Lionfish showoff

[jgvergo]

That fuzzy you had is goals! I will start to plan an upgrade to a 120g and will consider a 2nd Lionfish if I find the right one. Truly in love with these fishes and their personality so I tap my tank on the top 2 times with the Tongs I used to feed him and he replies right away he’s getting used to “that’s food” feels like a pet dog how he’s starting to beg for food I bet can eat for ever if I keep feeding him lol thought that with my high flow in my tank he would not swim often my first lionfish never used to pass a powerhead that was his home:( but this fuzzy swims everywhere and loves the camera.

Just a few pics to keep in this thread.

What kind of mushroom is on the bottom of the picture?

 

[Oshengems]

What kind of mushroom is on the bottom of the picture?

Those are orange and green Rhodactis mushrooms

 

[jgvergo]

Those are orange and green Rhodactis mushrooms

Beautiful!

 

[Waters]

My dwarf lion in my SPS semi-predator reef. He shockingly eats mysis and pellet food along with the rest of my fish.

 

[PacsAdmin77]

Just got this 3.5” yellow fuzzy from iBluewater. However, I would like some advice on feeding it. The fuzzy came with a few small guppies (less than 1/2”) to get it eating and I can confirm that it ate 1 feeder (maybe more) on Day 1 of QT. However, on Day 2, I dropped a couple of larger minnows (about 1”) in but the fuzzy just ignored them. Is it not hungry or is there a trick to get it to eat live food?

 

[lion king]

Just got this 3.5” yellow fuzzy from iBluewater. However, I would like some advice on feeding it. The fuzzy came with a few small guppies (less than 1/2”) to get it eating and I can confirm that it ate 1 feeder (maybe more) on Day 1 of QT. However, on Day 2, I dropped a couple of larger minnows (about 1”) in but the fuzzy just ignored them. Is it not hungry or is there a trick to get it to eat live food?

He looks good good from what I can tell, maybe a little thin, a well fed fuzzy is usually a little stocky. I believe iBluewater does some type of qt, so I believe he is likely free of internal parasites.

He is likely just used to eating something smaller than the minnows you are trying to feed. Even though they could likely easily eat them, they can get imtimidated. I would try guppies and ghost shrimp, and try and keep thd ghosties on the smaller side. I shy away from feeding minnows, as I had a fuzzy die of bloat after them once.

 

[najer]

Just got this 3.5” yellow fuzzy from iBluewater. However, I would like some advice on feeding it. The fuzzy came with a few small guppies (less than 1/2”) to get it eating and I can confirm that it ate 1 feeder (maybe more) on Day 1 of QT. However, on Day 2, I dropped a couple of larger minnows (about 1”) in but the fuzzy just ignored them. Is it not hungry or is there a trick to get it to eat live food?

Sorry, I can't be doing with live feeding except possibly shrimp, large frozen mysis, mine is hand fed, if it is happy and healthy, IMO, they will eat most things!
Mine also eats algae flake. :)

 

[PacsAdmin77]

He looks good good from what I can tell, maybe a little thin, a well fed fuzzy is usually a little stocky. I believe iBluewater does some type of qt, so I believe he is likely free of internal parasites.

He is likely just used to eating something smaller than the minnows you are trying to feed. Even though they could likely easily eat them, they can get imtimidated. I would try guppies and ghost shrimp, and try and keep thd ghosties on the smaller side. I shy away from feeding minnows, as I had a fuzzy die of bloat after them once.

Thanks for the advice, good sir. I’ve tried looking for ghost shrimp at several PetSmart stores but they’re hard to come by. None of non-chain LFS carry them either. Anyone know a good source for ghost shrimp?

