How I got my Dwarf Lion to eat frozen food!

[gillettecd]

About 6 months ago I searched site after site and forum after forum looking for advice on how to get my Dwarf Lion to eat prepared foods. While there was lots of good information out there it was not working for me. Finally I was successful and thought I should share how I was able to do it. I spent over 50 Dollars on several different foods. Silversides were to large and my fish had no interest. I tried brine shrimp and plankton, and they were to small. I had been reduced to feeding him rosies, which he lost interest in and had no success in getting on a feeder stick. He would only eat live ghost shrimp for a long time. I tried the string method, the net method, and the feeder stick method. I bought a set of pinchers that were large and hard to handle and it really just spooked the fish. I tried a turkey baster and would suck the frozen food up and then send it rushing out to try to encourage a feeding response. None of these worked for me. However, it could have largely been the food I was trying to get him to eat, too small or too big, not appearing to be live.
So I have shared what did not work for me. Now what I did that did work for me. I found a new method to the feeder stick and net method. I got an electrical wire and attached an electrical clip (like a roach clip) to the end. I made the wire long enough to reach the bottom of the tank with leftover wire for me to manipulate it. I put live ghost shrimp on it, by clipping the tail of the ghost shrimp. I fed him this way for 4 months in total. He got used to it and then would expect his food served this way. I bought sally's frozen krill, which are just like the dried krill but frozen. After a good thaw their little legs move in the current and they have little beady eyes and somewhat resemble the ghost shrimp. My Dwarf Lion is a very cautious eater. He would stare at it for several minutes and then turn his back on it. I thought he is a stubborn little guy. In hindsight, perhaps the portion was too large. So I had incorporated the starvation method. I let him go ten days without eating then tried again. I found ten days was not enough. The last two times I fed him before he ate the frozen krill I had to make him wait 14 and 15 days. Now when I placed the feeding tool and the frozen krill in the tank he was very happy to see it. When he was about to eat his tail would move rather rapidly. I learned what he looked like and how he behaved when he was really hungry. He took after the frozen krill, but it was still to large for him to eat. He got it off the clip and spit it out. I started to get excited, but I had to wait another day because he was turning his back again. The next day I split the krill in half, leaving the eyes and head and part of the body, and he took it. Another note, if the clip is attached too good to the krill he will not be able to tear it loose. It must be a tiny grip so that it tears loose easily.
I hope this is helpful to others. I know that people have had success with the other methods and perhaps those methods would have worked had I used the right food and portion size. Best of luck.

[rayn]

Glad to hear you got him eating!! Nice to hear that you came up with something new and made it work for you. I assume you are only using the wire and clip during feeding, as I would be cautious about the copper and metal in the tank.