lionfish

[Allmost]

hello

I have a lionfish for like 2 months now, but need some help;

it only eats live food (SW molly's) how can i make it eat frozen ? I swing around krill, shrimp ... he hides when he sees my stick or hand, :fun5:

I have a Demsel in there, but the lion hasnt ate it yet, demsel too fast for him ?

I want to get a lawnmover blenny to eat the algae. would the lion be fast enough to eat the lawnmover ? lol

thanks all.

[yakfishin]

Perhaps don't feed him for a few days so he's good and hungry. Then place the feeding stick in the aquarium at the same time that you feed him a live molly. You could do this a couple of times so he gets used to the feeding stick being in the aquarium at the same time he is getting fed. Once he shows no fear of the stick, then try again to feed him from it.

[Allmost]

Perhaps don't feed him for a few days so he's good and hungry. Then place the feeding stick in the aquarium at the same time that you feed him a live molly. You could do this a couple of times so he gets used to the feeding stick being in the aquarium at the same time he is getting fed. Once he shows no fear of the stick, then try again to feed him from it.

that's what I do, I went for 4 days without feeding him ! then on the 5th day I Felt too bad for him and fed him a live molly ....

[yakfishin]

When you fed him after 4 days, did you have the feeding stick in the aquarium when you put the molly in?

[namxas]

if you have a large or medium-bodied lionfish, the blenny will likely end up as lunch.

as for feeding your fish, you may do best to try feeding it under low light conditions at first, since lions are crepuscular hunters.

also, you want the lion to stalk and come to the stick, so you may be spooking the fish if you're trying to bring the food to it.

here's a good primer on feeding techniques:

Feeding Techniques (http://www.lionfishlair.com/feedingtechniques/toolsofthetradeswf.shtml)

[Allmost]

Nice link thanks.

and no I dont put the stick in, but that I Should do now on ! so he knows stick in water = food of some sort.

I actually use a plant tong, to hold the krill, but as soon as I put tht in the tank, he swims away FAST.

I'm tired of buying live fish as his lunch lol

guess I can leave the power heads on, and tie the food to a fishing line, and just leave it there in the tank till he eats it, and the water circulation would be moving it a bit so it may think its alive ?

but I want to know, once I train it to take frozen food, do I need to constantly be doing this ? or will I be able to just drop a piece of krill in and it will eat it ?
right now, when a molly hits the water, the lion fish just changes character, lol smooth and slow movements, positions itself behind the prey, and actually waits for the molly to look at him face to face and then eats it, it wont eat a molly swimming away !!! one cruel lion ? or are they all like this ?

sorry fro the newb Qs, just need to understand how they are. as the LFS advice was "he eats"

ya all can relate to that I guess.

[yakfishin]

I would try that, don't have the food on the stick and don't even waive the stick around, just have it in there so he gets used to seeing it every time he feeds. Even if he doesn't equate the stick with food, at least he should get comfortable with its presence. After he appears more used to the stick, try feeding him from it. Just an idea, I can't say I have actually put it to practice.

[a.stebel]

My lion hated the stick method. Still to this day he will not eat off a stick. I did finally get him to eat frozen. First off buy some silversides or sand eels. Thaw them then drop them in the tank one by one so that it darts past the lion. He will think the fish is swimming and will swallow it whole. Some he will follow all the way to the bottom of the tank, and he will just look at it and not eat, but eventually he will eat it as it sinks to the bottom past his mouth.

[Finsky]

if you have a large or medium-bodied lionfish, the blenny will likely end up as lunch.

as for feeding your fish, you may do best to try feeding it under low light conditions at first, since lions are crepuscular hunters.

also, you want the lion to stalk and come to the stick, so you may be spooking the fish if you're trying to bring the food to it.

here's a good primer on feeding techniques:

Feeding Techniques (http://www.lionfishlair.com/feedingtechniques/toolsofthetradeswf.shtml)

I have waiting until only my actinics are on from 7:30 to 8:00pm and then with just four LEDs from 8:02 to 10:00 pm.

He did bite at frozen krill on the end of my feeding stick twice and I have had him for one week.

I fed him live ghost shrmp today.

[Jackhole]

It took months before my lion would accept frozen foods. I asked teh same question and was given a few different suggestions. One of which was try soaking your feeders with garlic guard. He will get used to the smell. Once he is, soak your frozen food in it and he will associate the smell with his dinner. I never did try this but it sounded like it may work. I got lucky, one day when I was throwig in some krill for my eel, the lion just began eating it. Now he will accept any frozen food I throw at him. I wouldn't bother with teh stick, it will just spook your lion. Lion fish are hunters and will not gain any satisfaction from takingtheir food off a stick.

