Feeding Large Predators, Please Read

[EdKruzel]

Very true Mike. Frozen prepared foods are best when feeding our captive guest.

When weaned over to accept prepared mixtures you get to select the nutritional value of the food.
Second, there is little to no concern about passing a parasite or bacterial disease through their diet.

Live foods can cause serious health concerns. Marine to marine animal can pass disease, and there are a few fresh water bacteria that can be passed to marine as well. Most are carried by goldfish.

Fresh water fish as food not only carries very little nutrition, but causes fish to become obese.
With humans, when we acquire fat in storage it shows on top of our muscle between the layer of skin, or in other words is easily noticed.
With fish fat develops first amongst their organs constricting the proper movement and function to keep the animal healthy.
This can lead to liver, kidney, or several other diseases, all of which are fatal.

Living in an enclosed system without proper swimming space will cause a fish to become lethargic. Fish as any other animal needs exercise.
First ensure that your fish have an adequate sized container. Second, create situations to make your fish move about.

Placing a favorite treat (maybe shrimp) in a bored out dead coral skeleton will make your fish work at retrieving their meal.

Many fish love clams and have the ability to crack open the shell.
Slightly crack open the shell of tiny rock clams (local deli) and place them in the tank. Not only will fish such as triggers or puffers get a work out in, but they also grind down their teeth as they would in nature.

Research, research, research each individual species you intend to own. This will ensure a lengthy life of your livestock.

Take care,
Ed

 

[yoink326]

Good article. I never buy fish food at my LFS anymore. $15 for a pound of krill or squid? Please! On a good day you can find raw shrimp with the shell on for $4 a pound. I forget the name, but there's seafood company that has a big 4 pound block of squid for $3. It takes a little while for the cleaning, but you can't beat that price. I'd also recommend checking out any asian food markets if there are any near you.

A strip of fish flesh, impaled on the end of a plastic feeding stick, can be waved to entice the majority of predatory species and go a long ways.

Mike, what type of fish would you recommend?

 

[Bowtank]

Any saltwater variety would do, i fed my eel strips of fresh cod and haddock, which were eagerly taken, if it lives in the sea then it's potentially food.

 

[xxaquanutxx]

Here is a pic of mullet being devoured for lunch!
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47892

 

[cfd3lsd]

Three days ago I purchased my first predator fish, Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish. The not so LFS assured me that the fish had been eating frozen shrimp since they received him 2 weeks earlier. The LFS even talked me out of purchasing a more expensive Fu Man Chu because he only ate live food. I have been unsuccessful at feeding my fish thus far. I have tried enticing him by wiggling shrimp attached to a piece of air hose. I have a variety pack of frozen squid, clams, shrimp, & fish available, however I assumed fresh shrimp would be the best place to start. There are three damsels in the tank, he has expressed some stalking techniques but he has yet to make a real attempt at eating any of them.

How long should I wait before introducing live feeders, such as baby mollies? I don't want to jeopardize the fish's health. The lionfish is pretty small at about 3.5 -4 inches long including fins. Any suggestions are welcomed.

 

[EdKruzel]

Give it the remainder of the week before going to live foods.

Try glass shrimp if you have to take the live route.

Ed

 

[xxaquanutxx]

One thing that I believe everyone should do before buying thier fish from the LFS is to watch thier fish eat at the LFS. That way you have seen first hand what it eats, how it eats and it will have a full belly.

 

[EdKruzel]

Good point; you do want to see a fish eat at the LFS before purchase, however not with a "full belly".

Once satisfied (diet) a fish needs to relax and digest; capture and transport to our home systems is very stressful.

If you observe your new specimen eat a full meal, simply have your LFS hold it over night and pick it up the following day.

Ed

 

[xxaquanutxx]

Now that I didnt know

 

[jimmyrickson]

See, it seems you imply the LFS is at fault for the fuzzy's lack of appetite. Its only been THREE DAYS, and you've not mentioned anything of you water parameters versus the store's, acclimation scheme, etc. Y'all are so quick to blame, defame, and verbally maim LFS employees... ITS NOT RIGHT, dammit! Lemme give you a tip, don't always ask for to talk with the owner ... uh yeah, he's out to get as much money as as possible with considerations to keeping you as a customer coming almost exclusively in the form of silver-tongued presention...

