[Kissed82]

Ok, 2 days ago we bought a fuzzy dwarf lion. The store said he was not eating frozen yet but should switch over pretty easy (yeah right) So we have him home and he is still very unsure of his new tank and is in PERMA HIDING MODE... Fun fun... We have just fed our tank like normal and we can see him "thinking" about the frozen as it floats by him...

We are going on day 3 of having him so I went to go buy him a few ghost shrimp today... and no luck, sold out... So I bought 3 rosies, dropped one in the tank and he swam around till he died from the saltwater... I put the 2nd one near where the lion was hiding and once again the rosie swam off to its saltwater doom... I still have the 3rd rosie in a glass.... What do I do??


How do I get the rosie to the lion before it dies?
How do I train the lion to eat frozen?
How long can my lion go w/o eating?
Help!

[Kissed82]

I have been watching and watching and no reply... Thanks for all the help, guess I will go somewhere where people are willing to help and not just read.

[bri74]

You could try to put some krill pieces in when I got my first lion he wouldnt eat anything live and krill is all he would eat even though lfs said he wouldnt eat anything but live chow after a few weeks he eats anything and everything lol. We dont always get to check on posts here all the time just be patient someone will get back to you. O and 3 days believe it or not isnt that bad I think my black one went 6 days at first. Now krill is the only frozen food he will eat. But he loves little guppies and rosy reds he will eat them till he cant hardly swim

[c-c]

I haven't been online for a week or more... busy getting kids off to new school year ... Sorry I missed your post....
I love fuzzy dwarfs... Sorry about your dilemma. Bri has good suggestions...

Commentary:

For future reference, I ask the lfs fish keeper to show me that the fish DOES INDEED eat, before I buy it. If they refuse to feed it, I walk away. Some times I'll wait until a better associate is on the job and will ask again, or you can ask to talk to the manager. If they are really interested in making a sale,( being that it is an expensive fish) they should go through the effort to show you how it eats,... if not, I would take your business elsewhere.

I told the store clerk that I needed an aggressive eater because he would be housed with a spotted grouper and a freckled hawkfish. The clerk threw in about 6 live rosie reds and he voraciously inhaled everyone in short order. I was convinced he would hold his own.

At home, he did wait a day or two before he ate, but I knew he was adjusting ... knowing that his belly was full from the store, I was able to patiently wait out his adjustment with out too much anxiety.
I hope you have good luck on you fuzzy dwarfy... I love them...

[c-c]

Kissed82,
Don't forget to scroll down to bottom of this page where similar posts on feeding problems with lions may answer your problem.

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Hey Kissed82........don't go! Everyone here is a BIG help- hope you are still around to show us a pic of your lion!

[e_baer]

yup, i had the same problem with my lion. after about a week, he finally went after the rosys. it just takes time.

[Kissed82]

I got him to eat a few ghost shrimp and thats it. We are working with him on eating frozen foods... no luck yet.

here is a pic of him on day one


and one of him hiding

[e_baer]

those are nice button polyps!

[glampka]

Maybe he'll eat if you take him out of the bag!!!

[Kissed82]

Thanks it started as a small frag of like 3 and exploded into what we have now on 2 different rocks.

hmmm... out of the bag... great idea! look at the second pic... there he is out of the bag and hiding. (I take pics of everything that goes in the tank before they are released in the tank)


There is my photobucket.... I have taken pics of everything... some things we still have and others didnt make it...
its from the start of the tank till now...
Kissed82Fish - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Nice pics! Glad you are still here! He is cute! Your rock formation is nice,too!

[c-c]

Jamie,
Since you have a different set up than mine, I don't know if this idea would work...
I have a 55 gal. with very little live rock, just lots of sand and one structure in the middle for hiding. I only have 3 other fish mates. The grouper hides in the cave, the freckled hawk sits on top of the structure, and the Dwarfy goes to a corner and perches. There are hermit crabs, choc chip star and pencil urchin in the tank also.

When it's feeding time, I turn the lights out in the tank but put a room light on so they can still see. It gives the illusion of dusk. I read somewhere that lionfish are night predatores, thus their big bluish eyes are made for night vision. Maybe the darkness takes some of his fear away... it also trains him that it is HIS TIME to come to supper.

I used to put the food in a large net and take it to him so when the rosie swam out it went right past his face, if he missed it, I would scoop the rosie out refresh it in fresh water and try again. After several attenpts, if he wasn't interested, I would return it to the "live bait tank" (also used for our fresh water pirrahana, oscar cichlids, wolf fish etc.)

He was very lazy at first and did not want to go hunting, or perhaps he was afraid to hunt with the grouper and hawkfish charging after everything. So I fed the other two first, then by that time the dwarfy got the idea, its feeding time. He would look about as if to say, "hey, whats all the action about, I want in on this too."

Even after he started coming to the net to eat live rosies, I continued to use the net for a while because he learned to associate net with feeding time, and it helped to get his attention. When really hungry, he would even enter the net to get the rosie. From live rosies, I went to frozen silversides, of similar size lto the rosies and swished the net around to make the frozen look like it was swimming and like I was trying to keep the fish from swimming out. Thinking it was a live rosie he was tricked into eating frozen. Some one else used the stick method to dangle the fish in from of him but this didn't work for me.

I notice that he is hungrier if he swims around more in the tank. He used to chase the net around. Now he comes to the same predictable spot in the tank and waits for me to drop in the silver sides (previously soaked in a vitamin solution). He'll eat 5 to 7 silvers in one meal, in minute intervals.

Mine tends to perch alot and seems lazy which would lessen his appetite.
I usually feed every other day unless he is looking for food when I walk in the room, by going to his spot in mid tank and looking up at the surface for me to drop.

How is your little guy doing by now? Is he holding his own?
I imagine he could have been overwhelmed by the other tank mates, etc. in the beginning. I can see from your pics that he would have alot of places to hide.
Have you noticed him moving around after the lights go out?

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Wow !! That is alot of helpful info. I didn't know about the 'night vision - but it makes sense. Thanks for your tips. I may put them to use in my tank.