I hope he converts for you soon, I remember how much of a pain it was to constantly have feeders on hand.

[Mental1]

My lions eat live, eat off of the stick, and 2 out of the three eat what I float in. They got comfortable because even with live feeders I used a net. Now they eat anything. I still like to give them live because I think they do like to hunt but it doesn't stop them from eating frozen too.

[Finsky]

My lions eat live, eat off of the stick, and 2 out of the three eat what I float in. They got comfortable because even with live feeders I used a net. Now they eat anything. I still like to give them live because I think they do like to hunt but it doesn't stop them from eating frozen too.

Yes, I have started a 10 gallon tank to breed feeder Platies with two males and three females as well as to keep live ghost shrimp on hand for feeding.

I plan to continue to keep these live foods in the upstairs loft above the living room with the reef tank even if and when my small carnivores(a very bright red four inch Fu Manchu Lionfish, pair of Leaf fish, Redfin Waspfish, and Wartskin Angler) can live on frozen foods alone.

[perfect_prefect]

right now, when a molly hits the water, the lion fish just changes character, lol smooth and slow movements, positions itself behind the prey, and actually waits for the molly to look at him face to face and then eats it, it wont eat a molly swimming away !!! one cruel lion ? or are they all like this ?



this is due to the fact he wants to actually be able to swallow his food. if he takes it from behind he will be going the wrong way on the fins, if he takes it head on the spines will lay down so it doesnt get lodged in his throat.

ps dont worry about sounding like a noob, ive been doing this for a loooong time and i still sound like a foolish noob all the time, it doesnt matter if your a noob or a vet there will always be more to learn and someone out there you can ask questions you dont know the answers to sometimes you just have to find them. but in general this is a fantastic forum with alot of knowledgable responses to every question posted, you have come to the right place to ask questions of this nature.

[jascymcl]

I have 2 that eat anything. Dried plankton, frozen brine, live fish, dead fish whatever. I trained them buy letting be hungry for a couple of days then used the stick method.

[Finsky]

I am going to try the 50 lbs test clear fishing line fed through a 30" hard plastic airline tubing to feed the lion fish.

I have a 10 gallon aquarium with two males and four female platies along with a couple dozen ghost shrimp so I do not have to run to the Petsmart in the middle of the week.

I am working towards feeding my four inch Fu Manchu Lionfish bite sized pieces of frozen krill, silverside, and grocery store small shrimp.

Twice he has bitten down on food on a wooden skewer feeding stick and let go immediately. He hesitates so far with the eight inch feeding stick although I have only had him for a week.

I am going to persist with the frozen food feeding attempts.

[namxas]

I wouldn't bother with teh stick, it will just spook your lion. Lion fish are hunters and will not gain any satisfaction from takingtheir food off a stick.

i have to disagree...i can show you several videos to the contrary of our various lionfish species feeding or simply chasing a stick. IMHO, stick feeding assures you that each fish is getting a proper feeding, and no food goes floating behind the rockwork to decay in the tank. IMHO, this is very important if you have multiple fish in the setup, so all get their fair share.

in this case, the stick had a small chunk of food on it, but wasn't even inside the tank:

video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfGaYyl-J5Q)

[Finsky]

I like to tickle the noses of my 4" Fu Manchu as well as my pair of 4" Leaf Fish with frozen food on the end of a stick. As I have only had the Fu Manchu for a week I think it is a good sign it has bitten twice into the food on a stick. The Leaf Fish have been in the tank for a month.

I am going to let them get hungry and try some frozen food pieces on Wednesday.

The You Tube video really gives me hope as I know I am only beginning the training of my Fu Manchu Lionfish.

[leeb.]

i just picked up a small volitan... I've had a lionfish in the past that wouldn't eat frozen food but this one eats flakes and frozen food... he's greedy

[Finsky]

This morning I woke up and fed at least one dead ghost shrimp on the end of a wooden stick to my Fu Manchu Lionfish. As I wanted to keep my mated pair of Leaf Fish I received from "Drs. Foster and Smith" a month ago from starving I purchased and fed 12 live ghost shrimp to them.

Around 6:00 pm I decided to thaw some cut up bite size pieces of frozen krill, silver side, and small grocery store shrimp.

I started tickling the nose of the Fu Manchu Lionfish with a piece of krill or shrimp and zap, it grabbed it off the stick and swallowed it. I then tried a second piece with the same waving the piece of krill/shrimp in front of its face and tickling its two "Fu Manchu" extensions on either side of its face. Zap, it took the piece whole and swallowed it. Emboldened by my success I put a piece of silverside on the stick and after some more wiggling and tickling, zap, it swallowed the piece whole. It ate a second piece of silverside for a total of two pieces of krill/shrimp and two pieces of silverside eaten off the feeding stick tonight. Hurray!!

