Anyone that have read my threads or post, know that I am a staunce advocate for feeding live food to many species of lions, scorps, and anglers. In this installment let's examine how I came to this adamant position. Be aware that this hobby is never absolute and there are always exceptions. This information is just a compilation of decades and 100s of cases to get a most likely outcome. Still in the end, this is just my opinion, but I hope everyone that reads this knows that I sincere in just wishing them success. Likely most people on this board can't imagine that some hobbyist believe they are doing a great service, just by keeping a dwarf lion alive for a year. Depending on the species, we are talking about fish that live form 10-15 years in the wild. You may also be surprised that lfs tell their customers to expect a year for the dwarf and medium lions. It's amazing that I have actually had hobbyist seeming brag to me how they kept a fuzzy for a year. If you are one that treat these beautiful creatures as disposable human entertainment, then read no further.
Your 1st challenge: I suggest never getting one of these predators if you will not or can not provide a live diet. There is never a guarantee they will ever accept dead food, at all. If you lfs tell you they are eating dead food, it is not a dead food diet that will keep them alive long. Most times even if they eating dead food, there a reboot when they get moved and likely you will have to start all over. Many people give up and let them die, then blame the fish for not eating. Some people also believe they can catch enough food from the water column, as they catch a morsal here or there when they broadcast feed their tanks.
Your 2nd challenge: Getting them to eat the proper foods that will supply them with the nutrients for a long life. I strongly suggest not using lfs krill as a starting point, or it may be the only dead food they ever accept. The most common diets consist of lfs krill, silversides, and frozen shrimp. This diet will not suffice for long, it is lacking in vital nutrients and high in thiaminase. Most times the dwarf and medium bodied lions, other various scorps, and anglers will never accept the foods needed for a long life. If you get them eating dead foods and maintain a dead only diet, on an improper diet they can last several months to about a year and a half.
Sometimes you can get them taking dead foods and it's going really well, for a while. Then one day they won't take the food, no biggie, they can miss a meal or two without doom. But for some, that's it, they just stop eating dead food, You will either offer them live food again or you will blame the fish for not eating. At this point, sometimes they are now in a community tank that makes it too hard or even impossible to get them live food, so most never even offer them live again; and then they starve, and you blame the fish. Or at this point some decide to wait them out, starvation method you know, well there is a tipping point. It usually arrives at around 3 weeks, after that even if you decide to offer them live food, they will never eat again.
There are always exceptions, the volitan lion is the best candidate for a person wanting a lion, but has no interest in offering live food. The volitan does need at least a tank of 180g. While is is possible, as I have kept a fuzzy several years on a dead only diet, in all likelihood it will not happen. I do have suggestions for a dead diet but most will never follow my suggestions, above all it needs to be varied with fatty fish, shells and guts and bones, and fresh. I haven't found the method most use for supplementation to be of much use for one reason or another. But stuffing chunks with a pellet high in vitamin c and vit B1 is a valuable addition for dense nutrition, so it adding an algae pellet. If you are to use liquid supplements, use a kitchen syringe, as most will rinse of in the water column.
I have kept many predators for several years to over a decade by including live ghost shrimp, guppies, and mollies in their diet. It is a good idea to keep a feeder tank so you can feed them a healthy diet and gut load with pellets before offering. This tank can be as simple as any small container form a tupperware to a 10g tank with a sponge filter. Mollies and guppies are both brackish fish that do well with some salt, I keep my mollies at 1.013-15 and my guppies at 1.005-7. Ghost shrimp are euryhaline and can live in fresh, brackish, and salt water. All of these live foods are complete nutrition.
Your 1st challenge: I suggest never getting one of these predators if you will not or can not provide a live diet. There is never a guarantee they will ever accept dead food, at all. If you lfs tell you they are eating dead food, it is not a dead food diet that will keep them alive long. Most times even if they eating dead food, there a reboot when they get moved and likely you will have to start all over. Many people give up and let them die, then blame the fish for not eating. Some people also believe they can catch enough food from the water column, as they catch a morsal here or there when they broadcast feed their tanks.
Your 2nd challenge: Getting them to eat the proper foods that will supply them with the nutrients for a long life. I strongly suggest not using lfs krill as a starting point, or it may be the only dead food they ever accept. The most common diets consist of lfs krill, silversides, and frozen shrimp. This diet will not suffice for long, it is lacking in vital nutrients and high in thiaminase. Most times the dwarf and medium bodied lions, other various scorps, and anglers will never accept the foods needed for a long life. If you get them eating dead foods and maintain a dead only diet, on an improper diet they can last several months to about a year and a half.
Sometimes you can get them taking dead foods and it's going really well, for a while. Then one day they won't take the food, no biggie, they can miss a meal or two without doom. But for some, that's it, they just stop eating dead food, You will either offer them live food again or you will blame the fish for not eating. At this point, sometimes they are now in a community tank that makes it too hard or even impossible to get them live food, so most never even offer them live again; and then they starve, and you blame the fish. Or at this point some decide to wait them out, starvation method you know, well there is a tipping point. It usually arrives at around 3 weeks, after that even if you decide to offer them live food, they will never eat again.
There are always exceptions, the volitan lion is the best candidate for a person wanting a lion, but has no interest in offering live food. The volitan does need at least a tank of 180g. While is is possible, as I have kept a fuzzy several years on a dead only diet, in all likelihood it will not happen. I do have suggestions for a dead diet but most will never follow my suggestions, above all it needs to be varied with fatty fish, shells and guts and bones, and fresh. I haven't found the method most use for supplementation to be of much use for one reason or another. But stuffing chunks with a pellet high in vitamin c and vit B1 is a valuable addition for dense nutrition, so it adding an algae pellet. If you are to use liquid supplements, use a kitchen syringe, as most will rinse of in the water column.
I have kept many predators for several years to over a decade by including live ghost shrimp, guppies, and mollies in their diet. It is a good idea to keep a feeder tank so you can feed them a healthy diet and gut load with pellets before offering. This tank can be as simple as any small container form a tupperware to a 10g tank with a sponge filter. Mollies and guppies are both brackish fish that do well with some salt, I keep my mollies at 1.013-15 and my guppies at 1.005-7. Ghost shrimp are euryhaline and can live in fresh, brackish, and salt water. All of these live foods are complete nutrition.
