[c-c]

I'm c-c, new to the forums, and have several tanks. One is a 55 gal. saltwater with three aggressive voracious fish which are: a spotted grouper (6 in), a freckled hawk (6 in.) and a lionfish (5 in.). They are all carnivorous and very hungry. I started out feeding them live rosey reds and they could eat 4 or 5 each!:eek: So now try to feed silver sides frozen type. Only the lionfish is a picky eater and refuses the frozen food. What else can I feed them for variety? Any suggestions? I'm looking for a cheaper way to sustain them.

[donny]

i also have a lion fish he will only eat gold fish but my 3 groupers will eat frozen shrimp,clams. you can buy a lot of them at walmart and alos i feed every other day not every day

[baycity20]

Rosy Reds are pretty cheap and even though your fish eat a lot of them they dont need it all. I feed my medium sized panthar grouper one every two days and hes fine I would just cut down on the amount your feeding and you could try brine shrimp

[pbukow]

Feed them krill, very good food. With the lionfish, try to target feed him with a thawed piece of food and stick on an acrylic stick and dangle it in front of him. A lot of times these guys need to be weened away from the live stuff, just offer the dead stuff more often and live stuff less. Keep him hungry too, a hungry fish is a brave fish and will be more inclinded to taste the dead food.

Freshwater fish have a lot of fats in them that can be unhealthy for marine animals, good idea to use it at first just not the only thing any saltwater fish should eat for its life.

[avengexthexdead]

i guess im lucky my lionfish eats just about anything meaty i give him

[Twan013]

why would it be a problem to buy a bunch of saltwater feederfish or shrimp, and let them roam around the tank until one of your "big fish" gets hungry? or is it the kind of situation that they'll eat anything in sight, even if they're not hungry? i don't know anything about agressive fish setups, so i just thought i'd ask...

[erickc]

Try the acrylic stick like pbukow and if that doesn't work try again and again, it worked with my lion. Good luck!

[c-c]

Erickc, What is the acrylic stick? I never heard of it. pbukow?? Is that the supplier? Does it come frozen?
Since my original post the grouper and freckled hawk eat thawed silver sides about 4 each per day. I just drop them in the tank and they race to gobble them up.

Then along comes the lionfish to the top looking for his serving. I drop one in and he ignores it. Once in a while I get him to eat one silver side by keeping it in the net and "acting" like it is a live fish by twirling it around. It is still spoiled and waits up to two days for live food. I'm afraid to wait too much longer because of his agressive tank mates who I am afraid will pick on him if he gets weak from lack of food.
THANKS YOU GUYS FOR ALL OF YOUR SUGGESTIONS!!! Will try any ideas for my sweet little lion.

[Danakor]

by acrylic stick they meant get an acryillic dowel rod put the food on it and move it around so that it will actually think that the food is alive. Remember in the wild Fish do not always find food everyday, in fact some species of fish can live a long time without food. Me personally I think you are over feeding them. But it is yuor tank and your fish so you can do what you want with them. Me Personally I feed my fish with dried food and they get 1 flake per fish per day. and I have never had a problem with them not being active or having a lack of energy.

[erickc]

That is what I meant by acrylic stick, and I too think you could be over feeding. I'm happy to help if I can, just ask

[pyromaniac398]

you could raise your own baby fish to feed them. I have a pair of Black Convicts that mate like rabbits. the female lays every 30 days almost exactly usually with 200-500 eggs. i have two other 10 gallons to raise the fry in. simple set up with substrate heater and filter. I use them to feed my Freshwater meat eaters. I even raise my own brine shrimp to feed the babies. its like having my own ecosystem in my spare bedroom (and it saves me tons of money )

[Krazy]

Go to your local asain food market and get the frozen seafood packs, they are super cheap compared to everywhere else...

for example I got a frozen seafood mix pack for 2.99, I added some other stuff here at the house and made 3 quart sized bags of frozen food, my fish go nutz

[c-c]

Lots of good ideas from everyone, thanks alot!!!

[snapper1]

I buy frozen white shrimp from Albertsons for $6.00 a pound to feed my Triggers and Groupers it is much cheaper.I am also new here I think I will fit in fine here.I let the shrimp thaw for awhile and then cut it up into smaller pieces its cheaper then buying from a Local Fish Shop.

[amag]

I also have a few aggressive fishes, most recently the one I just picked up a few days ago...a 5 inch Polleni Grouper. I also have a 5 inch Austrailian Harlequin Tuskfish and a smaller spotted Grouper. I alternate feeding them Silversides, Krill and prawns that I picked up at the grocery store. They really love the prawns from the grocery store which are a lot cheaper compared to the Krill and Silversides.

Here's a couple of pics of the new guy;

[snapper1]

Nice Grouper Ameg those Groupers cost some Major Bucks

[jgo1973]

Lord Kale (My Huge Lion) eats silversides and krill. I had to train him on a bambo skewer and wiggle the fish like it was alive, now I just drop it in. Try for several days in a row...he will eat when he is hungry enough. Gold fish are ok from time to time...if you fed him that alone he would die from "fatty liver".

Hope that helps

[c-c]

Jessi,
I have met your Lord Kale, cool video! I have so much appreciated all the ideas. Our Lion (Porky) now eats thawed silver sides, but do appreciate all the suggestions as I know variety is key to good nutrition and also the most cost effective is key for his survival. silver sides are a little expensive around here. I go through an 8 ounce pack which costs 8 to 10 dollars about every 3 weeks. Then of course, what isn't expensive in this hobby?

[roadtripfam]

Hi, You might want to try sqid. I had a pred tank with groupers, snappers, and eels. I used to get them sqid a the local bait shop. about 3 bucks for a box. Also the bait shop also should carry killies a salt water bait fish about an inch long. Hope this helps.

Joe

[c-c]

Jim,
I want to definitely try the squid, cutting it into thin slivers to start, thanks for the idea.