Now I have to get the pair of Leaf Fish to eat off the stick. I have had the larger male eat a dead ghost shrimp once off the end of the feeder stick. As I had filled them with live ghost shrimp, both the Leaf Fish were not having any frozen food.

The work goes on and I think feeding the dead ghost shrimp on the end of the feeding stick helped as both the Leaf Fish and Fu Manchu Lionfish were fed live ghost shrimp from the places I got them from. A Redfin Waspfish came with the Fu Manchu Lionfish and it was eating anything at "That Fish Place" out of Lancaster, PA.

[namxas]

congrats! getting a "difficult" species weaned is huge. i think you'll find that your fu will be a voracious feeder now that it's "with the program". great work!

if you can convert your leaf fish, you'll be a member of a very small club indeed.

[Finsky]

Thank you Greg.

As they had a good feeding Monday, I will let the Leaf Fish go until Wednesday or Thursday before trying to stick feed again. I will probably start with the lion fish and then move to the Leafs and then the Angler.

I will not give up trying to stick feed although I am giving them a real good feeding of live ghost shrimp each weekend if they do not eat from the stick. Sort of the same routine as I had with the Fu Manchu.

Then a lighter feeding around the middle of the week. I may spear a few ghost shrimp on the stick to start out with the Leaf Fish and the Wartskin Angler.

I have a 4" Cebu Cream and Maroon Wartskin Angler coming tomorrow and it was only being fed live ghost shrimp at Drs. Foster and Smith's Divers Den like the mated pair of Leaf Fish.

[Finsky]

Happy news!

I talked with a woman Drs. Foster and Smith this morning who told me they were also feeding the Wartskin Angler frozen silversides in addition to live ghost shrimp.

Today I tried to feed it a silverside head on the end of a feeding stick and it gulped it down. After that it refused anymore food until I tried a piece of frozen krill which it finally ate after a few half harted snaps. It must have had enough with the silverside head.

This leaves me with just the pair of Hawaiian Leaf Fish to continue attempting to move from live food to frozen.

The work goes on as they both refused a piece of frozen krill which I tickled both their noses with today.

I got 12 live ghost shrimp for them in case they did not eat frozen.

[Allmost]

Finally got thee lion fish to eat :) thanks all.

now what is a good food to feed him ? are silver sides good ? should I inject them with selcon ?

[Finsky]

San Francisco Bay Frozen Krill, Silversides, minishrimp from grocery store, clams, squid, and anything meaty. Selcon could not hurt I suppose if not overdosed.

I dose my tank with Vitamin-C and soak my food in it as well along with Selcon.

What three lions do you have if you do not mind.

I am thinking of adding a Fuzzy Dwarf Lion and a Dwarf Zebra Lion to my Fu Manchu Dwarf Lion.

[namxas]

i'm not quite sure what "minishrimp" are, however, the only small "bay shrimp" that i've ever seen are cooked.

we feed silversides, assorted SW fish (salmon, snapper, tuna, swordfish, etc.), cut up table shrimp (shell-on), scallops, squid, clams, etc. we even feed them lobster on occasion, when the small tails are on sale for like $4-$5 ea.

Renee stuffs the silversides with high-quality marine pellets and beta glucan.

Vitamin C and B12 are added to the tanks on occasion.

[Finsky]

i'm not quite sure what "minishrimp" are, however, the only small "bay shrimp" that i've ever seen are cooked.

we feed silversides, assorted SW fish (salmon, snapper, tuna, swordfish, etc.), cut up table shrimp (shell-on), scallops, squid, clams, etc. we even feed them lobster on occasion, when the small tails are on sale for like $4-$5 ea.

Renee stuffs the silversides with high-quality marine pellets and beta glucan.

Vitamin C and B12 are added to the tanks on occasion.

I was talking about the shrimp you buy at the grocery store which are shelled and people make salad with them. I am sure there must be some nutrition to them at least protein wise.

I like the $16.99 a lb razor clam sold my the Quinalt Tribe in one pound packages which I feed to my six two red rose bubble tips and four green bubble tips?

Of course your list sounds quite comprehensive and of course does not contain any "cooked" foods and you should always soak and stuff you food with anything nutritious.

It sounds like Greg has the breakfast of champions for Lionfish down quite comprehensively. I would go with Greg's ideas if you can afford it.

[Allmost]

thanks for the info :)

I only have one V. lionfish in there.

[namxas]

the only reason i mentioned that bay shrimp are cooked is that cooking really takes a lot of the nutrition out of foods. as for digestion, i dunno if cooked foods are harder to digest or not. it would be GREAT if you could find bay shrimp uncooked (they're a great size), but i've never seen them.

