LionFish Fading between feedings

[LionFishLover07]

Hi, I am new to this website! I am a kid that loves lion fish (as you can tell by my name). I have a question that I have been dying to ask. And since this website is full of people that work with aquariums, I figured that you people could answer it! So, I have a dwarf fuzzy lion fish that has a bright red color. His name is Arson. I love him, but I have noticed that his color fades between feedings. When I see him hanging out in the corner of the tank looking very pale, I imminently feed him some Mysis shrimp. When I start feeding him, his color returns and he is very happy. I don't know if I should be worried about this. I f anyone has an answer to why this keeps happening, please explain it to me. Thank you!

 

[helen ann]

Hello!


Let me see if I can get you some help #reefsquad

 

[cameronh]

How long have you had him?

 

[LionFishLover07]

I have had Arson for about 2 months. The fish store that I got him from quarantine their fish with medication before putting them up for sale. I did tank transfer method on him when he came home with me before putting him into my tank.

 

[Brew12]

Hi, I am new to this website! I am a kid that loves lion fish (as you can tell by my name). I have a question that I have been dying to ask. And since this website is full of people that work with aquariums, I figured that you people could answer it! So, I have a dwarf fuzzy lion fish that has a bright red color. His name is Arson. I love him, but I have noticed that his color fades between feedings. When I see him hanging out in the corner of the tank looking very pale, I imminently feed him some Mysis shrimp. When I start feeding him, his color returns and he is very happy. I don't know if I should be worried about this. I f anyone has an answer to why this keeps happening, please explain it to me. Thank you!

I've heard of this happening if either the aquarium is too small or doesn't offer enough hiding spots. They really don't like bright lights so need caves or at least overhangs to hide in when they are not feeding.

 

[LionFishLover07]

I've heard of this happening if either the aquarium is too small or doesn't offer enough hiding spots. They really don't like bright lights so need caves or at least overhangs to hide in when they are not feeding.

This is what my tank looks like. Anything wrong with it?

 

[Brew12]

This is what my tank looks like. Anything wrong with it?

Not that I can see, looks nice! He should be able to find some spots out of the main light fairly easily.

 

[LionFishLover07]

Thank you so much for your help! I'm glad I don't need to worry.

 

[Joey waid]

The good news he's eating... I have fish that change color all the time depending on their mood or if they are scared. Chances are he's ok. The biggest thing to me is if it eats. I really would try to make a better cave area too...

 

[rayn]

What size tank is that? It may be to small in the long run, but your fuzzy doesn't look to big yet.

Their colors can come and go, and it sounds like he is interacting with you. There a chance of mixing up the diet at all?

Honestly I wouldn't worry much at this point unless you start seeing issues.

 

[LionFishLover07]

What size tank is that? It may be to small in the long run, but your fuzzy doesn't look to big yet.

Their colors can come and go, and it sounds like he is interacting with you. There a chance of mixing up the diet at all?

Honestly I wouldn't worry much at this point unless you start seeing issues.

I'm not so sure about the size. But I went from ghost shrimp, to Mysis shrimp. I will be going back to the ghost shrimp next week because I will get some more at the pet store.

 

[lion king]

I feed my lions every 2-3 days,mostly 2 I like to feed them. I've had some of my lions for 4 years and I feed them live. I feed them until I see a nice little bulge in their bellies. When some people start feeding them dead food they under feed them, regular mysis is pretty small and would take quite alot to satisfy him; pe mysis or jumbo mysis would be a bit more substantial. I keep a small tank with ghosties that I gut load with marine pellets, then I let them absorb some brightwell aminomega in the feeding container before I feed them to the lions. It would be great if you fed him a combo of live and dead, I think they need the live food if not just for their enrichment.

 

[LionFishLover07]

I feed my lions every 2-3 days,mostly 2 I like to feed them. I've had some of my lions for 4 years and I feed them live. I feed them until I see a nice little bulge in their bellies. When some people start feeding them dead food they under feed them, regular mysis is pretty small and would take quite alot to satisfy him; pe mysis or jumbo mysis would be a bit more substantial. I keep a small tank with ghosties that I gut load with marine pellets, then I let them absorb some brightwell aminomega in the feeding container before I feed them to the lions. It would be great if you fed him a combo of live and dead, I think they need the live food if not just for their enrichment.

That is what I have been doing with the ghost shrimp. I keep them in a bucket and gut load them before I feed them to Arson. This week I have only been feeding him Mysis because I couldn't go to the store. And I had a lion fish named Odina that died a while ago because of that problem. My very first lion fish I got was in 2014. He lived a very long life. I used to take a dead shrimp and wave it around on a stick to make him think it was alive. I don't do that anymore.

 

[Chrisfish]

Welcome to R2R you've come to a great place. There are are 2 members that I can think of right now and I'm sure there are more but @FeliciaLynn and @Lionfish Lair both have multiple threads of their love of lion fish and their tanks. I hope Arson is and stays healthy, they are awesome fish. Please keep us posted.

 

[rayn]

Why don't you feed dead anymore? The stealth stick is a awesome way to feed a varied diet.

 

[melypr1985]

Welcome to R2R! We are glad to have you here! I'm not sure why this happens, but I've seen it myself. I always attributed it to a predatory response. The same way that they "flare" up when stalking their food. I've seen them flare out their fins and the color darken at the same time.

 

[jsker]

Welcome to R2R, I am not a lion expert, and just commenting that my file fish does the same thing. Pale most of the time but when it is feeding time his color really perks up.

 

[LionFishLover07]

Why don't you feed dead anymore? The stealth stick is a awesome way to feed a varied diet.

I have read that that feed him frozen krill wasn't very healthy long term. I did feed him some ghost shrimp, and I froze some, but I'm not so sure about that method. I will be seitching up the method once in a while. Maybe I will try that trick again.

 

[eatbreakfast]

The color changing is fairly normal.

Just like with most other things, a varied diet is best for overall health. Feeding just one food source can lead to deficiencies.

 

[rayn]

I have read that that feed him frozen krill wasn't very healthy long term. I did feed him some ghost shrimp, and I froze some, but I'm not so sure about that method. I will be seitching up the method once in a while. Maybe I will try that trick again.

Krill isn't the best for them, but every once and a while won't hurt. You can try silversides, shrimp, anything big enough really. Once they learn you as the feeder they will pretty much take anything from you.