 

[lion king]

You can get a variety of live feeding options here, including ghosties. It's expensive though because of shipping. If you are feeding more than one it may be worth it. Or set up a small tank, 10g or so with a sponge filter until you get him eating other foods. Fuzzies tend to be mostly acceptable to eating dead food, and can be kept successfully long term if fed sufficiently, don't expect him to catch mysis and such from the water column and sustain long term. You'll need to target feed him chunky meaty items with a feeding stick or training him to take the chunks as you drop them in the tank, he won't take food lying still on the substrate. https://www.livebrineshrimp.com/

 

[PacsAdmin77]

You can get a variety of live feeding options here, including ghosties. It's expensive though because of shipping. If you are feeding more than one it may be worth it. Or set up a small tank, 10g or so with a sponge filter until you get him eating other foods. Fuzzies tend to be mostly acceptable to eating dead food, and can be kept successfully long term if fed sufficiently, don't expect him to catch mysis and such from the water column and sustain long term. You'll need to target feed him chunky meaty items with a feeding stick or training him to take the chunks as you drop them in the tank, he won't take food lying still on the substrate. https://www.livebrineshrimp.com/

Wow, thanks @lion king for the hook-up. The fuzzy is already in a 10g QT with HOB sponge filter. Between marine shrimp and ghost shrimp, which would you recommend for smaller size and better nutrition? From their SS, they appear to be same size? Also, as a complete novice to lion care, I’d appreciate a step by step feeding guide for lionfish if anyone has one. Gratitude for any assistance offered.

 

[lion king]

Thanks for the advice, good sir. I’ve tried looking for ghost shrimp at several PetSmart stores but they’re hard to come by. None of non-chain LFS carry them either. Anyone know a good source for ghost shrimp?

As much as some will try and argue that feeding fresh water fare is not nutritious, bull feathers, all that have argued with me on that point, can't keep a dwarf lion alive more than a few months to a year. I've kept fuzzies on guppies, mollies, and ghosties for as long as 10 years; my current longest resident is a fu manchu for over 7 years, I have 2, very few can keep them alive at all. Ghosties have shells and guts, guppies have bones and guts, your food is only as nutritious as you feed them.

A fresh water feeding tank is easier, less expensive, and very unlikely possible to transfer any diseases; and you'll be able to acquire foods locally. Set up a 10g or even a small container of sorts with a simple sponge filter set up. Petsmart does get ghosties, you just have to catch them delivery days because they sell out fast. regular feeder guppies are also good, I get fancy guppies for mine when they are on sale; some of my bad boys are 7". Feed you feeders with a marine food and pellet food for gut loading, I use OmegaOne micro pellets. Dose the feeder tank with your choice of vitamins, I using chemivit. When you pull feeders for the day's feeding, dose the container with Brightwell aminomega or selcon along with choice multi-vits; give it 15min or so.

I keep my tanks wild, predator zones, mostly feeding live; so i am not the best person to talk to about feeding dead foods. But the fuzzy does have a good track record for eating dead food and living longterm, but 1st of all as I stated above, they will not sustain if you expect them to eat stuff like mysis, etc from the water column. First feed fresh dead ghosties or guppies, it's easy enough to fool them just by dropping them in as usual. It won't take long before he will be swimming to top to beg for food, target drop the dead food for him to catch it while being suspended in the water column. There's a krill that I get from the asian market, we have Ranch Markets out here if you have that one, they are whole and not pink like at the lfs, this stuff fools them easily. After that try other dead stuff, I also get this stuff called silver fish from the asian market. Chunks of shrimp, scallop, squid, cut up bits of silversides, After that it's all hit or miss.

 

[fermentedhiker]

The issue with feeding freshwater fish being bad is only half true. It's specifically cyprinids that should be avoided (goldfish and minnows etc). Live-bearers and cichlid fry are perfectly fine especially if guy loaded.

 

[PacsAdmin77]

The issue with feeding freshwater fish being bad is only half true. It's specifically cyprinids that should be avoided (goldfish and minnows etc). Live-bearers and cichlid fry are perfectly fine especially if guy loaded.