[Finsky]

I only bought the cooked shrimp on a whim without thinking of them being cooked as I usually have the fresh frozen uncooked sea food for everybody in the tank.

Actually, I think the frozen krill is a bigger favorite than the cooked shrimp although the Fu Manchu will eat just about anything. I have a one pound container of small uncooked scallops and I have noticed the six bubble tips do not seem to like the cooked shrimp or the scallops nearly as much as the razor clam. They also seem to like the razor clam over the fresh squid from the local fish market where I bought three pounds. I have been thinking I will need to feed the three pounds of squid, scallops, and shrimp to the Lionfish and Redfin Waspfish.

[Finsky]

I have been waiting for email notification for a Fuzzy Dwarf and Zebra/Dwarf Lionfish and they finally arrived as I wanted the two other species of Dwarf Lionfish to go with my Fu Manchu Dwarf. I was able to order a medium Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish and a large Zebra/Dwarf Lionfish (Medium: 1-1/2" to 2-1/2"; Large: 2-1/2" to 4") from Drs. Foster and Smith for delivery this Thursday. I asked them to send me the largest in their size ranges for each fish. My Fu Manchu and the larger Leaf Fish will sit side by side leaning against each other looking in the same direction for a meal. I am "hoping", although I know there is no guarantee, I will have a sucessful acclimation and no carnivore on carnivore aggression as I have not had any yet. I will try to keep everybody fed well and regularly. I am still working on getting my Leaf Fish onto frozen food and away from live food although I have a 10 gallon tank in the loft with full hood and flourescent light for keeping ghost shrimp and I may add a school of Neon and/or Cardinal Tretras for a show aquarium as well as a food storage tank.

They will be joining the following line up of small carnivores which should finish the carnivore section and tank lineup in general:

09/17/09 Six lined Wrasse - eating flake, pellets, freeze dried mysis & brine shrimp
04/27/10 Pair(male/female) of Hawaiian Yellow Leaf Fish - 4" and 3 3/4" -eating live ghost shrimp
05/21/10 Fu Manchu Lionfish - 4" - eating frozen food on feeding stick
05/21/10 Redfin Waspfish - 2 1/2" - eating frozen food on feeding stick
06/02/10 Cream and Maroon Wartskin Angler - 4" - eating silversides on feeding stick

I really like hand feeding the carnivores with a feeding stick or net. It gives me a connection I do not get by feeding my other fish: purple and powder blue tangs, regal and blue girdled angels, two pairs of large Cinnamon clowns and Clarkii clowns, and various damsels by dumping a 1/4 measuring cup with cut up seaweed, freeze dried mysis and brine shrimp all soaked in Selcon and Kent Marine-C on Tuesdays, flakes and homemade seaweed flakes(cut up with scissors) sprinkled on Thursdays, some half a dozen different frozen food cubes melted in a net and fed on Saturdays. I feed the razor clams to the six bubble tip anemones on Sunday and break up left over pieces into bite size which I throw in the tank for the clowns, angels, tangs, and other fish to eat.

[namxas]

can't wait to see some pix!

My Fu Manchu and the larger Leaf Fish will sit side by side leaning against each other looking in the same direction for a meal.

it's apparently a leaf fish thing...

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll73/hixphotobucket/Our%20Fish/buddy700.jpg

[Finsky]

Pix will be forthcoming!

I pulled out the mandatory shoulder length rubber handed and vinyl sleeved gloves and put the right one on for stick feeding.

I used an eight inch feeding stick in my 26" deep tank to feed the Fu Manchu which saw me trying to feed the pair of Leaf Fish and Maroon/Cream Wartskin Angler with pieces of silverside and krill. The Fu Manchu ate his fill and went back up on top of the rocks.

In the meantime the Redfin Waspfish had crept from its home in the rocks against the left end of the tank over to the right front substrate after smelling food. He ate his fill and is now resting on the right front substrate up against the closest piece of live rock a few inches from where he was feeding. He has a very good camouflage and I have heard his sting is much worse than the lions or the leaf fish although I do not plan on testing this on myself.

Back to feeding, I tickled the Leaf Fishs' noses off and on for 20 minutes and no feeding response. They will have to wait for live ghost shrimp this weekend or I may try to feed them frozen food on a stick between now and Sunday.

The Maroon/Cream Wartskin Angler aggressively snapped up one silverside head after being in the tank a few days. After a week of tickling its nose with pieces of silersides and krill I found it opening its mouth like a baby bird and I put the food into its mouth while it held its mouth open. I then pulled the stick out scaping on its teeth.

After almost a week of eating only one live ghost shrimp which got away from the Leaf Fish, I was finally able to reproduce the odd "baby bird" feeding behavior tonight with two large pieces of silverside as I tickled his nose for 20minutes off and on before he opened his mouth wide and I then got the silverside pieces into his mouth. A third piece was expelled when he opened his mouth wide and blew water and the third piece of silverside out.

