How often should I be feeding my lionfish?

Nicole33 · Mar 5, 2016

I recently purchased a Dwarf Fuzzy lionfish that is about 2-3 inches long (very small).
The lfs i bought him at told me he ate that day before I bought him. He's been at my house for 2 days now and I haven't seen him eat anything yet, and ignores all food I offer. Is this normal? How often should I expect him to eat? I've tried shrimp, plankton, and silver slides. He's ignored it all, even if i place it directly in front of him with tongs -- no interest.

FeliciaLynn · Mar 5, 2016

Once a lionfish is settled in and they are healthy, they should pretty much take food whenever its offered. However, its best for them to eat about 3 times a week. They can go a couple weeks at a time without eating, so I wouldn't panic yet. However, you definitely need to figure out why it isn't eating.

Did your LFS say what the fish had supposedly eaten before you bought it? I don't normally like to purchase lionfish unless I actually get to witness it eat at the store, but hopefully he's healthy and just still settling in. When you say shrimp, are you offering live shrimp? Lionfish basically always come in only eating live food, so don't expect them to take frozen right away. You are going to have to feed live food and then slowly wean the fish onto frozen, which could take weeks to months. Ghost shrimp are usually the easiest/best choice as live food. Just make sure you feed the shrimp some high quality marine food (such as pellets or flakes) before feeding the shrimp to the lionfish, so that it has nutritional value. You should be able to find freshwater feeder ghost shrimp locally, or you can order some online.

Also, are there any other fish in the tank with the lion? Any big aggressive fish that could be intimidating him so that he won't eat? Is he getting picked at?

mcarroll · Mar 5, 2016

I'd say my experience differs slightly....once fed, it's not uncommon for them to refuse further meals for a few days to a week. The bigger they are, the more true this becomes.

That also depend what they eat, however.

If he at two pellets three days ago, that's not normal...he'd be hungry by now. On the other hand, if he ate (e.g.) a whole silverside, then it'll be more than a minute (up to a week or even more) before he's ready to eat again.

If you don't have a feeding prong, you might buy or fabricate one to try. I didn't always need it, but I used that to acclimate a lot of lion fish to frozen krill. Frozen krill seemed to be the most-favored food too, so try that if you don't already have it.

Too soon to worry, but stay sharp and keep offering the best food you can. (Keep the tank clean though!)

E048 · Mar 5, 2016

Feed him live shrimp or buy a small $2-3 damsel that will usually answer your question

Nicole33 · Mar 5, 2016

FeliciaLynn said:
Once a lionfish is settled in and they are healthy, they should pretty much take food whenever its offered. However, its best for them to eat about 3 times a week. They can go a couple weeks at a time without eating, so I wouldn't panic yet. However, you definitely need to figure out why it isn't eating.

Did your LFS say what the fish had supposedly eaten before you bought it? I don't normally like to purchase lionfish unless I actually get to witness it eat at the store, but hopefully he's healthy and just still settling in. When you say shrimp, are you offering live shrimp? Lionfish basically always come in only eating live food, so don't expect them to take frozen right away. You are going to have to feed live food and then slowly wean the fish onto frozen, which could take weeks to months. Ghost shrimp are usually the easiest/best choice as live food. Just make sure you feed the shrimp some high quality marine food (such as pellets or flakes) before feeding the shrimp to the lionfish, so that it has nutritional value. You should be able to find freshwater feeder ghost shrimp locally, or you can order some online.

Also, are there any other fish in the tank with the lion? Any big aggressive fish that could be intimidating him so that he won't eat? Is he getting picked at?

They actually said they offered him frozen mysis shrimp and that he took it. But I wish I could've seen it personally. I'll go ahead and get some ghost shrimp at the store and see how he does with those since he hasn't had any interest in frozen. I was trying to give him frozen mysis and then i even tried brine shrimp.

