Lionfish Help

[Mario0240]

Yes waiting until Saturday sounds good, just feed smaller chunks and 1/2 sounds like a good gauge. You figure it's best to underfeed a little until you get a judge on how much you need to feed him.

What do you suggest feeding him?

 

[lion king]

Some of the foods I feed my volitan include shrimp, scallop, squid, octopus, and silversides. I found the frozen shrimp and scallop at walmart to be as good as any. An asian market is a good place to get silversides(also called smelt, a 2lb bag for $7). These squid rings that are easy to cut into cubes I also find at the asian market. Get a bag of each and it will likely last a year for one lion. You can also feed chunks of salmon and tuna. Just pick a few things to rotate around in his feedings, variety is likely good to keep his interest as well as nutritional balance. While I don't enhance my foods as much as I should, the use of efa's such as selcon or Brightwell aminomega is a good adddition. The multivit from Brightwell is also good.

 

[Mario0240]

So I don’t have an Asian market around here but my LFS did have som silversides for me. I also have some shrimp in the freezer for him as well.

I’ve gotta ask; what’s your opinion in the occasional goldfish?

 

[lion king]

So I don’t have an Asian market around here but my LFS did have som silversides for me. I also have some shrimp in the freezer for him as well.

I’ve gotta ask; what’s your opinion in the occasional goldfish?

I don't care to feed goldfish, if you wanted to spoil him, you could give him a molly. Since volitans are easy to maintain on a dead diet, it is sometimes not wise to get him eating live food. It makes it a safer environment for any future tank mates if he doesn't have the taste of the hunt. Over time being fed a dead diet he would not put in the effort to stalk and chase down one of his tank mates. I only mention because of the size of your tank you may put in a fish that might be borderline. If you did want to feed him something live for the thrill of the hunt I understand, and again would recommend a molly over a goldfish.

I recommended the smelt(silversides) at the asian market because it would save you a ton of money. Silversides is definitely something you want in the lineup, the bones and guts and stuff is good stuff. I cut them in half for my lion, maybe even 1/3s for yours.

 

[Mario0240]

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you.

So maybe a 1/3 every other day?

 

[lion king]

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you.

So maybe a 1/3 every other day?

No he'll likely eat more than a 1/3 of a silverside, that's the size I would cut them into maybe 1/4. You want to make chunks but not so large as to overfeed on the last piece. It's hard to judge a size and appetite through the internet. But if you cut the chunks into something more bite size, he'll let you know when he's full. Mine can put down 4 silversides at a meal, and the ones I get are substantially larger than at the lfs

 

[Mario0240]

Ok I got you. The ones I got are maybe 2” long.
So cut those into 1/3 or 1/4 and just feed accordingly.

 

[lion king]

Ok I got you. The ones I got are maybe 2” long.
So cut those into 1/3 or 1/4 and just feed accordingly.

Yes, he could likely put down the whole piece at once, but then it would be risky to over feed again. I think feeding smaller chunks also conditions him to not try and swallow a larger tank mate. Ive seen people feeding huge pieces whole silversides and whole large shrimp, these I've seen kill their fish to bloat and heard of tankmates being eaten. There may be a connection.

 

[Mario0240]

That’s a very likely theory. I’d love to condition him to not eat tank mates.

Maybe we can out this to a test one day, if there’s not someone who hasn’t done so already.

His previous owner would feed him half every other day but they were probably 3-4” long silversides and allowed him a goldfish hunt from time to time. He’d be the prime candidate to pit this theory to the test.

 

[Mario0240]

Uggghhhh.... I’m pretty sure I overfed him again. I quartered up 2 silver sides for him and he gobbled up the quarters and turned his nose up to another piece I was trying to give to my haddoni... and now he’s bloated again.

 

[lion king]

A little bulge in the belly is fine, and actually to be desired. In the wild the would gorge, likely over eat; but then would likely go much further between feedings that we allow. As much as I try I can't help but to likely overfeed my fish, everyone is fat and seem to be happy.

As far as the likelihood of eating tank mates, is has already been kind of proven. When a lion 1st comes into captivity, he will eat anything he can get down. This is when many mishaps happens and how they get their reputation. The stories you hear usually come from new additions to a tank, while they still have such a strong natural hunting response. Although there is no quarantee and don't be surprised if a fish lives happily for a while, and then one day is gone. But after feeding a dead only for a while, they do seem to be less likely to hunt down tank mates. I've seen volitans living long term with fish they could theoretically eat, but for some reason don;t. My lions eat live food, anything that goes in their tank that they can put down, is toast, no exceptions.

 

[Mario0240]

You don’t think that’s too much? He’s hiding again and mouth breathing...

 

[lion king]

Yeah that;s too much, here's an example a bit more to what's safe.

in line to

 

[Mario0240]

Great... hope he makes it, again.

If he pulls through, I’m just gonna feed him 1 silverside at a time. And that’s it.

 

[Mario0240]

So I’ve been checking on my dude all day, worried I’m gonna lose him, and noticed he’s more bloated on one side than he is the other.. I feel like this is not going to end well. [emoji20]

 

[Mario0240]

This may come as a dumb question because to me it is, but I feel the need to ask anyways. Can a fish swallow air? And if so, can this affect a lionfish? He’s got like a double bubble in his belly that’s got one side more swollen than the other side. When he was eating he was taking pieces floating on the surface and maybe he swallowed some air? I’m not sure but he seems to be ok. No worse than last time at least.

He’s also chasing around brittle starts and copepods that are floating around the tank..

 

[lion king]

This may come as a dumb question because to me it is, but I feel the need to ask anyways. Can a fish swallow air? And if so, can this affect a lionfish? He’s got like a double bubble in his belly that’s got one side more swollen than the other side. When he was eating he was taking pieces floating on the surface and maybe he swallowed some air? I’m not sure but he seems to be ok. No worse than last time at least.

He’s also chasing around brittle starts and copepods that are floating around the tank..

While some fish, like anglers and puffers, swallowing air can be detrimental; lionfish have not been known to be affected. One of the detriments to over feedings and feeding food items too large, is that the food literally rots in the gut before being fully digested and passed, which causes gas. Overfeeding also twist the gut again causing a blockage. While not really recognized I have found proper levels of magnesium to be beneficial to digestion. In a fowlr we usually don't test and dose magnesium, but in predator tanks it can be a good thing to keep mg over 1200 and up to 1400ppm. Although I can not 100% attribute dosing my tanks to a proper level of mg to be the cure. I have done so with lions and anglers with mild cases of bloat, and it appeared to alleviate it. I also managed a prolapsed rectum on a lion by boosting the mg.

 

[Mario0240]

Well, it definitely sounds like I’m gonna start looking into that! I do have some soft corals in the tank. Would the mg levels affect those in any negative form at all?

 

[lion king]

Well, it definitely sounds like I’m gonna start looking into that! I do have some soft corals in the tank. Would the mg levels affect those in any negative form at all?

Soft corals are much forgiving and most that keep them dont concern themselves with dosing. But a reef tank can benefit by at least maintaining the big 3; ca, alk, and mg. Check out the reef diacussion for more info.

 

[Mario0240]

Well, I think he’s getting over it. I’m pretty sure he’s vomited everything out of himself. I keep seeing floating bits of white stuff being circulated around the tank and his belly isn’t nearly as bloated. Like almost down to normal size now.