I was ecstatic about getting him a good meal. He really does not break contact with the moutain shaped piece of lavender SPS montiopora in the right front substrate which blends well with his cream and maroon. I wonder whether I should be feeding him this way or wait for him snap the silverside off the stick? I wonder how long they can go without eating with their slow metabolism?

[namxas]

wow, you're the Chick Hearn of fish feeding! nice "play-by-play"! lol

my guess is the glove is to ward off a possible envenomation?

i'm really glad you're enjoying your fish so much. these guys really are quite interactive, aren't they? one of our "funny" ones now is our little Caracanthus madagascariensis (spotted coral croucher). it knows when feeding time is, and comes out of its rock and sits there waiting for the feeding stick. it's currently rooming with our fu and the female red-fin wasp. our male red-fin is getting huge, but i think the females are quite a bit smaller than males, based on our specimens' growth.

congrats on the leaf...maybe it's getting the idea!

[Finsky]

I just received my 2 1/2" medium Fuzzy Dwarf and a large Dwarf Zebra(DOA).

I am waiting 14 days to see whether the Fuzzy Dwarf makes it then they will ship out a replacement Dwarf Zebra.

Please excuse these pictures as they were taken with the tank lights out for the Fuzzy Dwarf acclimation.

The Fu Manchu came up to side by side to greet the Fuzzy and then the Fu Manchu went back up into the rocks. The 2 1/2" Redfin Waspfish was in the right substrate and he greeted the Fuzzy with no problems as well! One of the pictures shows the 2 1/2" Redfin Waspfish, the 2 1/2" Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish, and the Wartskin Angler in the background. They are all hanging out togeather in the right front substrate when I looked a minute ago. The Fu Manchu is moving around and Leaf Fish are up in the rocks.

I probably should not have taken any pictures with the tank dark for acclimation although I wanted to show him off.

I may have mistyped above. The Leaf Fish are still the only ones still eating live exclusively. I got two pieces of silverside into the Wartskin Angler and he ate a live ghost shrimp which got away from the Leaf Fish last weekend.

[Finsky]

Fuzzy disappeared a week ago and has not been seen since. I used my 14 day guarantee credit to place a new order which is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.

The order will be for a 3 1/4" Fu Manchu Lionfish from Drs. Foster and Smith Diver's Den to keep my 4" Fu Manchu "company" and a large 3" to 5" Red/Orange Angler (Antennarius sp.) from their California facility with a maximum size of 6" to keep my Wartskin Angler "company".

I think this will be a better stocking option of the tank rather than adding two or three more dwarf lionfish each of which grow to a 7" maximum. I was thinking Fuzzy Dwarf, Zebra Dwarf and Antennata Dwarf. One less fish and smaller sized.

The Fu Manchu came over and horned in on today's live ghost shrimp feeding of the smaller Yellow Hawaiian Leaf Fish. I had purchased a dozen and a half live ghost shrimp from Petsmart which has them for $.33 each compared to Petco which wants $.50 each! I ended up putting five in my ten gallon fresh water tank with cardinal tetras, neon tetras and cherry barbs.

The larger of the leaf fish ate about five ghost shrimp and the smaller ate about three and the lion ate one or two before I pushed it away with the net. I think I lost about three ghost shrimp to the live rocks trying to feed the small leaf fish more than its fill of three.

The Fu Manchu, Redfin Waspfish, and Wartskin Angler just had a big feeding of silverside and krill pieces on Friday.

Efforts will now be necessary to get the the new carnivores acclimated and weaned off live ghost shrimp onto frozen food.

I looked at my excel aquarium log and the leaf fish have been in my tank for two months and I am still working at getting them to take frozen food.

I have been thinking I could definitely use the idea of a large fishing line to impale the frozen food. The Wartskin was having difficult getting the silverside off the feeding stick as the wood feeding stick was at a 90 degree angle to the anglers mouth although it finally faced upward to grab the silverside and I was able to pull the stick out of its mouth without the food.

[namxas]

here's a vid of our fu eating. that's 50 lb test monofilament on the end of the stick, and it works so well that we use this type of stick exclusively, even for our large fish:

fu having a chew (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrD4ln1xm3g)


as for two fu's in a setup, it's difficult to keep multiple fu's in the same tank without them fighting, altho you MIGHT luck out and end up with a M-F pair. in fact, Mental1 (Sherrie) has a thread in here about her multiple fu's...she's no sure if they're mating or fighting. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1868464

[Finsky]

Greg:

I have an unopened spool of 150 yards of 50 lb test from Walmart waiting to be put into action although I cannot figure how to attach a length of it to the end of a feeding stick, how much to attach, and what kind of feed stick?

