Fuzzy dwarf lion won't eat.

[>:(]

other reasons behind switching the foods is becasue one source of food is never a balanced nutrition load. Feeders for some fish are all they need but its what the feeders take in that the larger pred will get other nutrients from. Its all the food chain.

many fish will go a few weeks without food and still live. Its that reason why id strongly suggest holding off on the live foods for a while, and wean him onto frozen, dry foods. After he starts eating these items, slowly introduce live foods again, but only 1 to 2 times a month. Any more then that and you risk starting this feeding habit again, which is just more work on your part to break. Again Saltwater feeders for Saltwater fish.

I'll keep that in mind. The only problem with getting saltwater feeders is finding them. Both of the LFS I go to aren't really all that local lol.

So, I'll go look up some information on getting him to take different foods. I have a lot of them, he just won't eat anything I offer. My clown eats anything I give him, so he has a varied diet, but the lion not so much. I hope the starvation technique isn't the only way to get them to eat. I hate to see them hungry.

 

[sweeTang21]

i wouldnt call it starvation, but any time i had this problem, with a copperband butterfly to be specific, i just kept offering frozen and flak mix's. Eventually he started to take to them. I have owned him for about 3 months now, and theres no way a fish could live without eating for 3 months lol. Saltwater feeders are not needed to keep predatious fish. The trick is getting them to take it, as the problem your having now. Silversides can be bought frozen, or alive, from online vendors.

If you willing, and only if, you could set up a very basic 15-20 gallon with a filter and heater to keep a few live feeders in. Feeding the feeders a highly nutritous diet will then turn around and give that to the lion. Now this is a last resort, if you absolutely can not get that fish to take anything other then live foods.

Search www.reefkeeping.com for past articles on feeding techniques and what not. They are an abundant source for information. you may need to register.\

good luck, i hope this helps you out a bit. Ill continue to follow your progress and offer any further assistance that i can.

 

[>:(]

Thanks for the good advice. Sorry it took so long for me to get back.

Like you said about a week ago, I started to just offer different frozen foods and flakes but he showed no interest. The Petco near me had frozen silversides so I got a pack and tried those once in a while too. He wouldn't take them. So, yesterday I started setting up a tank to raise some feeders. This morning I went to check on the fish as soon as I woke up and he had passed. Did a big water change.

It's a little upsetting, but I had pretty much accepted he would go. Frustrating, though, because he had been eating prepared foods for nearly a month until he stopped. I'm wondering if something else was wrong. He showed no symptoms of parasites (other than no appetite), injury, or physical problems with eating.

 

[sweeTang21]

it is upsetting. dont give up though, a lot has to do with how the fish was caught from the wild. Cyanid, a common source, causes the fish sever nervous problems, digestive issed and has been shown to increase theresusceptibility to disease.

 

[>:(]

I had heard about cyanide being used, but I had no idea how common it was until I started looking into it.

What a shame that people resort to such dangerous chemicals instead of doing a little hard work. I mean, to be entirely honest, it's bad enough we take fish from the wild, but when fish die from poor capturing techniques like this.... That's just sad. At least if they were captured without chemicals, they'd be in better health for the aquarists who are willing to provide them with great care.

I don't know if cyanide was used with this fish, but if it is, I'm not sure if I want to patronize a store that uses a supplier with such methods. Although I don't know if they have much control over that...