Fuzzy Dwarf Lions

[Nano_Steve]

hey all,

i was readin up on fuzzy darf lionfish and was wondering if they could be wheened over to dry foods like formula 1 or not. i dont have a prob feeding frozen but ive had really great results in growth and color with formula 1 in the past and would like to continue when i get my next tank up and running. anyone have experience with these little guys???

thanks, steve

[MikeP]

Steve, I have gotten my dwarf lion to occasionally eat vibra gro pellet food. My fuzzy dwarf I have weaned onto frozen and have not attempted anything else yet - they are a bit tougher to get eating. Fu Manchu lions I have never kept but they are supposedly almost entirely live food and very very hard to switch.


Great little fish.

[Tim Marvin]

I have always used frozen and rosey red feeder fish to feed them. I had a good sized red volitan that I got from Eric and it would come right over to you when you were near the tank. It would take the frozen shrimp (defrosted of course) right out of your hand. Totally un-afraid of you. Really cool fish, I wish I would have kept it and not sold it now.

[AlienAnchovies]

my dwarf lion eats frozen food, the trick i used when i fed him was to use both live and frozen shrimp
id dump 1 live shrimp in there (ghost shrimp) to get the "OMG IM HUNTING" responce then id throw 2 or three krill in there and he'd eat em
so i guess you could try the same thing with dry maybe

[Nano_Steve]

great! thanks for the posts guys!

tim: i remember that volitan, he was a beauty! i remember watching u feed him once too, way too cool!i do have one other question. i have been reading alot recently concerning freshwater feeder fish and the health of lionfish. evidently there is a different type of iodine in fw fish that is poisonous with time to sw fish??? have any of yall had any problems with this and/or should i look into sw feeders(do they sell these?)

thanks again guys, steve

ps after readin yalls responses im pretty much now leaning towards just frozen foods. wheening completely over to a dry food would be a pretty big change and i wouldnt want to stress the little guy out.

pss ive been trying to read up as much as possible on these little guys but i still havent been able to find whether they are compatible(sp?) with their own kind??? do yall know if they are able to be kept in the same tank with one another and if so how much room do they need?

[MikeP]

Steve, there is an article on Lions in the 'Marine and Reef Fish' Annual issue on sale now. Dwarf fuzzies can be kept in groups, they will form hunting parties at dusk and cruise over the rocks looking for food. The dwarf zebra you can keep male and female or two males if introduced at the same time - if you added a female the males would start fighting. The dwarf zebras have some distinct differences between the sexes but I'd have to find my notes to be sure.

If you ever want to see mine let me know - they are fun to watch eat.

[Nano_Steve]

mikeP,

id absolutely LOVE to come check out ur lions!!! thanks for the offer! i definitely would like to get as much information as possible before i make a purchase because these are by far one of my favorite fish and i would love to be able to care for them the way they should be. i think i would like to have at least 2 but a "huntin' party" sounds really neat for a larger setup! hopefully one day ill be able to do that, but for now id like to look into 1-2 possibly a mix of a fuzzy and a zebra depending on how much room they need each. the only place i have found info is liveaquaria and they say each needs a good 30 gal or more. ill be sure to check into that book upon my return to the states for sure!

thanks again for the offer!

steve

ps are you going to the meeting in december? id like to be able to chat about these great little guys with u in person if u plan on going.

[Pizazz]

I have a red dwarf lion and a fu manchu. I have been able to wean the red dwarf lion over to frozen food, mostly mysis but also brine. He refuses krill. The fu manchu is having nothing to do with frozen and will only eat ghost shrimp.

I don't think the red dwarf is even close to eating flake, but is quite friendly and active. When it was just the two of them in the tank, both hid most of the day and came out a little at night. I added a couple of active fish and now the red dwarf is out all of the time. The red dwarf and fu manchu have done well together, but I don't know if I would do 2 in a tank again unless I went to a much larger tank. The dwarf lions are sloppy eaters which messes with my alkalinity. I have to really keep an eye on it and this is my only tank that I have to be really careful to keep an eye on alkalinity. It is also my smallest reef tank (a 72 Bow).

I am also in Austin if you want to make it a dwarf lion tour :-)