Fumanchu Lion - Live feeding

Dr4gula.f32 · Mar 24, 2023

What's the procedure here? My Fumanchu is pretty dang shy and only comes out when the lights go out. Whenever the lights are on, he is hanging upside down in his cave.

The first go 'round I dumped a few guppies in the tank which were immediately sucked into the AI Nero 3, became incapacitated and the bananafish (whiptail bream) ate them up. I've since rehomed him earlier this week as my tank is too small for his full size anyway (jbj65).

2nd go 'round I dumped a few black mollies in there. They mostly just get stuck to the overflow weir. One has been stuck there 3 days now still alive.

The current is too strong for them, and the fumanchu doesnt come out when I'm awake. So how should I go about this? Do I need to turn off the return pump for a few hours at night? I have an Apex EL, but no COR, so I'd need to turn it off completely as well as the Nero's.

So any tips on making the guppies and mollies more active for the lion?

THanks

lion king · Mar 24, 2023

Yes you can turn the pumps off, feeding is literally going to a few minutes once you are accustomed. Also try ghost shrimp, fish are a little trickier but both guppies and mollies willive in salt water. I use a clear rigid airline tubing from the lfs to herd the prey towards the fish I am trying to feed. Only dump a couple/few at a time, you don't want them going off and dying under a rock or something. If you've gotten his attention with the live food and he doesn't respond, there may be other issues going on like internal parasites.

Dr4gula.f32 · Mar 27, 2023

I found a bunch of ghost shrimp at my LFS. Already accimated to SW so I dumped them in the tank and now they're doing normal shrimp things, just shrimpin' about. Numbers don't appear to be declining

I also got a bunch of cull guppies now living on the kitchen counter! I haven't dumped any of them in the tank yet. Fu still hides when the lights are on. Only time I see him is when it's dark and I have the penlight. Then he's out front on the rocks and not upside down in this cave.

I wish he wasn't so shy.

Also...Neon Dottybach-MIA 5 days now lol. Sunrise Dottyback-Noticable chomp on his left side. Eating normally amd acting fine. Springer Dottyback-no issues. The rest of the fish in the tank are much bigger and not able to be eaten by the Fu

lion king · Mar 27, 2023

Still concern for no noticeable aggressive feeding response. Lions don't chomp, they suck down and eat whole. While a missing small fish could be in the fu's belly, he could also be missing for other reasons. These fish usually come in starving and should pounce, whether lights on or not. You should have seen him react to the ghost shrimp and guppies as well as any small fish he could eat. I have literally dropped ghost shrimp into shipping bags while floating and a healthy lion will eat them. It's so common, when a lion doesn't eat appropriate live food offerings, internal parasites is a concern. This concern must be addressed right away or it will too late.

Dr4gula.f32 · Mar 27, 2023

lion king said:
Still concern for no noticeable aggressive feeding response. Lions don't chomp, they suck down and eat whole. While a missing small fish could be in the fu's belly, he could also be missing for other reasons. These fish usually come in starving and should pounce, whether lights on or not. You should have seen him react to the ghost shrimp and guppies as well as any small fish he could eat. I have literally dropped ghost shrimp into shipping bags while floating and a healthy lion will eat them. It's so common, when a lion doesn't eat appropriate live food offerings, internal parasites is a concern. This concern must be addressed right away or it will too late.

I can't say for sure he isn't aggressively feeding. This is video I got of him a few days ago. He seems to have a fully stomach. I see a little bulge. This video was 6 days ago about 7pm. The earliest I'd ever seen it out of the cave on the rockwork

New video by Jason A

photos.app.goo.gl

lion king · Mar 27, 2023

I think I do see a bulge in his stomach so maybe he has been eating. I do see a chomp out his pectoral fin, so there is someone nipping, unless he had that when you got him.

Dr4gula.f32 · Mar 27, 2023

There was a banana-fish/whiptail bream in the tank. He was eating all the first round molly/guppys I tossed in the tank. Also, my JBJ65 can't house it for it's whole life cycle, so I gave him back to the store I got him from this passed weekend. When I saw the nip, I tossed him into the QT tank. It's the only other fish in the tank that was big enough and aggressive enough

Mjl714 · Mar 27, 2023

The fu is very cool looking. I agree, belly looks pretty full. Goodluck.

lion king · Mar 27, 2023

I was more focused on him eating, but I see you were more interested in him becoming more outgoing. Well, that;s an individual thing. I had one fu that would swim and swim all day long, when this 1st started happening, I thought he was going to die. While they do swim, this was out of the norm, she lived with me for almost 9 years. She didn't start out that way, likely took a couple of years for her to really shine. I've had fu's be more shy, in the caves during the day and out alot after the whites go out. I've had multiples of every type of lion, they are all different, just when I think I can categorize one a certain way, then the next one is completely different. My last antennata was a beast, always out and about, one of the active lions I ever had. My current antennata is always on the backside of the cliffs and only comes out at night. In general, they are nocturnal and will perch more than swim. They will definitely tuck away more in really high light, high flow, and smaller tanks.

bobnicaragua · Mar 27, 2023

I had a fu years ago, I primarily fed him little dried shrimp out of a can, he wouldn’t eat any of the frozen foods I tried.

He was a little too friendly and would hang out right by my hand when I was working in the tank. I never got stung.

Mjl714 · Mar 29, 2023

How’s the Fu?

Dr4gula.f32 · Mar 29, 2023

Mjl714 said:
How’s the Fu?

Doing good. Still daylight-shy but he's always out when I wake up in the morning. Another observation....the ghost shrimp do their shrimpy things during the day, lights on. But when it's lights off, they are all huddled together at one or both weir overflows. I'm assuming they are scared to be on the rockwork when the Fu is doing its thing.

I was on a month long journey for the centerpiece fish and I'm really happy this is how it turned out. Even if I can't see him during the day it's still a great fish to see on the rocks.

Mjl714 · Mar 29, 2023

Excellent, glad to hear it is doing well.

Dr4gula.f32 · Apr 3, 2023

My Fu is still doing well. He is SLOWLY becoming less daylight shy. I see him out sometimes at 'dusk' now.

This weekend I bought a green BTA. When I got it home I realized it was a massive mistake. This thing has to be 6 inches in diameter when he's shrunken up. Anyway I placed him on top of a rock and it immediately said F this I'm moving in with the FU in his cave.

Fu got evicted, so he's visible a bit more.

Cave looks awesome the GBTA is hanging upside down from the roof so its like theres green slimy stalactites flowing in the current. Also, within SECONDS, my maroon lighting clown moved into the GBTA. Literal seconds. As I was lowering it into the water the clown was scoping it out.

Dr4gula.f32 · Apr 17, 2023

Sunrise Dottyback down! I bought 100 SW ghost shrimp this week. I've been dumping a bunch in every few days. The yellow coris wrasse loves them. The clownfish can't catch them himself, so he rips them from the wrasses mouth.

Fu still seems healthy. Still daylight shy, but comes out at dusk.

Dr4gula.f32 · Jun 4, 2023

Today I added a dwarf fuzzy lionfish to the tank. The had 2, one had deep red stripes, and one had black stripes. I chose the red one. He's temp acclimating right now and then a drip in about an hour.

Any tips for this new guy