Lionfish Help
- Thread starter Mario0240
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IMO Take the tank and lion. I guarantee you will fall in love with him in no time. They are great pets. You will probably have many years before he is too big for your filtration to handle. They don’t need as much swimming room as other fish. Mine sit around all day until they see me, then they just pace the front glass begging for food.
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Mario0240
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Man, you were right.. we love the lion!!! He’s really cool. The guy that helped me was like why the hell do you wanna get rid of him?! So I think another urchin, some hermits (I know they’ll get dispatched at some point), and a couple of pieces of coral are in order next..
I'm glad you are liking him, if I could only keep one fish, it would be a lion. He will not bother your hermits, as far as cuc, shrimp are the only thing on the menu. If a lion eats a hard bodied invert, it's an aberration.
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Mario0240
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So my lion seems to be doing well. But I may have over fed him some shrimp. His belly is pretty swollen, and he’s hanging out in the corners of the tank, head down, and belly against the glass. Should I be worried?
Somewhat, you can overfeed them, and they get what is called bloat, which can be deadly. If you've done your research, you'll find that feeding a good meal every 2-3 days is best. If you feed smaller food items they will usually let you know when they are full, a nice bulge in the belly is normal and desired. In the wild they gorge then fast. Definitely don't feed him for about 3 days. My lion is huge and he could easily put down a whole large shrimp in one gulp, I actually cut a small shrimp in half as a bite size piece, he'll eat 7 -10 pieces then kind of let me know he's full, by drifting away or showing no interest. the problem lies when the last piece is so big it puts them in the danger zone.
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Mario0240
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I fee like the last piece may have put us in the danger zone. I fed him Saturday, and his belly is still pretty full. He was swimming a round a lot and seemed really happy but now he’s very lethargic and not acting what I think to be normal.
You'll know by tomorrow, bloat usually gets them within a couple of days, if he last 3 days then I would say you are out of the danger zone. You can give it a couple of extra days before you feed him again, wait until he gets active again to show you that he;s hungry. Don't be alarmed if he's just perching for lengths of time, some lions are known to not be that active. Providing more activity in the tank will also stimulate him into being more active. Here's my beast with a 7" flagfin angel for perspective.
Here he is... he’s been like this for a couple of days... if I get into the tank to move some rock around he gets more active...
Yeah, I'm a bit concerned if that pic was taken today, 2 days since you fed him. There really is nothing you can do but pray.
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Mario0240
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Just pulled some samples out of the tank for testing and this guy came at me like I was trying to feed him!
The blue night light came on and as soon as it did, he seemed to perk up a bit... idk if I’m just being overly optimistic but I’m rolling with it!
The blue night light came on and as soon as it did, he seemed to perk up a bit... idk if I’m just being overly optimistic but I’m rolling with it!
That is a good sign he came at you, most times when it's the point of no return, they would pretty much not be moving. As I stated earlier that being 2 days since, I am very concerned. 3rd day will be the charm, If he makes it through tomorrow I would be optimistic. I would still give it a couple more days being even thinking of feeding him. Lions can go quite a while between feedings so be concerned on that part. I lost a fuzzy to bloat years ago and it still bothers me.
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Mario0240
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Update: Ralph is still kicking! 4 days later and he seems to be coming around. His belly isn’t as bloated and he’s starting to swim around much more often than he was. He still hangs out in the corners from time to time but he may just be weird like that!haha!
