Dwarf Fuzzy Lionfish

[WestTexasReefer]

Eyes look good. Bright blue and clear. He ate a couple of ghost shrimp today. Took one off the fishing line/stick, the second one hesitated the shrimp fell off and he ate it. Wouldn't look at anything else. I think the issue is the stealth stick. He seems a little skittish about it since he bit off a silverside and it didn't come off.

 

[hossa81]

Update: so, bought some ghost shrimp to put in a 2.5 gallon while I'm away. I'm in pet land and I go to the ghost shrimp tank. They had twelve for four bucks so I ask the guy to give me twelve. He takes the net and scoops the net in the tank to grab some. Puts them in the container and takes a look at them. He goes,"well, looks like twelve," and then pours them into the bag, rubber bands them, and then I pay for twelve. Turns out their was about 14 and they neglected to realize they put a feeder guppy in it. Put the guppy in the DT and it sat right in front of the eel's face. Shockingly, the eel didn't want it, he just went back into his cave. I then decided to just drop it in with the lionfish and the lionfish sucked him up without a second thought.

 

[namxas]

Surprisingly, eels have TERRIBLE eyesight...they will actually put their snouts on the substrate and follow a scent like a dog (my SFE did this each time it smelled food in the water).

What you need to do for your lionfish is when you put the food on the line, slide it back and forth a bit on the line to loosen it so it slips right off. We have a couple of fishes that give us funny looks when the food gets "stuck", and our little caribbaeus scorp will sometimes turn its nose up at these pieces.

 

[hossa81]

It's kind of obvious that eels have bad eyesight. When I was feeding him once, I put the feeding stick in the tank and instead of biting off the shrimp, he repeatedly bit the feeding stick. Now whenever I feed him I get scared because he sticks his nose out of the tank. So far he only jumped out of the tank once during feeding, trying to avoid that occurrence again.

 

[namxas]

My SFE actually stuck its head out of the tank once and bit me (for the second time) while I was swapping out a lamp, which is how it finally came to be on its own (it was getting more and more aggressive). Once they hit about 18" or so, they often go postal.

 

[hossa81]

The only time mine ever gets aggressive is when i feed him, he'll attempt to bite the other fish thinking their food. Besides that he just swims from cave to cave and sticks his head out of the rock all day. SFE tend to be curious when food is around.

 

[hossa81]

My SFE actually stuck its head out of the tank once and bit me (for the second time) while I was swapping out a lamp.

Thats why i keep lids on my tank. My SFE is near that length, probably about 16 inches.

 

[hossa81]

Update: so last night I was in my bed and all of a sudden I hear mad splashing. I start getting a little nervous so I look at my tank and I see the lion hanging upside down swimming in the flow. That's why I'm relieved I have lids. In snowflake eel news he looks as if he is getting bigger! I think he is starting to get territorial, it's the Picasso trigger all over again. Going to start keeping a closer eye on him.

 

[hossa81]

Heading out of town today, gave the lion and the eel both large meals, gave the eel some type of food all week to prepare him for the marathon of one week and a day of no food. Loonfish ate prepared food pretty well yesterday too. Took one large shrimp to start and then the second shrimp i think he took, but since it didn't come off so he swam away and wouldn't touch the feeding stick. Took one small shrimp then about a minute after.

 

[hossa81]

Came back yesterday to find my tanks are all extremely low on water. Filled 'em all up and every thing rebounded just fine. Lionfish looks good, has a little spot on its pectoral fin though, but it has definitely started working on his begging skills.


The spot is just below the fourth or so band from the inside out.

 

[Twistofer]

:sad1: Would love to get one of those guys, but my Humu Humu would break off his spines and enjoy him for lunch.

 

[namxas]

Hossa,

That little spot looks like it may be a "ding"that may be healing...we went back over your photos and it seems like it's visible in another shot.

Can you wipe your tank off and shoot another? If you have any pix you didn't post that may be flawed, but show the fin, that would help too.

 

[hossa81]

Hossa,

That little spot looks like it may be a "ding"that may be healing...we went back over your photos and it seems like it's visible in another shot.

Can you wipe your tank off and shoot another? If you have any pix you didn't post that may be flawed, but show the fin, that would help too.

Yeah sorry about that, i dont tend to wipe off the qt glass. Will take another picture later, out of town for the day.

 

[Oceanminded]

Wow he is stunning!

 

[hossa81]

Wow he is stunning!

Thanks, upon further inspection it looks like he broke a spine thing.

If i can find a way to post a video, you can see the little end bone swaying in the water current. That will earn him a longer period in quarantine.
Heres a picture of him in qt.

Its the holy fish.

 

[namxas]

Just keep an eye on it, and make sure it doesn't become infected. Good care and clean water should take care of the issue.