my brother in law has a dwarf lionfish.it is really cool.so far has not eatin anything that it is not supposed to.they say it will eat anything that can fit in its mouth if it decides to.including snails and hermit crabs.he eats frozen silversides and has never eatin anything else since he's had him.he was told by the lfs to be sure they have the eyes,and to hold them by the tail with tweezers or a feeding stick and wiggle the eyes in front of him.that never worked.he did discover on his own though. . . . . . if he gave the shrimp to a hermit crab in the same area as the lionfish.the lionfish would immediately take it away from the crab and eat it himself.guess he was just a bully like that.or selfish.now he can just drop it in the tank somewhere that he can see it and the lionfish will run over and "strike" it.its pretty evil looking when it does.lol.one thing to keep in mind.it can go a week or so between feedings.so if you keep trying frozen and dont give up.he might be more likely to accept it when he starts to get more hungry.i wouldnt let it go more than 10 or so days.then try live.once he's eatin you can hold out on him again.i think eventually he'll accept it.