Bah! Wish I had known that before buying a handful of rosy minnows

 

[PacsAdmin77]

Looks like those rosy minnows have been put to good use after all. 4 days after being put in QT, Fuzzy ate 4 minnows (yay!). What works for me is using tong to drop feeders in front of Fuzzy but not shove the tong in its face (it gets freaked out that way). I’ve already ordered some ghosties so will use those for a bit until I wean it to frozen.

 

[lion king]

Looks like those rosy minnows have been put to good use after all. 4 days after being put in QT, Fuzzy ate 4 minnows (yay!). What works for me is using tong to drop feeders in front of Fuzzy but not shove the tong in its face (it gets freaked out that way). I’ve already ordered some ghosties so will use those for a bit until I wean it to frozen.

Another tip to feeding, they don't need to eat every day, more like twice a week to every other day at most. While you want to feed them until you see a bit of a bulge in his belly, be also mindful not to overfeed. The fuzzy especially will eat themselves to death, and be begging you like they are starving.

 

[PacsAdmin77]

Hi All,

Something’s off with my Fuzzy. After switching from minnow to ghosties, my Fuzzy seems to have lost interest in live food. At first, it would hunt the ghosties down and eat ‘em up (4-5 per feeding). However, in the past few days, it would eat 2 ghosties at most, even though I put in 4 initially. For the remaining ghosties, it would excitedly swim towards them as if to eat them but then suddenly lose interest and swim away. Does anyone know why it’s doing this?

 

[lion king]

How often are you feeding him, give him at least a couple of days between feedings. My lions will go off feeding every once and a while, give it a few days and they are back to normal. Another thing to look for, does his color look a bit opaque, he may be wanting to shed his cuticle layer, this throws off their feeding sometimes. Another important note, have you seen him poop, make sure there are no signs of stringy poo, this can take weeks to show up sometimes. As all fish are different, my old fu doesn't get that excited about ghosties, I have to special feed her mollies and fancy guppies.

 

[PacsAdmin77]

How often are you feeding him, give him at least a couple of days between feedings. My lions will go off feeding every once and a while, give it a few days and they are back to normal. Another thing to look for, does his color look a bit opaque, he may be wanting to shed his cuticle layer, this throws off their feeding sometimes. Another important note, have you seen him poop, make sure there are no signs of stringy poo, this can take weeks to show up sometimes.

I’ve been feeding Fuzzy almost every day so maybe it’s full? In terms of coloration, there doesn’t seem to be any change. Although a few days ago, I did notice an opaque film stuck to the powerhead so maybe he recently shed? Lastly, his poop looks like a gray log so maybe it’s not afflicted with internal parasites? I’ve been dosing Fuzzy’s QT with General Cure as a prophylactic so I hope that doesn’t backfire on me. I hope this answers your questions.

 

[lion king]

I’ve been feeding Fuzzy almost every day so maybe it’s full? In terms of coloration, there doesn’t seem to be any change. Although a few days ago, I did notice an opaque film stuck to the powerhead so maybe he recently shed? Lastly, his poop looks like a gray log so maybe it’s not afflicted with internal parasites? I’ve been dosing Fuzzy’s QT with General Cure as a prophylactic so I hope that doesn’t backfire on me. I hope this answers your questions.

Yep, it all sounds good, give it 2 or even 3 days before feeding again. It really is important to give the days between feeding, their metabolism is just a little different, in the wild they gorge and fast. It sounds as if he did shed. I'm glad you did the general cure, they do come in with internal issues so many times, his poop sounds good. General cure can throw their appetite as well.

 

[PacsAdmin77]

Oh b@lls! First attempt at weaning Fuzzy to frozen was a bust. Mixed Hikari krill with some recently dead ghosties, added Selcon, and let sit for 10 mins. Dropped 1 ghostie in first and that got eaten quickly. Next dropped in the Hikari krill and he ignored it. Took the Hikari krill out and fed it another ghostie. Tried to alternate the krill with the ghostie and it kept ignoring the krill. Am I doing something wrong? Can anyone suggest a tried and true method of weaning Fuzzy to frozen?