Lionfish is on hunger strke!

[king1522]

My lionfish stopped eating about 6 weeks ago. Only once, he took a bit of raw shrimp soaked in garlic. This was about two weeks ago. He is a Volitan and is little over one year old. He has gone several times without eating, but only for a couple weeks at the most. Since he was small, he would only eat raw shrimp, feeder goldfish and ghost shrimp. He would not touch silversides or krill. He totally ignores anything offered to him. In the last couple weeks he hangs in his corner more than usual. He has good color and appears not to have lost any weight. I was feeding him basically with my hand. I have tried the stick with no luck. I am afraid I have fed the poor guy to death! For several weeks, he would eat everyday, which I know is not good for him. The tank is 225 gallons. I have not been viligant about water changes except for the last couple weeks. Now I am doing a water change weekly. Any and all suggestions or comments would be appreciated.
Don

 

[JBuffetReefer]

I'm curious as well, I have a russell's lionfish who also went on a hunger strike. My water parameter's are good and he swims around just fine. He even comes up to the glass and looks excited about the food, but when I put the food in he looks at it and then swims away. I have tried custom frozen recipe (ewhich he used to love) and silversides but he won't eat. All he does is swim up to it and stares at it, gives a strike but doesn't grab or swallow the food. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[FMarini]

the majority of the time you have a lionfish go on a hunger strike, its due to cumulative effects of poor nutrition(and for some reason krill appears to be a main culprit). Frequently only time and live food will restimulate their feeding response.
If you haven't read these articles already, i recommend them

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/12/aafeature1
on chronic anorexia

and the lionfish info sheet, in the nutrition section you can see feeding ideas and of course anorexia comments
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/index.php