Lionfish died while I was asleep

Dunkleosteus · May 12, 2022

lion king said:
I've seen this end countless times and have cut open fish to find whole bodied partially digested minnows bound in the gut. They either have a bone structure which is hard to digest or binds in some other way, or they stay alive in the gut long enough to bind. It's a fact, minnows will kill lionfish.

I can't believe I didn't know this, I killed my lionfish wow. I wish my manager told me

lion king · May 12, 2022

Dunkleosteus said:
I can't believe I didn't know this, I killed my lionfish wow. I wish my manager told me

Sadly lionfish, especially the dwarf and medium bodied lionss have such a high mortality rate, many haven't connected all the causes. I have spent almost 20 years keeping many lions and helping other hobbyist care for lions. I have dissected dozens trying to figure out causes of death. I have studied the effects of tank chemicals including medications. And above all I have extensively studied nutrition. Anyone interested in the care of lionfish or predators, can click my name and "find all threads", for a ton of information.

lion king · May 12, 2022

NowGlazeIT said:
Do you acclimate your feed prior to feedings? Or do the lions just go at them instantly? How often do you feed?

There is no need for acclimation, as you feed on demand, or they will be eaten within no time. The live food I suggested; ghosties, guppies, and mollies, have no problem living in salt water. I keep a molly tank at 1.013-1.015 sg and a ghostie/guppy tank at 1.005-1.007 sg. Mainly ti feed them a healthy diet and gut load them micro pellets prior to feeding them to the preds.

NowGlazeIT · May 12, 2022

lion king said:
There is no need for acclimation, as you feed on demand, or they will be eaten within no time. The live food I suggested; ghosties, guppies, and mollies, have no problem living in salt water. I keep a molly tank at 1.013-1.015 sg and a ghostie/guppy tank at 1.005-1.007 sg. Mainly ti feed them a healthy diet and gut load them micro pellets prior to feeding them to the preds.

Thank you for sharing

\m/reefsnmetal\m/ · May 12, 2022

lion king said:
There is no need for acclimation, as you feed on demand, or they will be eaten within no time. The live food I suggested; ghosties, guppies, and mollies, have no problem living in salt water. I keep a molly tank at 1.013-1.015 sg and a ghostie/guppy tank at 1.005-1.007 sg. Mainly ti feed them a healthy diet and gut load them micro pellets prior to feeding them to the preds.

Let's say the lion wasn't the only fish in the tank. Are there any fish that come to mind that would be impacted negatively from eating the live food you mention?

lion king · May 12, 2022

\m/reefsnmetal\m/ said:
Let's say the lion wasn't the only fish in the tank. Are there any fish that come to mind that would be impacted negatively from eating the live food you mention?

Not that I am aware of

SlugSnorter · May 12, 2022

lion king said:
Not that I am aware of

what about the issue with thiaminese?

lion king · May 12, 2022

SlugSnorter said:
what about the issue with thiaminese?

Guppies, and mollies do no contain thiaminese. Ghosties as all crustaceans likely do contain some thiaminese, but as a live food, contains an abundance of vitamin B1. Same goes for feeding shrimp, fresh shrimp or frozen in smallbbatches will contain a greater amount of vitamin B1. Old frozen shrimp the vitamins deplete over time, then the thiaminese becomes detrimental.

SlugSnorter · May 12, 2022

lion king said:
Guppies, and mollies do no contain thiaminese. Ghosties as all crustaceans likely do contain some thiaminese, but as a live food, contains an abundance of vitamin B1. Same goes for feeding shrimp, fresh shrimp or frozen in smallbbatches will contain a greater amount of vitamin B1. Old frozen shrimp the vitamins deplete over time, then the thiaminese becomes detrimental.

I thought fsnmetal was talking about other fish eating minnows. Guess I misunderstood, sorry

lion king · May 12, 2022

SlugSnorter said:
I thought fsnmetal was talking about other fish eating minnows. Guess I misunderstood, sorry

Maybe, my answer to that is don't feed minnows, period.

lion king · May 12, 2022

As far as bloat goes, I have heard of other species getting bloat. I think they have to swallow their prey whole like a grouper or betta and definitely other scorps. Fish like puffers and triggers and such chomp up their food, so I don't think bloat will apply here. Eels possibly or maybe some other digestive issue, as they can get blockages due to an poor diet. Thiaminese is a compounding issue, having a thiaminese dominant diet over months for some species, and years for some, will eventually take it's toll.

Dunkleosteus · May 14, 2022

lion king said:
As far as bloat goes, I have heard of other species getting bloat. I think they have to swallow their prey whole like a grouper or betta and definitely other scorps. Fish like puffers and triggers and such chomp up their food, so I don't think bloat will apply here. Eels possibly or maybe some other digestive issue, as they can get blockages due to an poor diet. Thiaminese is a compounding issue, having a thiaminese dominant diet over months for some species, and years for some, will eventually take it's toll.

So what's the best thing to feed? If I get another I'll probably be feeding it something like silverside or red shrimp, I've now befriended the local seafood market owner. And we've actually got a baby fu man chu lionfish in the store rn, and it's eating scallops and tiny chunks of silversides

jimk60 · May 14, 2022

Dunkleosteus said:
So what's the best thing to feed? If I get another I'll probably be feeding it something like silverside or red shrimp, I've now befriended the local seafood market owner. And we've actually got a baby fu man chu lionfish in the store rn, and it's eating scallops and tiny chunks of silversides

Lion King already answered this. Ghost shrimp, mollies and guppies

NowGlazeIT · May 14, 2022

Dunkleosteus said:
So what's the best thing to feed? If I get another I'll probably be feeding it something like silverside or red shrimp, I've now befriended the local seafood market owner. And we've actually got a baby fu man chu lionfish in the store rn, and it's eating scallops and tiny chunks of silversides

Wow I want one! Been looking for a fumanchu

dvgyfresh · May 14, 2022

Sorry for your loss. Goldfish/ minnows should never be fed to any predators -whether it be snakes or fish. Even krill is not a great food due to thiamese , silver slides are good , ghost shrimp