Whats the trick to keep a Volitan Lionfish alive for many years

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

Seems like i cant keep a volitan lionfish alive for more than a year. They start small grow up rather well and get large,eat voraciously but then suddenly stop eating and die.
I feed Prosalt Silversides and prawn.
Is there something i am doing wrong ? All other fish live for many years just the lionfish.What gives? :debi:

[A Reef Scene]

You might want to use more different food, squid, scallops, fish chunks and so on. I will not feed any food that is from freshwater can cause problems. What are your water conditions, and how big is your tank?

[sacremon]

Also, how often are you feeding once they get large, and how much each time?

[namxas]

As mentioned, a good, varied diet is the best way to go.

As far as feeding schedule goes, you shouldn't feed the fish more than 3 times a week, and don't give it large pieces of food. For most scorps, I recommend six pieces of food no larger than the fish's eye diameter, and certainly nothing larger than twice its eye size.

What size tank are you keeping it in, and what are its tankmates?

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

300 gallon Fish only.i keep puffers,hippo tangs, triggers, eels, groupers all together with no fighting. Just seems that rthe lionfish just stop eating and die. other fish 9 years old and still going strong.
Water changes are 40% every other week.Sometimes 30% weekly when times allows. but never ever every 3 weeks.salt level 1.020

[seahorsedreams]

Those tankmates can be a little much for a non aggressive lion. We don't have to see fighting for there to be aggression. It can be as simple as one fish constantly hanging to close to the another. We may not perceive it as aggression, but they would know.

But the diet is probably your issue. Some "silversides" are not the best choices and their fats can go rancid over a short period of time. This can cause anorexia is lions. Some silversides have thiaminase, which also causes anorexia. First the thiaminase removes the thiamine from the frozen fare during storage and then continues to remove it from the fish who has eaten it. Small fish need a very strong, fresh and frozen diet to grow properly. Right now it's kind of like raising a kid on McDonald's.... they just aren't going to be healthy and strong as time passes.

We use a lot of Beta Glucan and vitamin C as welll as B12. We change up the food several times a month to avoid the fat oxidation and to cover all nutrients. Generally we buy whatever fare is on sale that week.

Small lions are irresistable.