html
Decat
Community Member
Quick question about adding a Fu Manchu to my quarantine:
I have 2 different sections in my quarantine and I do not know which one to add my incoming Fu Macnchu into. My main concern is in the bigger section of my quarantine tank I have a 6" Humu Triggerfish. What are the chances that the Trigger bothers the Lionfish? The Lionfish should be 2.5-3" or so. Thoughts? I can easily put him in the smaller section of my quarantine, but I would prefer to put him in the larger section if you all think the Humu will leave him alone. Thanks.
I have 2 different sections in my quarantine and I do not know which one to add my incoming Fu Macnchu into. My main concern is in the bigger section of my quarantine tank I have a 6" Humu Triggerfish. What are the chances that the Trigger bothers the Lionfish? The Lionfish should be 2.5-3" or so. Thoughts? I can easily put him in the smaller section of my quarantine, but I would prefer to put him in the larger section if you all think the Humu will leave him alone. Thanks.
Kjreefer
New Member
How is you Fu Manchu doing? I'm getting one next week. Any tips would be helpful.I picked up a Fu Manchu lionfish from my lfs a little more than a week ago. He's been eating live ghost shrimp (gutloaded with spirulina pellets) from the first day I got him and is doing quite well in my coralife biocube 29. He's been taking the shrimp from tongs, and I'm going to try and feed him a fresh killed one tonight. If I can get him onto frozen food which I think I should be able to, I'll likely go to the Asian market and try and find some small whole saltwater shrimp or fish or something like that, since I hate breaking apart those little cubes of mysis. I was also thinking about squid if that is a good option. I've been feeding him 1-3 (depending on size) ghost shrimp every 2 or 3 days, and I was wondering if this is considered an appropriate amount. He's fairly small, only 2" so I don't know if I should be feeding him more to help him grow. His only non-invertebrate tankmates are two mollies, which are far too big for him to eat but I've seen him take a swing at them when they pass him in his little overhang. He also flares up his fins when they do this though, so I don't know if this is defensive rather than predatory in nature. I'm probably going to take the mollies out, as they poop constantly and were only put in there so I could make sure the tank could support fish before putting a $70 lion in it and also just to have some movement in there while I was waiting. I'm trying to decide if I should get another fish or two in there after I get them out. My main concern is just overloading the filtration, which I need to add more of, as I already have some algae problems. I was thinking of maybe a leaf fish, or an orangebanded stingfish if I can somehow track one down. The only coral I have in there at the moment is a little mushroom. I think I'm going to do different types of macroalgae, like halymenia and blue hypnea. I also want to get some lps and maybe some rock flower and tube nems but I'm worried about the lion being stung. I had a tube anemone in my tank before I broke it down and it was a perfect customer, but since lions don't have scales I'd be a little worried about it getting stung. Also I'm just running chemipure elite, sponge, and poly filter in the back chambers, does anyone have any other recommendations for filtration? (besides a skimmer, they always get messed up in my tank) anyway, any advice is appreciated! (also the fu has kind of a weirdly shaped mouth but it doesn't stop him from eating)
Plan to feed live food so secure your source of ghosties, guppies, and mollies. They may be the toughest to convert to dead, and if they do they are usually very picky and will eventually refuse. A dead only diet rarely works long term. Dont start them out in a super warm tank, they can acclimate up to warmer temps but likely prefer temps around 75-76 to start. One of my fu lives in 80.6 during the summer, while the other lives in 73.4 with a blackfoot.
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