Lionfish feeding?

Question

I have a volitan lionfish and i havebeen told by my pet store to feed him gold fish , and i have been for a long time , But i been looking around the net and it says that gold fish are not good for him, There saying frozen matter, Well i would think i would have a hard time to get him to eat dead food, Again when i started all this saltwater stuff i got all my info from my pet store that does not seem to know jack same people that came to clean my saltwater tank

Answer 1

I have heard that you can entice carnivorous fish to eat frozen (thawed) food by putting a chunk of it on a long wooden skewer and dancing it around in front of his nose. The movement and the smell eventually causes the eating reflex. I would try with some nice whitefish chunks from the grocery first.

Yes, goldfish are not good for ANY live food eating fish. They are raised in outdoor ponds by the thousands and can be infected with any number of diseases and parasites that can infect your fish. Many beloved pets have been killed by feeding live goldfish, feeder guppies and rosy reds.

Check out this site for some good info:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/fishinfo/marine/lionfish.htm

Good luck!

Answer 2

The proper way to feed your lion is to use animals of marine origin - the reason has to do more with nutritional content, really, than parasites (but these can also be of concern especially in freshwater). Marine fish have a lower overall fat content, so your lion will be healthier - I'll put my source for this at the end.

Of course people at the pet stores are going to say goldfish are okay to feed (they're selling them after all, so it's a profit to them). Offering frozen/thawed fish, squid, mussel, or clam on a bamboo skewer like Eight suggested is better for them, though.

Answer 3

Goldfish, minnows guppies (although small) are all fine fish to feed your lion fish.

When searching the net for info don't rely on forums (sorry) or web pages which are backed by stores. Look more to organizations and universities studies. You will get much better info on there not to mention updated. The sites you have visited could be owned by "particular" fish lovers that don't want to see gold fish used as food, or by a manufacturer or distributor of FROZEN foods and they are trying to Push that issue. Chances are if he has been eating live food, it will be difficult to get him to eat frozen, not impossiable but difficult.

Understand the store you are dealing with is out to make a buck, however most are very knowledgable with regards to the fish they sell. New people may not be. And those that work on a commission will tell you anything to get you to buy something else.

I think I would worry that a company I trust had given me misleading info and is cleaning my tank!

Keep feeding him his gold fish. You can try frozen squid (thawed of course) and see if he bites (no pun intended)