My lion currently shares the 60 gallon with some chromies. I understand he could eventually become aggressive towards them and see them as lunch, they were just my starter fish. I had 2 clowns as well but they are now in a separate tank. So definitely nothing big and scary to intimidate him.

Nicole33 · Mar 5, 2016

mcarroll said:
I'd say my experience differs slightly....once fed, it's not uncommon for them to refuse further meals for a few days to a week. The bigger they are, the more true this becomes.

That also depend what they eat, however.

If he at two pellets three days ago, that's not normal...he'd be hungry by now. On the other hand, if he ate (e.g.) a whole silverside, then it'll be more than a minute (up to a week or even more) before he's ready to eat again.

If you don't have a feeding prong, you might buy or fabricate one to try. I didn't always need it, but I used that to acclimate a lot of lion fish to frozen krill. Frozen krill seemed to be the most-favored food too, so try that if you don't already have it.

Too soon to worry, but stay sharp and keep offering the best food you can. (Keep the tank clean though!)

I do have a feeding prong that I've used to try to encourage him to eat some silverslides but I was unsuccessful.
I'm going to pick up some live food and try that. I do have hermits in the tank which at this point if he eats I won't mind because my hermits are being a nuisance, but I haven't had any go missing yet so I know he hasn't been eating them.
He acts as if he's in good health! I can upload some pics just to show his physical appearance also in a bit.
This is my first lion so I just want to make sure everything's going ok. I'll try some frozen krill, haven't tried that one yet.

mcarroll · Mar 5, 2016

I liked the IQF brand of krill since you can feed them individually. ("I QF" = individually quick frozen ) Buy whatever you have available to you, but those are much friendlier to work with if you can find them – even worth paying a little extra for in my opinion.

Nicole33 · Mar 5, 2016

here's a pic of him just to show you how he's doing physically!

Nicole33 · Mar 5, 2016

mcarroll said:
I liked the IQF brand of krill since you can feed them individually. ("I QF" = individually quick frozen ) Buy whatever you have available to you, but those are much friendlier to work with if you can find them – even worth paying a little extra for in my opinion.

i'll look into that, thank you!

mcarroll · Mar 5, 2016

Your mileage may always very from individual to individual, especially within the confines of an aquarium, but as a generalization, these guys are ambush predators of other fish.

On the list of alternatives, hermits with their highly armored shells would be fairly low....snails too.

They will, however, eat another fish that is almost as big as they are and will sometimes go to great trouble to do so. Anything relatively softbodied, actually.

Check this out:
https://www.gcfi.org/Lionfish/Papers/2009/MorrisGCFI_61_Paper.pdf

Feeding Ecology

In the Red Sea, lionfish (P. miles) have been reported to feed on assorted taxa of benthic fishes includ- ing damselfish, cardinal fish, and anthias (Fishelson 1975, Fishelson 1997). However, in the Pacific Ocean, P. lunulata were observed to feed primarily on invertebrates including penaeid and mysid shrimps (Matsumiya et al. 1980, Williams and Williams 1986). Assessments of invasive lionfish feeding suggests that lionfish are largely piscivorous, but also feed on a number of crustaceans. The particular taxa of highest importance in invasive lionfish diet will likely vary by habitat type and prey availability.

Feeding, growth, and starvation of P. volitans from the Red Sea was investigated by Fishelson (1997) who reported that lionfish stomachs can expand over 30 times in volume after consuming a large meal. This capability supported Fishelson’s hypothesis that lionfish were capable of longterm fasting, and demonstrated their ability to withstand starvation for periods of over 12 weeks without mortality. Fishelson (1997) also measured daily consump- tion rates in the laboratory for six size classes of lionfish ranging from 30 - 300g and found that lionfish consumed approximately 2.5 – 6.0% of their body weight per day at 25 - 26 °C. Preliminary observations suggest that lionfish in their invaded range can consume piscine prey at rates greater than reported earlier by Fishelson (1997). Quantifi- cation of the feeding ecology of lionfish including

Lionfish Lair · Mar 5, 2016

Could you get him photographed next to something for size reference? If he's a baby, he'll need more frequent feeding. If he's more a juvie it will be less. I think maybe yours is a juvie and can go with three times a week. I do Mon, wed and Friday because that's easy for me, but I switch it up. Like last night I had something to do, so I feed last night, Saturday instead.

