Dwarf lion fish feeding (how many times a week?)

[FRAGSNFISH]

Hello everyone,

So I’m on my 3rd dwarf lion fish because the others died . I think i may had over fed them since i was feeding every day. Mostly rosies or guppies. Can anyone please tell me how many times is proper. I fed this one on the week end and haven’t fed him again.

Thanks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I fed mine daily but 3-4 days would be adequate

 

[WVNed]

I feed mine about 5 times a week.

 

[lion king]

A couple of times a week, overfeeding is one of the top reasons for their early demise. Their metabolism requires time between feedings to digest. A gorge/fast routine, feed his full until you see a nice bulge in his belly, then a couple days in between. Too frequent of feeding will allow for undigested food to build up over time. Please refrain from rosies, rosies contain a high amount of thiaminese which binds vit B1 and again leads to an early demise. But much more deadly rosies have a tendency to bind in the gut causing bloat, which leads to death.

Ghosties, guppies, and mollies are the best choices in live food. Make sure the mollies are of appropriate size, not too large. You can also offer fancy guppies of appropriate size.

 

[FRAGSNFISH]

A couple of times a week, overfeeding is one of the top reasons for their early demise. Their metabolism requires time between feedings to digest. A gorge/fast routine, feed his full until you see a nice bulge in his belly, then a couple days in between. Too frequent of feeding will allow for undigested food to build up over time. Please refrain from rosies, rosies contain a high amount of thiaminese which binds vit B1 and again leads to an early demise. But much more deadly rosies have a tendency to bind in the gut causing bloat, which leads to death.

Ghosties, guppies, and mollies are the best choices in live food. Make sure the mollies are of appropriate size, not too large. You can also offer fancy guppies of appropriate size.

Wow thank you for the warning . That was the only thing i had for him at the moment rosies . But ill get some ghost shrimp today.

 

[FRAGSNFISH]

I feed mine about 5 times a week.

i did that before and it resulted in death .

 

[FRAGSNFISH]

I fed mine daily but 3-4 days would be adequate

Sounds about right

 

[Sallstrom]

We feed our lionfish twice a week. Most of the time with defrosted shrimps. We've kept that routine for about 10 years and our current dwarf lionfish has been with us since 2018.

 

[WVNed]

i did that before and it resulted in death .

For me more frequent feedings of small live foods have worked well.

 

[lion king]

7

For me more frequent feedings of small live foods have worked well.

Part of it may be what you feed and also smaller lions do require more frequent feedings. Live foods also containing live gut flora and will likely aid in digestion. As a rule of thumb predatory fish which feed on a gorge/fast routine in the wild and will do best with a couple days between feedings. While many always think lions lay around all day, all do not, so if you have ones that are very active, then more frequent feedings will likely not be an issue. I feed every other day when younger then go to the 3rd day as they approach full size, usually about 3 years I should have made ckearer than making a blanket statement. This hobby is a variable one with success in more than one way. Over feeding is a big issue, just something to be aware of.

 

[jasonrusso]

My fuzzies eat out of the water column. They chase live food if I offer it, but they are always right at the top begging.

If they get a big chunk, they don't come out the next day.

What I have learned is that lions are very sensitive to nitrates over 40.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Ive always gotten them on frozen.
The live foods would be a concern for disease and parasites imo.
D

 

[Gup]

Where did you find your Dwarf Lion. I never see them anywhere. I had a Dwarf Hawaiian lionfish decades ago, in my 55 gal and I would love to have one again. He was very easy to keep. And I fed him small black mollies

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Swf.com. liveaquaria maybe. Hths
D

 

[lion king]

Ive always gotten them on frozen.
The live foods would be a concern for disease and parasites imo.
D

How long do you keep them alive on a frozen diet and what do you feed. Are you feeding on frozen food only.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Ive kept fuzzy. Zebra. Fu man chu. For 6 months on frozen. It took them awhile to get to start eating it out of the water coloum. Like several weeks but eventually they ate. Was mostly pe mysis back than.
I bought a full grown 7" zebra 1 time. A minatus grouper killed him. ":/
He was big but docile. The zebra.

I wasnt able to get one in my fish ship that comes tomorrow but plan on getting one at a lfs maybe soon.
Theyre becoming.more rare and expensive. $100 for a dwarf. Not even a fu man chu! Cmon.
D

 

[lion king]

Ive kept fuzzy. Zebra. Fu man chu. For 6 months on frozen. It took them awhile to get to start eating it out of the water coloum. Like several weeks but eventually they ate. Was mostly pe mysis back than.
I bought a full grown 7" zebra 1 time. A minatus grouper killed him. ":/
He was big but docile. The zebra.

I wasnt able to get one in my fish ship that comes tomorrow but plan on getting one at a lfs maybe soon.
Theyre becoming.more rare and expensive. $100 for a dwarf. Not even a fu man chu! Cmon.
D

Did you mean to say 6 months or 6 years. They should be successfully kept at least 6-7 years depending on captured size, and itty bitty ones as long as 10 years. My last group lived over 8 years and was wiped out by a tank poisoning.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

You are correct. 6 months is not a long time. Ive tried 2 zebras. 1 fu man chu and 1 fuzzy. Idk what this next 1 will be. Prob a basic zebra.
Success should be multiple yrs +
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I meant 6 months

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

It was yrs ago and i can barely remember last week. Lol
I wanna say 6-8 months. 1 yr max.
D