Feeding Large Predators, Please Read

Paul,
[welcome]

Feeding by hand is a No-No because of accidents; eels have poor eye sight, your fingers will smell like bait and look as such.

There is no set time for the eel to begin feeding from a stick. Once it begins to feel comfortable and safe in its environment it will start; have patience.

Snowflakes are not piscivores (fish eaters), to remain healthy and happy feed it crustaceans, shrimp, crab, etc...

Good Luck,
Ed
 
I'm glad this article is here (and this thread discussing it), proprer diet is so important in keeping healthy and colorful SW fish.

For me, I'm a big mysis guy - it makes a large part of the diet for most of fish. I soak it in garlic, zoe and selcon.
 
Putawaywet said:
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
Click to expand...

Is it clear that diet and death by a "fatty" liver are directly realted? I would think that a number of conditions could cause fatty accumulation in the liver?

Were you having a rash of deaths from fatty livers (which then stopped when the diet was changed) or was the lion the only one?

I've very concerned about the health of my lions and I would interested in any additional information you could provide.

In the wild, I frequently observe "obese" fish - so I'm leary about placing judgment on a fish's appearance based on how i think they should look.

With a background in both commerical and "recrecation" fish breeding, it's not a surprise that I consider myself to be a very heavy feeder. I've been able to keep a number of my fish alive for over 7 years (and counting) but I don't want to loss any at 8 years due to something like this.
 
sorry if i missed it in the article or thread, but if you don't mind spendng the money on feeding your fish live prey are damsels and asst. shrimp okay to feed them?
 
That is fine; however damsels are quite crafty, before dumping one in a tank for a larger fish to eat, cut a fin off or a piece of the tail.
The wounded fish will have less chance of finding cover and the erratic swimming behavior will entice a feeding response.

Ed
 
Great Article I would have to strongly agree with Feeding Goldfish causing long term issues. Damsels are a bit more costly however better in the long run for the preidtor I have had a few large preditors that it took awhile to train to eat other things I have a large tessalata eel now that I am having that issue with but eventually it to will eat its natural diet..
 
hello everyone I am new to this forum.I have 2 volitan lions sep tanks of course one is a juvenile 3-4 inches the other is an adult aprox 8 -10inches. after alot of reading and resarch but maily due to dr f marini I decided to offer my adult lion live food.after hrs of research I found that other than expencive chromis, black mollies were my best choice.I feed all of my fish a wide variety of foods mainly frozen prepared foods the mollies i keep in a seperate tank i am acclimating them to salt.to maintain nutritonal value of these live feeders they are also given a variety of diet such as cyclopseeze, veggie flakes and emerald entrees.also marine vitamin suppliments for all of my fish and garlic extreme with every feeding .these feeders are mainly for my panther grouper and the lion.they get the mollies once a week i will place 6 or so in the tank with in seconds they are eaten.but these are not used as main diet.their reg diet includes shrimp, squid ,scallops and krill. I don't reccomend any fresh water fish period especially goldfish. I do house 2 striped damels in the main tank they have been in the tank for 2 yrs.the lion pay no attention to them at all
 
I have a question, i live near areas that have an unlimited amount of minows and i am able to catch them reuglary becasue i do alot of sw fishing, but i want to know if i can feed these minows to my future trigger(s)? is this safe since these are saltwater fish?
 
It's great for all the wild triggers in those waters; what can be better than Mother Nature!!!

By all means feed natural live foods when you can.

Ed
 
EdKruzel said:
It's great for all the wild triggers in those waters; what can be better than Mother Nature!!!

By all means feed natural live foods when you can.

Ed
Click to expand...
well unfortunately although its a cheep way to feed it most likely isnt the best way to feed.because minows are fresh water fish their diets are much different than salt water fish .this could result in malnutrition for your fish.also polutants from your lakes could contaminate your stock resulting in illness or death.I would highly recomend thinking long and hard on this before taking the risk of killing off your fish.
 
Unleashed,
If you read more carefully, you'll notice he mentions they are SW Minnows, not fresh water.

Ed
 
oopsie my bad I think Im getting old lol.I missed the SW fishing part.:eek: .cant beat that then free is good lol.wanna email me some silver slides get costly feeding 5 tanks
 
Problems? More than likely... No.

The positive factor is that they are great scavengers and will help to keep detritus and other waste to a minimum.

On the negative side, their body composition holds very little nutritious value and thus is the recommendation to "Gut Load" before feeding to your fish.
They literally are what they eat in regards to nutrients.

If you feed only live foods, it's not as big of a problem, but if you also feed prepared and attempt to keep a harem of shrimp, many fish will become spoiled and refuse the prepared offerings.

Depending on your location and LFS, attempt to purchase SW Minnows, high in Omega 3 and HUFA, and will school through the tank as they let your fish act as the natural predators they are.

Good Luck,
Ed
 
Feeding

Feeding

I purchased a juvenile Voliten Lion From my LFS. I always thought that gold fish from wall mart would be an ok diet. I was really wrong. I found an article similiar to the one posted in the beginning for the thread, and it stated the same cause of death could be linked to "fatty liver disease" I have begun to feed my lion yellow tailed damsels and ghost shrimp. I alternate each and feed every other day and no on Friday or Monday. Before i began feeding like this My lion was losing color, fins and just did not look healthy. withing two weeks of my new feeding schedule, he is looking amazing.. all fins back, colors are great, and now he shows off when he thinks that i am going to feed him. i do want do vary the diet a little more, any suggestions?
 
With a juvenile (under 4'' body length) it should be fed a very small amount daily.
Skipping a day every once in awhile won't hurt, but remember to never feed more than what will produce a slight bulge in the abdomen.

Are you gut loading the Ghost Shrimp before offering them as food?

I like to feed chunks of shrimp with the shell (provides calcium) to lions and other large predators; strips of marine fish flesh are also good for the diet.

Ed
 
billsreef said:
A good article. Worthy of being a sticky. Though I do have to wonder what Rob was thinking about when talking about feeding lions by hand :eek2:
Click to expand...

I feed mine by hand, you wont be stung as long as the fish is comfortable with you. Mine loves me.. and why shouldent he? - I hand feed him!

:D
 
An accidental stinging would be bad and is always a possibility, however there are many more reasons not to feed any predator by hand.

In the case of lions, they have a grasping row of teeth like cartilage that can tear your skin.
In that case a bacterial infection is a possibility.
Next is the contaminants that our natural oils and bacteria from our skin that may pass on to our fish.

In the case of fish with larger teeth, such as a moray species, I have witnessed a shopkeeper have two fingers skinned and sliced in a flash.

These fish don't love or appreciate us, they only recognize a food source and if your fingers get in the way, then so be it...

Be careful,
Ed
 
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