Dwarf lionfish question

bshake · Sep 13, 2023

Hello I recently got a dwarf lionfish it’s about 3 or 4 inches big. He’s out of quarantine but I’m having a hard time getting him to eat, I’ve tried everything ghost shrimp, guppies and mysis shrimp. He ate 2 ghost shrimps last week when I had him in a 12x6 inch acclamation box. Now he’s in a 10 gallon aquarium by him self today I put a guppy in right next to him and a ghost shrimp but he didn’t eat either. So until he starts eating so that I can put him in my large aquarium with the rest of my fish. My question is should I just go ahead and place him in the large aquarium and when he’s hungry enough he’ll eat or what can I do? Any tips or advice would be appreciated @lion king

littlefoxx · Sep 13, 2023

bshake said:
Hello I recently got a dwarf lionfish it’s about 3 or 4 inches big. He’s out of quarantine but I’m having a hard time getting him to eat, I’ve tried everything ghost shrimp, guppies and mysis shrimp. He ate 2 ghost shrimps last week when I had him in a 12x6 inch acclamation box. Now he’s in a 10 gallon aquarium by him self today I put a guppy in right next to him and a ghost shrimp but he didn’t eat either. So until he starts eating so that I can put him in my large aquarium with the rest of my fish. My question is should I just go ahead and place him in the large aquarium and when he’s hungry enough he’ll eat or what can I do? Any tips or advice would be appreciated @lion king

My dwarf fuzzy was eating frozen at the store, however when I got her into the acclimation box she wouldnt eat. Long story short the acclimation box suction cup let go and let her lose in the tank. She started to nibble here and there. I soaked food in garlic and put mysis PE shrimp per lion kings rec and she took to it immediatly. Was able to then get her to eat different kinds of frozen this way. Not sure if this helps as Im unsure on if you want to convert to frozen or keep feeding live. @lion king is for sure an expert on lions so when he chimes in you will get some good advice. Just thought I would share my experience with my fuzzy in case it helps!

littlefoxx · Sep 13, 2023

Also if you click on my name and scroll you can see the posts he gave advice on fir me with my lion! He also published some articles here, click on his name and you can find those too while we wait for his reply!

bshake · Sep 13, 2023

littlefoxx said:
My dwarf fuzzy was eating frozen at the store, however when I got her into the acclimation box she wouldnt eat. Long story short the acclimation box suction cup let go and let her lose in the tank. She started to nibble here and there. I soaked food in garlic and put mysis PE shrimp per lion kings rec and she took to it immediatly. Was able to then get her to eat different kinds of frozen this way. Not sure if this helps as Im unsure on if you want to convert to frozen or keep feeding live. @lion king is for sure an expert on lions so when he chimes in you will get some good advice. Just thought I would share my experience with my fuzzy in case it helps!

Thank you for the advice. I’ve been soaking the mysis in garlic or seachem entice (smells like bananas) but he’s still not going for it. I don’t want to completely convert him on frozen food but I just want him to eat and be healthy

lion king · Sep 13, 2023

If he is not eating those live food offerings, the most likely issue is internal parasites. Immediately treat with general cure, I do mean immediately. You can also use Fritz paracleanse. Treat for water volume, not tank size, consider displacement. Follow instructions on the packets.

This is providing there are no other signs of disease or injury and the water quality checks out.

nereefpat · Sep 13, 2023

If it's been a week, and the new lion doesn't eat a ghost shrimp, that's weird. I suspect disease too.

What species of lion? Fuzzy, Fu, zebra, or something else?

bshake · Sep 13, 2023

nereefpat said:
If it's been a week, and the new lion doesn't eat a ghost shrimp, that's weird. I suspect disease too.

What species of lion? Fuzzy, Fu, zebra, or something else?

I think n I’m

lion king said:
If he is not eating those live food offerings, the most likely issue is internal parasites. Immediately treat with general cure, I do mean immediately. You can also use Fritz paracleanse. Treat for water volume, not tank size, consider displacement. Follow instructions on the packets.

This is providing there are no other signs of disease or injury and the water quality checks out.

he was an a qt with copper and prazipro should that be enough? I know they’re sensitive to copper or should I still does general cure? My LFS runs copper and prozi in all their systems and said that it would be fine

bshake · Sep 13, 2023

nereefpat said:
If it's been a week, and the new lion doesn't eat a ghost shrimp, that's weird. I suspect disease too.

What species of lion? Fuzzy, Fu, zebra, or something else?

He’s a Zebra lionfish

nereefpat · Sep 13, 2023

I should have asked: no meds right now, and the guppy and shrimp were alive, right?

bshake · Sep 13, 2023

nereefpat said:
I should have asked: no meds right now, and the guppy and shrimp were alive, right?

No meds in the new tank and both fish and shrimp were swimming right infront of its face. Lol the shrimp even was on top of him

lion king · Sep 13, 2023

bshake said:
I think n I’m

he was an a qt with copper and prazipro should that be enough? I know they’re sensitive to copper or should I still does general cure? My LFS runs copper and prozi in all their systems and said that it would be fine

Well I hate to break it to you, copper is a really bad deal, and almost always ends badly. It is very rare that dwarf lions will survive long after exposure to copper, but there are variables. Prazi pro would address some parasites but not all, general cure contains prazi and metro, the metro will address many other parasites. General cure is the recommended treatment for the broadest range of parasites.

bshake · Sep 13, 2023

lion king said:
Well I hate to break it to you, copper is a really bad deal, and almost always ends badly. It is very rare that dwarf lions will survive long after exposure to copper, but there are variables. Prazi pro would address some parasites but not all, general cure contains prazi and metro, the metro will address many other parasites. General cure is the recommended treatment for the broadest range of parasites.

So what should I do now? I dosed general cure right. You think he’s a goner?!