You need to get variety into him as far as food. Do you have access to a "fresh" seafood counter at the market? Last week I bought a small portion of fresh salmon, 2 scallops and 2 table shrimp and I already had cod. That's what they'll get this week. I only keep food for two weeks, because it really degrades quickly. You don't want to be feeding food that has oxidized. It makes the food void of some nutrients and also gives you "chemicals" that are harmful. Do not feed one product or one type of food. If you get a food sold the fish stores, that's only to be used as a small part of the diet.

BUT!.... have you trained him to frozen? If not, you'll have to get some live food. Guppies or shrimp. We'll help you train him.

FeliciaLynn · Mar 5, 2016

Gorgeous fish! I'd say go ahead and get some ghost shrimp to have on hand. At least if he eats those, you know he's healthy and eating. Then you can proceed to frozen from there with less stress. You can take your time finding what he likes or weaning him onto frozen.

I had really good success with PE mysis with my two smaller lionfish (the dwarf zebra and antennata). They seemed to like that a lot of the PE mysis are a bit larger and whole, so that if you use tongs to hold them by the tail and wiggle them around, they look similar to live ghost shrimp. Most fish will go for krill, but its not healthy for lionfish long term and can cause serious health issues. I'd only resort to krill if you haven't had success with anything else and then I'd only feed small amounts and never for long term, just as a transition to other frozen foods. I ended up having to use krill with my dwarf zebra to get him onto frozen, but he only got it for a few days while I transitioned him from that to the PE mysis. Besides frozen mysis, I like to go to the local seafood market and pick up a variety of fresh seafood. I then cut it all into appropriately sized chunks for the lionfish and mix it all together. I then divide up portions into ice cube trays and freeze it to make my own seafood variety cubes. I like to use squid, prawns, silversides, salmon, clams, and scallops so that my lionfish get a good variety.

Here's a writeup I did on my experience weaning my lionfish onto frozen food. Everyone's experience is a bit different, but I thought it might help for ideas:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-wean-lionfish-onto-frozen-food.233027/

E048 · Mar 5, 2016

As far as him eating things his size I lost a lionfish who tried to eat a flame hawk they both died and they were both the same size so be careful they sometimes bite off more than they can chew

mcarroll · Mar 5, 2016

@FeliciaLynn i'm not sure I understand the recommendation of freshwater ghost shrimp over marine krill. Can you clarify? Any small invertebrate like these should be a natural part of their diet in the wild.

For what it's worth, and maybe this is what you were getting at, any single food will be inadequate in the long run.

In terms of variety, feed him any whole organisms you are able to: small whole fish, small whole shrimps or krills, small shelled mussels clams or scallops. Even whole earthworms or other bait insect/worms/grubs that are raised healthy or from a healthy wild area would also be excellent. Read through some @Paul B posts to see what he feeds.

Whole is key though, feed muscle tissue ( fillets steaks or any other processed/de-veined portion) more sparingly.

FeliciaLynn · Mar 5, 2016

mcarroll said:
@FeliciaLynn i'm not sure I understand the recommendation of freshwater ghost shrimp over marine krill. Can you clarify? Any small invertebrate like these should be a natural part of their diet in the wild.

For what it's worth, and maybe this is what you were getting at, any single food will be inadequate in the long run.

In terms of variety, feed him any whole organisms you are able to: small whole fish, small whole shrimps or krills, small shelled mussels clams or scallops. Even whole earthworms or other bait insect/worms/grubs that are raised healthy or from a healthy wild area would also be excellent. Read through some @Paul B posts to see what he feeds.

