What should my lionfish diet consist of

[Aescobar900]

I bought a Fuzzy dwarf 2 days ago I fed him a ghost shrimp yesterday which he swallowed up like nothing. I am trying to find a good diet where he will get all his nutrients he is the only one in a 35 gallon tank. I would appreciate any help thank YOu

[2manyfish]

It's best to train him onto "dead" foods. That way you can provide variety and the foods can be soaked in vitamins before feeding.

Here's how to train your lionfish. You have started off right by giving him live ghost shrimp! What you need to do is to get your fuzzy to recognise that when you show up, so does food. So it's important to stand right at the tank while the lionfish hunts down his prey. Don't overfeed; depending on the size of your lionfish you will want to give him one or two live shrimp every 2 days. Always hold the shrimp at the top of the water and give a little swishing motion before releasing the shrimp. Eventually the lionfish will go up to the waters surface whenever you approach the tank. You are now ready for the next step. Withhold all feedings for 3 days. Then when you are ready to feed your lionfish make sure you have that live ghost shrimp plus a small piece of raw shrimp. Give him the live then follow quickly with the raw shrimp. He should take it. IF he doesn't do the whole witholding of food again. Do this until he does take that piece of raw shrimp. IF he does take it, stop all feedings for another 3 days only this time when you feed him give him the raw food first! If he takes it without problems give him another small piece of the raw and you will be good from then on!

Important notes: fuzzy's can be slightly more difficult to switch over so be patient. They will not starve themselves!
Always, always, always thaw your raw foods first! It can be very helpful to soak the food in a good marine vitamin like Selecon.
Give variety; they will eat not only raw shrimp, but also raw squid, pieces of clam, and fish. You can buy this food at the grocery store in the seafood section and just freeze it. It's cheaper than buying it at the pet store!

Good luck! thumbs2:

Got any pics?

[Fishguy2727]

If you can get him on New Life Spectrum.

[Aescobar900]

Thanks for your help I appreciate it truly. I dont have any pics right now but I will post some as soon as I take some, also I really would like to get a dwarf zebra about the same size but am wondering if they will get along well. Also Will a polyp coral be a goos choice to place in my tank?? Thanks again
:thumb:

[2manyfish]

The two lionfish should get along just fine but you will have to keep on top of your water changes with these two guys!

Most soft corals will do fine with lionfish, the only exception IMO is mushroom corals. I had a very bad experience with mushroom corals and a volitans lionfish. Long story short; mushroom coral detached itself from it's rock. They sometimes do this. Lionfish ate mushroom, because this lionfish would eat anything. Lionfish became very, very ill, almost died. From then on the lionfish was prone to every little thing (I think the mushroom did something to his immune system). End result one dead lionfish. I will never, ever recommend mushroom corals in the same tank with a lionfish that has been trained onto "dead" foods. Might not have happened if he had been kept on a live diet but that really isn't a good option. Much better to just avoid mushroom corals!

[Aescobar900]

Heres a few pics of him

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Got one question though I picked him from the pet shop like this they said it was just his color coming in anybody seen anything like this before?

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[cocoa_pleco]

C:\Documents and Settings\Alex\Application Data\Yahoo!\Mail\attach\IMG_0761.JPG

it wont work, since we cant go into your C: drive. upload the picture to photobucket and you can place it here.

[2manyfish]

Nice pics!! What a cute little guy!

As far as that yellowish color on his fin, it almost looks like a bit of coralline algae growing on it or a stain of some kind. I wouldn't worry about it though. Oh, one thing I should mention. All lionfish shed their mucous coating from time to time. Perfectly normal but it can be a bit unnerving if you've never seen it before! It will look like slimy strands floating in your water!

[Aescobar900]

Thank You, Yeah I noticed it a couple of days ago. I thought it was just some uneaten food floating on the surface :c3:. I got a two anemones yesterday which he didnt even notice when I put them in. Do you know by any chance if blue led lights will mess up his vision because I know blacklights will.

[2manyfish]

I don't know about the LED lights doing any harm. I wouldn't think they would since blue is the main wavelength in deeper water.

[Aescobar900]

yeah im still having some trouble getting him to eat frozen foods :ssad:

[2manyfish]

Has he started to associate you with food - does he come to the front of the tank when you enter the room or at least become more alert when you are present? Does he come to the top of the water yet? Until he does these things don't even try the frozen.
Don't worry about it, it takes time to switch them over... :c10:

[Aescobar900]

Success I tried to give him a piece of frozen today and he ate il up with out a problem :c10: Thanks for all your help. !!

[squirt_12]

wow..he is a beauty.....if i may ask...how much did he cost you????

[cocoa_pleco]

theyre not too pricey, but awesome fish.

glad he ate frozen food, once they first try frozen food they will always eat it. its always a relief when a fish finally eats

[Aescobar900]

I paid 45 (i know a bit pricey) but he came from a nice store with a very good 2 week guarantee. I really want to get a dwarf zebra but im having trouble locating one.

[squirt_12]

I paid 45 (i know a bit pricey) but he came from a nice store with a very good 2 week guarantee. I really want to get a dwarf zebra but im having trouble locating one.
$45??? thats not alot.....not IMO atleast......yeah he is very nice and the dwarf zebras are very nice aswell.

[cocoa_pleco]

i agree, $45 is cheap for a fish that beautiful.

[Aescobar900]

Really??? I had seen them online for alot cheaper, but anyways does anybody know any ways to reduce my nitrate without having to do water changes? (thanks for the compliments I love that little guy) thumbs2:

[unleashed]

you could use macroalgaes such as caulerpa or chaetomorpha

[squirt_12]

Really??? I had seen them online for alot cheaper, but anyways does anybody know any ways to reduce my nitrate without having to do water changes? (thanks for the compliments I love that little guy) thumbs2:
wow...cheaper...i thought that a fish that cool and beautiful would be WAY more then $45...i would have guess around....$50 - $100.