How often should I be feeding my lionfish?
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Lionfish Lair
Renee
FeliciaLynn
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Because in nature, predators do not eat every day. This isn't just predator fish, but other predators as well. They expend the energy to eat and then recover for a bit generally. Yes they would eat every day of the opportunity presented itself, but that's not generally how it works. Feeding them every single day in an aquarium doesn't mimic how they would eat in nature.
FeliciaLynn
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"After being weaned onto prepared foods, these fish often learn to beg for food. Try to avoid the temptation to overfeed. Lionfish are gluttonous and, if fed continuously, will grow too quickly (possibly resulting in health issues and a shortened life span) and generate undesirable amounts of waste in the tank water.
It is important not to offer a lionfish large prey items, or large chunks of food, as reports have suggested that lionfish have been killed by food rotting in their gastrointestinal (GI) tract. According to Michaels (1998), lionfish will occasionally kill themselves due to overeating. While I have not experienced this, I have found that lionfish will eat to the point of regurgitation, and even this sign of overeating should be avoided. Problems with overeating can be avoided by offering multiple smaller food items, rather than one large one. In fact, if a lionfish is given the choice between a large fish and many small ones, it will normally choose to eat the smaller fish first. In the wild, a lionfish will consume from 1 to 11 small to medium-sized prey items per feeding, then retire to a hiding spot to digest the food for a day or so, and repeat this process. Therefore, I would recommend feeding lionfish to the point of seeing a small bulge in their abdomen two to three times weekly. I also recommend starving lionfish for a few days to accurately recreate their natural dietary intake and, in fact. a 3-feedings/week schedule is sufficient to ensure proper growth." - Frank Marini, PhD
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/
It is important not to offer a lionfish large prey items, or large chunks of food, as reports have suggested that lionfish have been killed by food rotting in their gastrointestinal (GI) tract. According to Michaels (1998), lionfish will occasionally kill themselves due to overeating. While I have not experienced this, I have found that lionfish will eat to the point of regurgitation, and even this sign of overeating should be avoided. Problems with overeating can be avoided by offering multiple smaller food items, rather than one large one. In fact, if a lionfish is given the choice between a large fish and many small ones, it will normally choose to eat the smaller fish first. In the wild, a lionfish will consume from 1 to 11 small to medium-sized prey items per feeding, then retire to a hiding spot to digest the food for a day or so, and repeat this process. Therefore, I would recommend feeding lionfish to the point of seeing a small bulge in their abdomen two to three times weekly. I also recommend starving lionfish for a few days to accurately recreate their natural dietary intake and, in fact. a 3-feedings/week schedule is sufficient to ensure proper growth." - Frank Marini, PhD
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/
Terry Schrenk
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My Fuzzy comes to the front of the tank when he is hungry. I feed him frozen krill and pieces of clam, that he will take from my fingers. Then he goes back and hangs out in the rocks till hungry again. He is on the small young side right now and usually eats each morning. Which is why I came to this site to see if this was to much food. My Fuzzy started eating frozen krill 1st day I had him, no problems there. He also leaves my peppermint , scarlet and fire shrimp alone. (for now). Stay away from live food or your lion will never eat frozen.
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