Whole is key though, feed muscle tissue ( fillets steaks or any other processed/de-veined portion) more sparingly.

I'm talking about live ghost shrimp vs. freeze dried or frozen krill, so that may somehow be part of the difference. I honestly do no know why there is such an issue with krill, but there are a ton of cases of lockjaw or impaction in lionfish as a result of eating frozen or freeze dried krill. Ghost shrimp do not provide the necessary nutrients unless gut loaded, but they do not cause these issues even if fed long term. A lot of people use gut loaded ghost shrimp to feed eels, lionfish, seahorses, etc without any health problems, but there are tons of cases of krill causing lockjaw or impactions. Its just one of those things that isn't well understood and to be safe, I would avoid feeding krill very often or for long term. Like I said, as a short term to help wean onto frozen food, I think its fine.

FeliciaLynn · Mar 5, 2016

"Starvation is usually a result of long-term improper diet caused by the exclusive feeding of one type of food (freeze-dried krill is generally the most common cause because it's widely available and convenient). This diet can potentially cause a blockage of the gastrointestinal tract, or result in a nutritional deficiency, or result in the formation of a goiter. Lockjaw occurs when the lionfish's mouthparts stay fixed in the open position. I have observed this on many occasions."
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/index.php

Really doesn't seem well understood, like I said, but its just better to be safe than sorry in my opinion. I used krill to help get my lionfish weaned onto frozen and now I only offer other options. There are plenty of other options out there to get variety without feeding krill.

taricha_94 · Mar 5, 2016

The dwarf lions at my store won't eat anything frozen.. Each will eat about 3-4 live ghost shrimp and that's about it.

Lionfish Lair · Mar 5, 2016

Felicia, the krill and lock jaw was just a theory that actually didn't amount to anything. It's one of those things that went round and round on the forums and was said by enough (including myself at one point) that it became one of those forum facts. Krill is fine as long as it's not the primary source of food. I use it. There are a lot of legit studies on the use of krill in aquaculture. There was only one girl on a forum that started the whole krill thing.

FeliciaLynn · Mar 5, 2016

Lionfish Lair said:
Felicia, the krill and lock jaw was just a theory that actually didn't amount to anything. It's one of those things that went round and round on the forums and was said by enough (including myself at one point) that it became one of those forum facts. Krill is fine as long as it's not the primary source of food. I use it. There are a lot of legit studies on the use of krill in aquaculture. There was only one girl on a forum that started the whole krill thing.

Good to know! I had enough people tell me all about how awful it was when I first got my lions that I've avoided it. Since no one understood why, it always seemed a bit questionable to me, but I figured why risk it when there are so many other food options out there! It's crazy how some of these become like forum old wives tales

mcarroll · Mar 5, 2016

FeliciaLynn said:
"Starvation is usually a result of long-term improper diet caused by the exclusive feeding of one type of food (freeze-dried krill is generally the most common cause because it's widely available and convenient). This diet can potentially cause a blockage of the gastrointestinal tract, or result in a nutritional deficiency, or result in the formation of a goiter. Lockjaw occurs when the lionfish's mouthparts stay fixed in the open position. I have observed this on many occasions."

I see where you're coming from.

I think that's a function of the krill being freeze-dried. Zero-moisture food is unnatural and can definitely be hard to digest.

If you were to have freeze-dried krill available as your only source of food (look harder, there has to be something fresh or froze most times of the year! Right?) I would reconstitute them for several minutes in warm water, or a vitamin/amino mix before feeding. That should be enough to avoid the gastro issues and (with the vit/amino) some of the deficiency issues.

But variety is still key, and live (or frozen-whole, if necessary) is ideal...as a bare minimum, earthworms are pretty easy to cultivate in a healthy way.

I have a TFH book titled "The Encyclopedia Of Live Foods" from back in the day....there's a ton of food in there you could feed to a lionfish.