 

[cfd3lsd]

jimmyrickson,
Talk about over reaction...Read my post again, I said that the owner advise me not to purchase a more expensive fish that was only eating live food, instead he recommend this fish. In other words, I did not feel like I was being taken or duped by the lfs owner. Keep your unwanted, off-topic tips to yourself.


On a separate note, thanks to all who provided me with helpful information. My dwarf-lion is doing great. He eats frozen krill like crazy. He will only eat the shrimp with the heads left on. I think he likes to look his prey in the eyes before inhaling it.
:mixed:

 

[xxaquanutxx]

it doesnt look like he was implying anything to me

 

[M.Dandaneau]

The "heds on" point that he brought up is often very important if not key to success in switching over from live foods.
Many to most predatory animals that consume their prey whole do so head first and for some very important reasons.
If a fish is swallowed tail first, then the spines iin the fins come up and stick into the mouth and palate, where if swallowed head first the fins fold neatly and it's a smooth process.
Additionally, most prey can't go backwards, thus predators position themsrlves slightly to the front so that they can seize it the second it starts to move.
Predators can't afford to waste energy in useless pursuit or they'd be burning more fuel than they make from eating it.
If you take frozen silversides and cut the head at a 45 degree angle, front to back, you'll end up with what could be mistaken for a live small fish, a long strip with the eyes in front that's only 1/4 the size of a whole silverside and much more correct for juvenile predators.
I've actually gone so far as to "paint" eyes on the tail section with a magic marker and had it work.

 

[ghostbear29]

so now our fish ingest majic marker dye? What the heck? Please tell me it ain't so!

 

[zemuron114]

I feed all my aggressives fish, crabs, shrimp i catch from the ocean. hand cought with nets with a friend who has 2 8 inch porc puffers. I catch dozens of fidlers for my eel, and grass shrimp and small fish for lion and puffer and grouper. they love me!!1

 

[butterfly_cheeks]

I got a tank full of ich from a couple feeder fish.

 

[Putawaywet]

FWIW, I had the opportunity to observe a necropsy on a Voltan Lion that had succumbed to apparent natural causes. To everyone's surprise the liver cross sections uncovered an abundance of fatty deposits within the tissue.

This animal as well as it's tankmakes were fed 6-7 days/week on a mixed diet that consisted of alternating days of raw shrimp, clam and capelin. Needless to say, everyone in the tank appeared fat and happy with the emphesis on fat.

Post necropsy the diet was changed to a couple days of shrimp or clam, followed by a day or two of large krill, followed by a day of fasting.

Several years after the change in diet all fish have slimmed down significantly and there have been no additional losses that can be attributed to nutrition issues.

So, not only is it import what you feed to your animals, but the "how much" and "how often" plays a major part in the equation as well.

Brett

 

[EdKruzel]

Brett,
Was there any signs of fat along the intestinal tract?

Active lions should receive only enough food to cause a noticeable bulge in the abdomen.
I would recommend feedings of three times a week.
Non-active or lions in small confines can be reduced to feeding once a week with occasional feedings of twice a week.

When I ran an Aquatic Rescue, lions were the number one saltwater inheritance.
Many would lay lethargic and not eat for weeks (some nearly a month) before thinning and becoming active.

Ed

 

[ghostbear29]

ok, so for our smaller friends, everybody says mysid shrimp are the way to go. But they are a freshwater species. does this negate the shrimp or what?

 

[orosepaul]

Feeding Moray Eels

Feeding Moray Eels

Hello,
My name is Paul, I am a brand new owner of a juvnile Snowflake Moray Eel. It is only about six inches long, but seems to be afraid of the feeding probe. I have read and been told that hand feeding it is a big no - no. I have also tried feeding it the frozen krill meat, but prefers to grab the chunks of meat as it floats to him. How long will it take before it can be feed by a probe?