Can you tell me how much line you used and how you attached it to your feeding stick?

Also, what is your feeding stick made of?

I am having difficulty feeding the Wartskin as well as Fu Manchu and Redfin Waspfish as the food gets "stuck" on the wooden feeding stick.

I also think the wooden feeding stick is hard and distracts them.

[khaosinc]

what I did (with the Eel and a grumpy trigger I used to have) was to use the fishing line run through some small airline tubing. That way it could move with the current a bit, and I could jiggle it like it was trying to escape...

[Finsky]

The most aggression I have in the tank is the 3 1/2" female Cinamon and the 3" Clarkii female. The have both survived togeather although the Cinnamon will chase the Clarkii around and crash their parties once and a while. She even laid some eggs near the Clarkiis' red rose and there is a bit more chasing although the large female Clarkii seems to deal with it. I am waiting for them to hatch and then hopefully things will quiet down. At night time the Cinnamons will sleep in their right side anemones and the Clarkiis will sleep in their left side anemones. Going left to right in my five foot tank I have two green bubble tips and then a red rose bubble tip on the left side where the Clarkiis reside and then starting 2/3 of the way to the right I have a large 10 inch green bubble tip, a large 10 inch red rose bubble tip, and then a new green bubble tip about four inches which seems to have planted its foot deep into the live rock about six inches from the right end. The new green bubble tip ate some razor clam today which is a good sign after only one week in the tank.

I need to get on the ball and make myself fish line feeding stick maybe with some hard plastic tubing for feeding the Fu Manchu, Redfin Waspfish, Cream, Maroon Wartskin Angler, and the new arrivals: a orange/red Angler (Antennarius sp.) and the 3 1/4 inch Fu Manchu. "Hopefully" the Fu Manchus will get along or I will have to trade the new comer in to a local fish store. I will try to add a six inch closed brain coral and the angler first and then put the second Fu Manchu in last.

I just hope the Cinnamon will not come after it as I feed the razor clam to the anemones with a sharpened 30" plastic airline tube and she bites it repeatedly when I feed the anemones and I have to lower the clam pieces quickly into the middle of the anemones as she will push the tubing around.

[namxas]

Finsky,

we use about 8" of line on a commercial acrylic feeding stick, we leave a bout 4-5" hangin off the end, and secure it with plain old scotch tape in about 4 places (we do this so it's EZ to replace the fishing line when it wears out (gets ruff after awhile):

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll73/hixphotobucket/stick900.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll73/hixphotobucket/sticktip700.jpg


another person on the boards decided to use clear plastic card holders from flower arrangements as the stick part and threads and knots the line thru a couple of holes.

[Finsky]

Greg:

Where did you get that "commercial" feeding stick? Can I order one on line. If I use plastic tubing my female Cinamon clown may attack it as I used a hard plastic airline tube for feeding the anemones their razor clam. I do have one of those "squirts" which telescopes and has a retractable pointed plastic tip for impaling larger pieces of food. I suppose I could use it although it has a turkey baster like bulb on the top and is a bit hard to maneuver.

My order came in today from Drs. Foster and Smith. After work I acclimated the 3 1/4" Fu Manchu, an Orange/Red Angler(Antennarius maculatus), a favite closed brain coral with green neon centers, and six medium cardinal tretras for my 10 gallon fresh water tank. I use the 10 gallon for storing ghost shrimp and now 7 neon tetras, 9 cardinal tretras, and two chery barbs with two Hagen Aquaclear 20 powerfilters.

Everybody is tucked in for the night with the 4 1/2" to 5" Indonesian Orange/Red Angler in the front right substrate with the 4" Cebu Cream and Maroon Wartskin Angler(Antennarius maculatus) about 12" to the left. The two lions are in hunting mode, the first one 4" in the center of the rocks and the new one 3 1/4" about six inches to the left in a wide crevice in the rocks. I forgot to mention the nice favite replacing the dead lobed brain coral in the middle top of the rocks to the right of a nice purple lobed brain. I do not know why one lobed made it and the other was almost complete dark brown skeleton.

[Finsky]

This morning I looked at the tank at 6:08 am with the lights out and the two Fu Manchu were hanging out within six inches of each other in the right end in the rocks. The Wartskin Angler was looking forward next to his lavender sps montiopora mountain in the front substrate four inches from the orange/red angler who was in the front right corner looking back at a 45 degree angle. The Waspfish is probably hiding in his left end hang out. One Leaf fish was in the front center substrate and the other was in her upper back right hang out on top of the rocks.

