Antennata Lion feeding

[spw4949]

So I have a 3" antennata lion that will only eat live ghost shrimp, surprise surprise right!!! I'm trying to wean him onto frozen obviously but having a tough go of it.....my question is, I am very concerned about feeding just ghosts due to lockjaw, can I feed him some small gobies without any concerns? I can get small(1/4" or so) red headed gobies pretty cheap & was thinking I'd go that route while I'm trying to wean him over.....give him a break from ghost shrimp & ease my lockjaw concerns.....I figure that's what he'd eat in the wild....any input would be appreciated.

[FMarini]

feed him ghost shrimp for month or so- i've never experienced lockjaw using ghost shrimp (just krill)
Anyway read this (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/) on how to wean the fish onto frozen foods
these are beautiful fish

[namxas]

Frank's article is a good one, a definite "must read".

P. antennata are REAL beauties! i kept one back in the old daze, and loved the experience.

have you got any pix?

what have you been trying and how was it presented to the fish?

[spw4949]

No pix yet but will try & get some soon...I've tried to feed him frozen krill, clams, ocean perch, mysis, just about everything frozen you can think of. I have him in with a blue hamlet(who eats just about anything!!) & a dwarf golden moray. I've tried a feeding stick & I'll wiggle the food in front of him & he will look at it but nothing seems to get him going like live stuff.....because of the hamlet being such an aggressive eater I was thinking of putting the lion in a large carrier & trying to get him to eat that way, too stressful? When I feed him ghost shrimp I present them in a large net(to keep them away from the hamlet) & he'll swim right in & eat but totally different deal with the frozen stuff.....like I said I'm going 4 days inbetween feedings & then I'll try frozen 1st but if he doesn't eat then I do ghost shrimp, he's just a baby is this too long inbetween feedings? So I'm assuming the gobies aren't a good idea?

[FMarini]

So I'm assuming the gobies aren't a good idea?

only as food


you can try the weaning basket idea i present in the lionfish article i linked. i had alot of success using it to ensure new fish learned to compete and eat prepared foods.
You discovered the min problem feeding any new predator in a tank of aggressive eaters, you gotta isolate the new fish- can get him to compete. Some people use Q-tanks (quarantine tanks), i just used an intank basket

[spw4949]

Okay, sounds good, thanks for all the help, I appreciate it.