Zebra Dwarf Lion (dendrochirus zebra)

[deepblue68]

well
i found a dwarf zebra lionfish today at petco of all places.the little guy looked in excellent shape and was in there tank for 2 weeks.i put him in my nano tank for qt and he will be going into my 58gallon later on.:bounce3:
i will post pictures once he comes out and swims around a bit.

 

[FMarini]

Fantastic
Hope you have access to ghost shrimp, little dendrochris tend to require live foods to establish them. Then once established you can wean them over to prepar foods.
You didn't mention tank mates, will this dwarf have roommates?

 

[deepblue68]

i do and it looks like he is going to be a hold out.no roomates at this time.

 

[palmer373]

wow amazing! size and whats it eating?

 

[namxas]

Are your fish's eyes cloudy/swollen, or is it the actinic lighting? The photo also looks a bit "stretched" laterally unless it's just the angle.

 

[djt511]

shes a beauty

 

[deepblue68]

its the lighting and my picture taken abilities its eyes are clear.its about 3in. and still has not eaten.still working on it.

 

[namxas]

Like Frank mentioned, do you have access to live ghost shrimp or small crayfish or fiddler crabs? D. zebra tends to prefer crustaceans in the wild.

 

[deepblue68]

dwarf lion ate tonight.i feed him a rosie but will start feeding ghost shrimp and mollies along with frozen silversides.

 

[deepblue68]

Like Frank mentioned, do you have access to live ghost shrimp or small crayfish or fiddler crabs? D. zebra tends to prefer crustaceans in the wild.

.

yes a pet store by my work has them but i havent been able to break awayfrom work been working late nights.i will try to pick them up tomorrow.
thanks

 

[deepblue68]

i started feefding my dwarf ghost shrimp and iam going to slowly try sliversides. it looks like hes settling in now!loves the ghost shrimp

 

[namxas]

Very cool. Once you get it used to eating for you and associating you with food, it will make weaning the fish go more easily.

 

[palmer373]

im curious, are silversides sold as people food over in seafood area or are they sold as fish food? ive never seen them in a petstore.

 

[namxas]

We get frozen silversides and/or lancefish from the LFS, however, at the "people" market, you can find sardines, smelt, and anchovies.

 

[deepblue68]

yes!! second day of eating p&e mysis.could i use this as a staple food along with silversides?

 

[namxas]

Great news, and great job with the hardest part of lion keeping!

All of the dwarf lions we keep like PE, and they tend to get a bit of PE and Hikari mysis "between meals" since they're housed with fish that are fed daily. They simply snatch it out of the water column.

I would, however try to add a few more foods to the mix as your fish becomes a solid feeder.

 

[DoubleM 10]

wow thats a cool lion. the store near me has 2 of those guys. they look neat. if i had room i would pick them up.

im glad someone else is having luck with feeding frozen like i am.

i actually fed my cockatoo waspfish and both my eels with my hand today!

 

[deepblue68]

my lion is actually coming to the top of the tank waiting for me to put food in the tank! i dont even have to stick feed. i fed him some clam tonite and he ate it up.:lolspin:

thats cool matt . good luck with the wasp.

 

[DoubleM 10]

thanks man. the wasp just got introduced into his own tank for a week. then yesterday added the green wolf eel to the tank. then last will be the fuzzy. they needed more room!

glad to hear yours is doing well.

 

[StephLionfish]

I weaned mine off of live food using krill. Just cause I'm paranoid, I have to mention - I had a Volitan lionfsh go blind under LED. I've heard that the dwarf lions can handle reef lighting better...and I have a dwarf Zebra under T5, but I would just keep an eye on him if you have strong lighting...
He is gorgeous! Perhaps it is just the lighting, or angle, but his eyes do look a bit cloudy. Since you say he's fine, I won't go on :twitch: