Feeding a Lion Fish

[Shep]

Hey,

So I have a Dwarf Lion fish in my 55g tank and so far I have been mostly feeding him ghost shrimp which it seems to love but recently the place I get them from has not been getting them in enough, so I was wondering if I could use feeder fish like rosy red minnows or guppies. I have heard that they are not the best to use and I was wondering why that might be? I always make sure what ever I feed it is gut loaded. Thanks for any input you guys have!



-Shep

 

[kbuser92]

We use rosy minnows here and there for our cichlids and have no problems, but that's only once every 3-4 weeks.

 

[kbuser92]

Try this page. Its for turtles, but still good I think.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-34624.html

 

[Shep]

Yea, I guess I will just have to stick with ghost shrimp instead. Thanks for the info!

 

[bjohanson1234]

The main reason why they the fresh water feeders might not be good for your lion fish is because they are not food that he would find in nature. They could be lacking in specific nutrients that are required for good health.

You could try to switch him to frozen foods such as silver sides and chunks of squid. That food might be easier for you to locate locally.

 

[Shep]

The main reason why they the fresh water feeders might not be good for your lion fish is because they are not food that he would find in nature. They could be lacking in specific nutrients that are required for good health.

You could try to switch him to frozen foods such as silver sides and chunks of squid. That food might be easier for you to locate locally.

I have been trying to but he does not seem to take to them very well, any suggestions on how to entice him to eat not live foods?

 

[bjohanson1234]

I have heard that garlic extract can help entice his appetite.

 

[monique]

you can buy fresh seafood at your local grocery store and cut it into sz and shape you want. you can slip good quality pellets into the flesh or soak in vitamins before feeding. cheapest place to get it. let your lionfish go hungry for a couple days to a wk then try. much more enthusiastic about trying new stuff when hungry. that type of fish eats a big meal occasionally in the wild not every day like we feed.

 

[ErinCahir]

Also if you haven't already tried you could use a feeding stick. That way you can wiggle it (silversides, etc) to make it look like it's alive.

Super +1 on not using fresh water fish to feed your lion. Long term it's no good for them.

 

[DJ_Z]

There's a brand of frozen food I use with the Brand name Rod's Fish Food, it includes a predator blend that includes larger pieces of different fish, mollusks and crustaceans for larger animals, including lionfish.

I had to get my old arc eye hawkfish to adjust, so I just added frozen food with any live feeding, and gradually changed ratios to where there was more frozen.