Leaf Fish Feeding - Expert Advice needed

blackwidow

New member
I have just bought a leaf fish and I was told by the LFS that it was feeding on Brinshrimp although when asked to see it feeding. They put some brineshrimp in the tank and it just sat with a dumb look on its face.

So I am wondering what is it that you feed Leaf Fish and what is the best way to get em feeding?

Thanks
 
Leaf scorps are one of the hardest scorps to wean...not impossible, but pretty darned hard. Your best bet is to get it eating small live guppies or ghost shrimp. Once it's eating for you, you can try net training it with live food (just put the guppy or ghostie in a small net and present it to the fish. Most leaf fish will associate the net with the food and will literally climb into the net to eat.

Once this happens, you try the same thing with a dead guppy or ghostie...they will often simply hop in and eat before they realize the food isn't wiggling. Sometimes, you need to put a live and dead item in the net.

From there, you can try feeding it on a "stealth stick" (see article for details):

Tools of the Trade: Equipment & Techniques to Convert your Fish onto Frozen.

You can also find some nice info on leaf fish in general in:

It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Sting: Scorpionfish in the Home Aquarium

The real key is patience...
 
Ghost shrimp, and feeder guppies are a good start..it depends on the fish, and lots of patients to wean them on to frozen food. Good luck
 
What namxas said, and lots and lots of patience. I have two, one weaned the other hasnt.
 
I have two, and both eat frozen/dead food.
I froze some ghost shrimp and put them on a feeding stick; then just kind of waved it front of his face until he was interested enough to take a bite, and he hasn't looked back.

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And in this one you can see he didn't waste any time staring at this one, he expects to be fed now.

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Your pet store sounds pretty irresponsible - what do they do, just dump BS in a tank, and call it fed?! I've never seen a leaf fish take brine. Hope the fish wasn't starved when you got it.
 
Great Advice and vids wow, Lisa I think your right these fish dont eat brineshrimp they are predators thing is though they have been in that fish shop a long time so they must be eating something.

Update:

I have tried the feeding methods described above, got some ghost shrimp put them in a net live then put that in front of the leaf fish no joy there then I took some ghost shrimps squeezed em til they were dead and tried hand feeding him. But he just seems to be walking backwards every time I get near his mouth?
 
Scorpions can go a long time without eating, so just because it was there awhile doesn't mean he was eating. I would try a feeding stick, or more specifically Greg's 'Stealth Stick'. Putting your hand in front of it probably just scared him a bit. Net feeding took some time for mine to get used to it, it scared him at first but now he just climbs into it... :hmm5:
 
If you havent seen it eat yet put a few live ghosties in the tank and watch. If it wants to eat it will chase them down. Once it is eating try the net, he will associate the ghosties and either wait outside or start to climb in. Either way place the net and hold it still, dont chase him with it. As for feeding after the net , use the before mentioned stealth stick method and allow the fish to come to it. Once again not chasing the fish. These guys are tough, first goal is to see them eat.
 
BTW, if anyone is looking for a source of frozen ghosties, ProSalt Fresh Prawn is frozen ghost shrimp. Yeah, I know you wouldn't know it from the name, but if you read the description of the product on their website, they call them glass or ghost shrimp. I have a Platax orbicularis in QT at the LFS (it is a service he provides to some) and he could not get the fish to eat any of the mysis/squid/anything else he tried to feed it. It wasn't even touching the softies/mushrooms in the tank, only going for the LPS in tank (which he had to relocate to another tank). I brought over a sample of the "prawn" I happen to have. It ate every scrap that hit the water and started looking for more.
 
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