As the clown fish go to their respective ends at night to sleep, the female Clarkii was occasionally bothering the male Cinnamon who was sticking next to the eggs on the a rock in the Clarkiis' left side while his wife slept in their right side anemone green anemone.

[namxas]

the feeding sticks come from the LFS. they have a pointed end, which we round off slightly since we don't use the point to skewer food. we have found that some fish seem "bothered" by rigid airline...apparently, they can see it, or it reflects light in some way that distracts them from feeding, but give that a try if you can't find a solid acrylic stick, which is all the feeding sticks are.

if you still have problems LMK, and i'll see if we can send one to you.

[Finsky]

Today I fed my new 3 1/4" Fu Manchu a whole frozen krill with a feeding stick. That was all he would eat. His white color is whiter than my first Fu Manchu. The new 4 1/2" orange angler was not hungry in his first day in the tank even though I rubbed a piece of silverside head in his face. He did open his mouth wide and pushed out a stream of water so I left him alone. I am not too worried about him eating frozen food when he gets hungry. My 2 1/2" Redfin Waspfish ate an entire silverside head which took him a bit of effort with three or four gulps once he got hold of it. The Cebu Warskin Angler who is more like 3 1/2" than the 4" he was sold as ate two large pieces of silverside I rubbed in his face until he opened his mouth and grabbed them off the stick. The 4" Fu Manchu ate four or five pieces of krill and silverside with no problem, grabbing the food vigorously.

The Leaf Fish are still turning their noses up at frozen food although I tickled their noses with krill antanae. I still feed them live ghost shrimp on the weekends as much as they will eat. I think they will be the only fish eating live food exclusively unless they give in to my krill offerings.

I need to get to work this holiday weekend and make a feeding stick with the 50 lbs test line. For now I will check around to see if they offer a solid acrylic feeding stick in any of the LFS in my area. Thanks for the offering to send me one. I also need to clean at least one Rena XP4 canister this weekend. I may clean both this month although a guy from That Fish Place out of Lancaster, PA told me I could alternate by cleaning one canister every other month. It takes about three to four hours to clean both with a water change.

[Finsky]

I just went over to the tank with four LED lights on and spotted my 4" Fu Manchu(wishful thinker1) on the center of the live rock about five inches above the front substrate facing down over a gap in the live rock where my big enough not to be eaten angels and tangs use to get into the rock work.

I then started looking for the new 3 1/4" Fu Manchu in the right side and when I looked more closely at FU1 I saw the tail of FU2 only two or three inches away from FU1's tail. FU2 was facing upwards with its head under a round edge of a table/leaf coral on the top center of the rocks. It looks like I may have lucked out from what I have heard about species on species aggression with the FUs.

[Finsky]

Hi Greg:

I wanted to thank you for offering to send me an acrylic feeding stick and for the idea as I never thought they were available. I checked out That Fish Place/That Pet Place at www.thatpetplace.com since I used to live a six hour drive from their store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania before moving to Olympia, WA. I ordered two at 2.99 each and two 5 oz chemi-pures for my two Hagen 20 Aqua clear powerfilters on my 10 gallon feeder tank with Neon and Cardinal Tetras.

I hope they will make my fish and myself happy!

Feeding Prong - 17 in.
Ocean Nutrition
WIDTH 1/8 IN. DIAMETER
LENGTH 17 IN.
TYPE CLEAR ACRYLIC, RUBBER COATED TIP

[Finsky]

I woke up a few days ago to find my 3 1/4" was in the left front corner with rigamortous with one left fin sticking out and its mouth frozen open.

It was eating frozen krill just fine for the two weeks I had him. He was gettin along just fine with my 4" Fu Manchu? I never saw any other fish bother him and he was coming out more as the days went by?

Bummer. I do not know whether it would be worth trying to add another dwarf lionfish such as a large 2 1/2 to 4" Zebra Dwarf from Dr. Foster and Smith with my 2 1/2 Redfin Waspfish, two anglers, pair of Yellow Hawaiian Leaf fish, one Fu Manchu. They have all been getting along so far and maybe it would be best to maintain what I have as far as small carnivores.

I did receive the acrylic feeding sticks and they are quite thin although I have not had a chance to try them. I am doing on vacation for a week and will have someone come in every two days to top off the tank and put food in for the angels, tangs, clowns.

The carnivores have been getting extra food this past week since I will wait to feed them when I return.

[namxas]

that sux...i wonder if your other fu never let it settle in...then again, ya never know.

the feeding stix are thin indeed, altho we still add the monofilament as that's "what works for us".

[Finsky]

For sure I am going to try the monofilament if the Leaf fish do not eat from the stick which I doubt they will.

