Trouble in the lion's den

So I have a 50gal tank, water is perfect salt is perfect. But I'm waiting for 40lbs of live rock to add to my existing 4. My problem comes with my new Volitan. He's about 4inches right now. I have a damsel and lemon peel with him right now. I know the damsel is a soon to be goner but the lion keeps harassing my lemon. The pet store was still feeding the Volitan ghost shrimp after having him a few months but I've read that leaving them on a freshwater diet too long is bad for their health. I've got him established on rosies and trying to transition to silversides but he won't feed on them. I have also read that starving for a few days is an easy way to get the food transition to happen but I don't want to do it at risk of my lemon peel. Any advice.

 

Remove the angel until you get him to eat silversides. It took mine 4 days until he took his first piece of silverside. If the lion fish is more important I would try that.

 

Freshwater fares in general are OK; I've kept dwarf lions for years on live guppies and ghost shrimp. Fish in the carp family, such as all goldfish, are what you want to avoid. IIRC, something about them tends to cause fatty heart disease over time.

 

Why do you only have 4 lbs of live rock in a 50! Water quality is more of an concern for all the fish than the lion chasing the lemonpeel

 

I would return the Lionfish.A Volitan gets over a foot long and a 50 is too small IMO.Renee and/or Greg should be here any minute.lol

 

Thanks everyone for the advice. I do want to say I did not get the voli half cocked

@tom- my water quality is perfect and is checked every other day with regular water changes. Like I said. I have another 40 that is in the mail and on the way.

@vinny- this is my first tank. I plan on keeping the lion long term and am aware they get about basketball sized. Once I get "my feet wet" and some good experience I want to upgrade to a 200+ tank

 

Is the rock you're getting in the mail live rock? If so, you'll probably notice die-off, causing another cycle :-/ I agree with Vinny. You should probably return the lionfish. After the tank is stabilized from the cycle fro the LR, you could possibly do a Dwarf Lionfish.

 

Lionfish take up lots of room and are messy eaters.Keeping one healthy in that small of a system may prove difficult especially for a newcomer.Just some friendly advise.It IMO is always better to upgrade the tank first and the inhabitants second life happens,and plans change
I will alert our lionfish experts to your thread to help you keep these wonderful fish.Good luck.

 

Feeding lionfish any kind of freshwater is a big no no. Renee and Greg should have their "overstocked" senses tingling by now. Volations get huge, and will eat both your lemon, and damsel. The lemonpeel will get way too big for the tank as well.

I would return the lion and the tang and let your tank properly cycle with just the damsel.

Just friendly advice from someone speaking from experience.

 

I'm POSITIVE I posted in this thread (unless it was on another board someplace *gasp*), but here goes...

Your angelfish "started it", so to speak, by doing what angels tend to do to lionfishes...pick at them. Your volitans opened Door #2, which was "Oh no...you did NOT just pull that on ME!" Most lionfishes hide when harassed (Door #1), but some don't. If the lemon peel persists, it will likely get envenomated, which, altho they seem to initially recover, generally end up dying (usually due to sepsis).

You're right, a 50 gal won't work for an adult volitans, but as long as you upgrade in a timely manner, the 50 will work for a awhile (our last vollie outgrew 3 setups before it landed in a 48" x 24" x 20" 100 gal).

Rosy reds are actually one of the worst foods you can feed your lionfish, as besides containing the wrong fatty acids, their flesh contains an inordinate amount of thiaminase, which causes the fish to become deficient in thiamine (vitamin B1). This often results in CNS disorders, which present as anorexia (cessation of feeding), clamped fins, seizures, and an early death.

If you must go with live food, choose ghost shrimp first, then live bearers such as guppies, mollies, or platies. Be sure you enrich these foods with a good quality marine flake food, spirulina, beta glucen, etc.

I recommend weaning your fish onto fresh or thawed SW fish flesh, table shrimp, squid, bivalve flesh, etc. using a "stealth stick" (salmon is a fave of our lionfishes).

Let us know if we can help further...