Trouble feeding my lion

cooljust · 12-01-2006, 03:54 AM

Hello all, been a while since I posted here. Had to restock my tank because I was out of town for a few weeks so I put everything back in the Pacific. Anyway, I've got a juvenile Lion and two Blue/Green corris. (sorry if I didn't spell it right) The problem is this, I went to the FS and got some mollies and the lion ate two of the ten in the first 48 hrs, but the rest died because of the salt. I know the mollies won't live more than a day or two in the salt water, especially because I get it right out of the ocean.
I'd like to get him to either eat the frozen/freeze dried food or feed him live food that can live in the salt water. Any suggestions? Remember, I live in Guam so I just go out and catch everything I have in my tank, so this guys really used to hunting for food. Thanks in advance for the help and I'll post some pics soon.
Justin

jenajet · 12-01-2006, 05:05 AM

What kind of lion? I have no experience with wild caught animals and wish you the best of luck. How about some tank specs and what not? Has never been an issue with my Volitan but the dwarf was a little tricky. I fed him live feeders and a few frozen at the same time kind of waving the food around the surface and then drop. It confused him and he grabbed live and dead and I just eventually stopped the live all together. Now he eats anything I put in the tank even chopped up shrimp pieces.

Loverotties · 12-01-2006, 05:58 AM

I did the same as Jena.

Geoff · 12-01-2006, 09:13 AM

black mollies can live just fine in SW. they actually like it better than FW. you just need to acclimate them to it, you can not just dump them in the tank. if acclimated properly they will not only live just fine, but will also breed, giving you a constant food source for the lion.

BTW-mollies are also extremely good at removing algae and cyano.

G~

jenajet · 12-01-2006, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoff

black mollies can live just fine in SW. they actually like it better than FW. you just need to acclimate them to it, you can not just dump them in the tank. if acclimated properly they will not only live just fine, but will also breed, giving you a constant food source for the lion.

BTW-mollies are also extremely good at removing algae and cyano.

G~

I did not know this! I think I know what I am going to do with my empty 20 gallon tank! Thanks for the info. Breeding Tank!

cooljust · 12-04-2006, 03:29 AM

Thanks all, got the mollies but they're white. Don't know if that makes a difference. Anyway, they're doing just fine in the tank now, although the lion's not paying any attention to them, but the corris bully them so they're just hanging out at the top of the tank in a little group.
I'll keep you posted.
Justin

jenajet · 12-04-2006, 04:36 AM

Wow he's just a baby! Keep in mind the little guy is in shock from his capture. Are the mollies small enough for him to eat whole? I know large mollies were too big for my dwarf so I had to get him guppies. Looks like a very young Volitan? What size tank do you have? If it is indeed a Volitan he will grow very fast. Mine has gone from 4-5in to 10 in a matter of months!

Geoff · 12-04-2006, 10:45 AM

i think that is actually a P. antennata. a small one at that. they prefer crustaceans. we fed ours ghost shrimp. ghost shrimp are also a great food source that can be acclimated to full SW. i like to this because they make great additions to the cleanup crew. they do get kinda big so might not be the wisest choice for that sized lion.

G~

jenajet · 12-04-2006, 09:07 PM

Wasnt 100% sure but it had the same color as my volitan but I never had one that small so I couldn't tell. Now that I look again his body does seem to short and compact to be a volitan, kinda like comparing a boxer bulldog to a pitbull w/o the attitude.

cooljust · 12-05-2006, 01:45 AM

thanks again for the help, I'm gonna make another run to the pet store to see what I can get for him. They initially told me the mollies would be fine, but I noticed one of them got munched on by the corris so at least somebody's eating them:-)
Jenna, I have a 55 gallon which was stocked with couple of tangs, a few blennies, about 12 or so damsels and a couple of fish that I don't know what they were. Like I said, I'm trying to get the tank going again, but it's hard to catch these guys out here in Guam, but hey, I get to go snorkeling every day and see stuff I could only dream of. I'll post some pics of some recent snorkel trips, but it's amazing how many different species of triggers and tangs etc I see almost daily. What I've found though is the prettier the fish, the faster they are which means I probably won't have any in my tank.

JY13131 · 12-05-2006, 01:07 PM

THAT IS SOOOOOOOOO COOL!!! I want to see the pics!! How do you catch them? Just like in Nemo?

cooljust · 12-06-2006, 06:07 AM

Great news,

I went back to the fish store and they didn't have any ghost shrimp so I picked up some guppies since they're smaller than the mollies and he ate them right away. I'm so relieved because I caught a huge lion a few months ago and he was too big for my 55 gallon tank, but with this guy, I want to grow him in the tank for a few months before I put him back. Thanks for the help and I posted some pics in my gallery from one of my snorkeling trips here in Guam. There's also a couple of pics of my tank the way it was stocked before.

JY, reef fish are really hard to catch because they hide so well in the reef. What I do mostly now is go out at low tide and walk out on the rocks and see what got left in the tide pools. You'd be surprised what you find. Mostly puffers, an occasional picasso, but tons of juvenile convict tangs. Periodically I'll go out with a buddy and we have two nets each and if we're patient enough we can come away with a Moorish Idol or something like that.

jenajet · 12-06-2006, 10:49 AM

Glad he is eating now!