volatian lion wont eat

the reef tank has gotten a bit of Ick infestation the past 48 hours and I am dealing with that problem with medication. All the fish seem active and happy except my lionfish that has not eaten in 36 hours. My little buddy needs to eat to get through the sickness safely and I'm ready to start force feeding him to keep him alive. he swims around and acts normal, just wont eat. I tried silversides and large krill. Will rubbing fresh garlic on the silversides help or is there some reason I should only use liquid garlic from the pet store. please help!!:-[

 

anyone?....anyone?

Help! my lion is starting to look like anna nicole smith!

 

How about some live feeder fish....maybe he just needs something to entice him a little...

 

I will try that today. What about garlic though on frozen foods? Ive never tried it but was never sure if it was safe.

 

Goldfish or guppies. Just don't get him used to them. They are not good for the long haul.

 

ok,
so yesterday he still wouldnt eat and he started to look a little tipsy so I tried the garlic extreme stuff and it didnt work w/ the silversides. So I threw in a goldfish which didnt seem all to happy about the experience and went nuts and hid behind the liverock shivering and mortally petrified as to his fate. I noticed the lion starting moving around rapidly so I assume he was interested in the goldfish, so i captured the goldfish and returned him to his bowl. Hes just to fast for my porker lion. SO.....this moring I pulled out the biggest silverside in the pack, thawed it out, took some ultra thin 4 pound test fishing line, and tied the little bugger up by his tail. I left about 6 inches of slack and tied the other end to the crossmember in my 72g bowfront and dropped in the bait. (primordial fisherman tactics coming out) Well the silverside was right in the path of the powerhead so it did a fairly realistic dance imitating a ailing fish, the lion came closer, and BAM! he took it.... well since luck was on my side i immediately tied up another one and sure enough, about 10 seconds later he took it. I think my fish needs some therapy....

 

Hey Blade_Runner, why do you say guppies arent good in the long run? I had a lion fish before and fed him with guppie. I was raising them in a 10 gal. With SW at 1.023sg and feeding them home made food that i make for my SW fish. Is that better than just going at the LFS and feeding them directly? Oh yeah. very cool that the lion started eating GCguru. They are awsome fish...

Marc.

 

Lionfish in the wild are primarily Invert eaters (shrimp). Goldfish and guppies are supposed to mess up their liver. Eventually, (3-5 years) it's supposed to kill them. Of course, if you are a sicko it's a fun 5 years. Don't ask how I know that.

 

Thank for the info Blade. I had mine 2 maybe 2 1/2 years until my whole system crashed and lost everything.

So how is the lion doing GCguru?

Marc.

 

I got a lion fish from a reputable lfs but it never ate (once) in my tank. Died in two weeks. Very sad - tried everything. I read that if they stop eating they are sick and most likely will die. Sorry - how did it turn out?