Radiata Lionfish vs minnows

[rickcasa]

I've had my lionfish for almost 2 months now and it seemed to thrive on guppies exclusively. I did see it snap up some frozen brine shrimp when it was in the community tank (I've since separated it because the tank is being treated for ich). But it's just too slow to compete for its meal.

Today, Big Als ran out of feeder guppies so I went with their suggestion of buying minnows instead. The Radiata swooped at the first with gusto, and then the second... and I thought I'd stop at 3. Well just now, I found 3 regurgitated minnows floating on the surface. Lesson learned.

Now that I have him secluded in a smaller tank of his own, hopefully I can fatten him up on frozen foods and hopefully clams.

Anybody want free minnows?

[Nc208082]

Minnows are freshwater. You should be using silversides for the lion fish. Lions also will have trouble with clams unless they are thawed and removed from the shell. They can't bite through the shells like a puffer. Lions will also not stop eating, they can be easily overfed. You will notice a severlybloated stomach when overfed.

[ajx22]

Always a bad idea to feed a SW animal FW fish. This will not give the animal the needed sustenance, and can kill the fish due to parasites and other non-natural diseases, etc.

If you're not able to provide live SW feeders; you MUST train it to eat frozen (thawed).

[ShipWreck]

Talk to the fish room manager at big al's. They usually bring in a tonne of damsels/chromis with their shipments and I know other stores have made "feeder" deals for these. Best would be to see if you can get it to silversides however. If he won't take them without some movement try putting them on a feeding stick so you can make them move.

[rickcasa]

This leads me to ultimately start up a 'predator' tank with the 110G tall in the garage that I was saving for a huge cheato fuge. I'm all up for the rigours of keeping multiple tanks, but daily (or even more) spot feedings can get tedious really fast. It'd be cool to have a feeder tank, I hear mollies are another good choice, for 'treats' to supplement the meaty and/or frozen meals they will have on their regular menu. So i'm thnking a few live SW fish per week and a daily serving of coursely chopped meaty medley.

Thanks for all your advice on this. So one more pls.

Given the size of it's future tank, what would be a good stock list if i were to push the limits. I really would like to avoid large and fast growing species (that's why I avoided the Volitans as much as my wife liked them). Tobies? Boxfish? Definately an eel of some sort. Wonder if I can finally get a panther grouper. And maybe just as important, what about including a non predator fish that would be durable enough to clean up after the brutes...a wrasse?

[J_T]

I really would like to avoid large and fast growing species
Followed by;

Wonder if I can finally get a panther grouper

Quick search of the internet;


The Panther Grouper or Cromileptes altivelis is a large saltwater fish that should only be kept in an aquarium of 300 gallons or more. Growing to almost 2' long these Grouper are also called the Polka Dot Grouper because of the black polka dots that cover their bodies. In the wild the Panther Grouper uses its unique coloration to blend into the reefs and confuse potential predator like sharks.

Anything that ends with grouper, is pretty much going to grow big.

[rickcasa]

Beautiful fish. They're offered so often in all the LFS I frequent at 3 inches or even smaller and it's so tempting. But don't worry, I've managed to lay off them this long. thx

[GaryBusey]

Do any of the gta lfs stock live sw feeders? The evil side of me really wants to watch my trigger demo something like a guppy but I won't take the chance giving him a fw fish. Nothing smart like a damsel either!

[J_T]

Beautiful fish. They're offered so often in all the LFS I frequent at 3 inches or even smaller and it's so tempting. But don't worry, I've managed to lay off them this long. thx

Oh I know! I would love to get a Miniatus Grouper, but unless I am planning on eating it one day, there is no realistic way I could keep it housed comforatably.

I get upset when I see box stores carrying some of these fish... Wonder what people are told when they want to buy one....