I think the Orange Angler which is supposed to get 6" ate my 3" female clarkii clown so I think there is a reason for him not eating from the stick although I might have to try with monofilament with him as well. He has not bothered the 4" angeler today or any other fish. I am guessing he did this as there is no constant chasing in the tank of the female clarkii by the 3 1/2" to 4" female cinnamon and the water parameters have remained constant to suggest no dead fish decaying behind the rocks although I have plenty of hermit crabs which could consumer a fish carcass. The 3" male clarkii is still hanging around although not drawing any chasing from the female cinnamon.

I am on vacation until next Saturday the 23rd so I will see how things sit when I return.

[coolwaves]

i've heard both that lions are nocturnal and crepuscular feeders... maybe it depends on the species. You might find this interesting...

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/WWMDigitalMagV1Ish1.htm

[Finsky]

congrats! getting a "difficult" species weaned is huge. i think you'll find that your fu will be a voracious feeder now that it's "with the program". great work!

if you can convert your leaf fish, you'll be a member of a very small club indeed.

:fish2:Well namxas, I looked at my aquarium log and it says: Pair of Yellow Hawaiian Leaf fish 3 1/2" to 3 3/4" eating live ghost shrimp acquired from Drs. Foster and Smith Diver's Den on August 27, 2010.

Tonight cut up and thawed pieces of silverside and along with some frozen krill.

I fed a large piece of krill to my 2 1/2" Redfin Waspfish which is his favorite. I then approached the larger of the two leaf fish with a fair sized piece of frozen krill on the end of a wooden feeding stick and he snapped it right off the end!!!!

I then went to the other leaf fish and he took a snap at another piece of krill I put on the stick only by this time the Purple Tang and Powder Blue Tang barged in and snapped at the krill at the same time.

I satiated the tangs and went back to the second leaf fish with a piece of krill tickling her nose for ten minutes with no feeding reponse.

One down and one to go.

The Fu Manchu ate silversides, the Maroon and Cream Wartsking Angler had silverside, the Orange Indonesian Angler was not hungry as last feeding he snapped a silverside head off the feeding stick.

Now I have my two anglers, one lion fish, one waspfish, and one leaf fish eating frozen food.

I decided to let the leaf fish go hungry for a week after a multiple day feeding spree a week ago.

[Finsky]

I am expecting a medium Dwarf Zebra Lionfish, a medium Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish, and a medium Antennata Lionfish tomorrow.

So far my leaf fish, two anglers, waspfish, and Fu Manchu are getting along famously.

[namxas]

WOW...you've come over to "the dark side" in a BIG way!

Excellent work on the weaning!

[Idle Moor]

right now, when a molly hits the water, the lion fish just changes character, lol smooth and slow movements, positions itself behind the prey, and actually waits for the molly to look at him face to face and then eats it, it wont eat a molly swimming away !!! one cruel lion ? or are they all like this ?


My belief here is that the molly has less chance of escape when the lion makes his move if it is pointed towards the lion. Once the molly senses danger it's only choices are then to back away, or to turn around and then swim away moving forward. Both choices are slower than if the molly was already pointed away from the lion. Additionally, it has been thought that the large pectorals of the lion act to block escape routes to the sides of the the mouth, the only other quick option for a prey fish pointed towards the lion.

[Finsky]

congrats! getting a "difficult" species weaned is huge. i think you'll find that your fu will be a voracious feeder now that it's "with the program". great work!

if you can convert your leaf fish, you'll be a member of a very small club indeed.

Well, I followed the idea of using monofilament line after my father mentioned I may be scaring the Leaf fish with the wooden skewers. I cut a couple of grooves near the end about and inch apart and tied on about five or six inches of 50 lbs monafilament line.

The male started off taking a piece of krill which had fallen off the wooden skewer.

I then tried the monafilament line and the male could not get enough until he had about six good sized pieces. He was really into it and I started to switch to the female who was also in the upper right end of the tank above the heater. She followed suite and then I went back to the male who ate everything offered until he had his fill. The female took about four good sized pieces from the monafilament which was enough for her.

They both have fat bellies and I am happy as a clam.

Now I have my Fu Manchu and Fuzzy Dwarf lions, Redfin Waspfish, Wartskin Angler, Indonesian Orange Angler, and the pair of Yellow Hawaiian Leaf fish all eating frozen food!!!!!!!!!!

No other lion made it in my tank accept the four month four inch Fu Manchu and one month two inch Fuzzy Dwarf.

I can now turn to my aquaculture project as I purchased a 5.5 lb piece of live rock after work and put it in the tank for this weekend to make a second high point. I need to relocate a one inch bright orange Candy Cane Montiopora Capricornous and a two inch purple Montiopora Capricornous.

I just put the live rock in the right front substrate until the Two Little Fishes putty arrives in the mail.

[namxas]

Congrats on the weaning! That's really great!