Lionfish feeding

[jcharrsn27]

Just picked up a 3" black volitan lionfish(awesome looking fish). He won't touch the mysis so I picked up some shrimp at the store and chopped up a few pieces that looked like they would fit inside his mouth easy. I put a piece on the end of a feeder stick and wiggled it in front of his face which he gobbled easily or so it seemed. The piece fit in his mouth but now he appears to be struggling to get it down. I am wondering what his chances are...Anybody out there accidently choked and/or obstructed a lionfish to death??

 

[Diamondsinthereef]

All of mine always seemed to either swallow it or spit it out. I fed mine silversides soaked in vitamins. I would chop them into small pieces and then soak and feed

 

[kingfisherfleshy]

"Hey man, this is a private residence!"

I have never had issues with lions getting their food down. They are pretty good at swallowing things whole.

Just make smaller peices.

Lions love market shrimp, so I am glad you have found that out already, great food to get them started feeding.

Most lions feed agressively to the point where they look like they are about to explode.

The dude abides man, the dude abides.

 

[Speg]

I've seen a lion try to eat a lion that was about the same size..it was just stuck in its mouth. Be careful to not make it too big..but generally they'll just let some of it hang out of their mouths and slowly work at it for a while.

 

[Reggie]

I was able to raise a lionfish from about 3-inches to about 10-inches when I had a fish-only tank and when I was younger. I fed it freshwater feeder fish.

 

[jcharrsn27]

He got the chunk down and appears to have a pretty serious beer gut at this point. Now just waiting for him to break it down and get it out. Any opinions as to how often he should eat??

 

[46gReef]

I have had an antennata lion for about a year & a half now, I got him when he was about 1.5", since then he's about doubled in size....1st off I would avoid feeding any feeder fish especially FW feeders, they aren't meant to be eaten by SW fish, but that's a whole nother discussion......as far as what to feed, high protein foods are what u need for carnivorous fish, the fact that he's already eating from a feeding stick & eating frozen/prepared food is a good thing, I feed my antennata, frozen plankton, clams, also haddock from the grocery store(haddock is 1 of the fish that does not contain thiaminase which can be harmful to predatory fish over extended periods of time), that I cut up in tiny pieces & soak in VitaChem which is a vitamin supplement, you should feed SMALL pieces & only feed enough so that you see a slight rounding of his belly, it's not good to feed huge pieces & make him look bloated, also don't feed every day, every 2-3 days is plenty......every once in awhile(every 2-3 weeks) I will feed hm about a half a cube of formula 2 which is an algea based diet just to cover my bases, I would recommend soaking his food in some type of vitamin supplemt though......hope this helps....

 

[gflat65]

I loved my lion... If it will fit in his mouth (and aided by massive suction), he'd try it. Mine ate flake food... I'd hold a big punch under water and squeeze the air out, then wiggle my hand and pull away from him, releasing the pinch. That was my between feeding snack. Krill and other larger shrimp type animals are good choices (mine ate krill out of my hand, too-don't try that unless you can live with a potential jab resulting in a painfully swollen arm-luckily I never got hit). I'd soak them in Selcon before feeding (still do this for all mass feedings).

They grow fast and anything that even looks like it might fit in his mouth will be tried;). I had a blue head wrasse with him for a few months. Then the blue head started showing signs of eye rot, so I pulled hm and treated him. When I tried to return him, the lion was excited;). I arranged the rockwork so that the lion couldn't get to the lower portion, and the wrasse did fine. Seeing the lion in full hunting mode was pretty cool. Watching him strike at the wrasse and seeing the wrasse on the other side of the tank an instand before the strike was nerve wracking, but interesting, nonetheless.