lionfish looking kind of pale

[Deash7]

hello iv had my lionfish for a week now, and where i live i could only buy ghost shrimp and acouple feeder guppies really small ones, just so he would eat. he didnt eat for a few days because i couldnt find anywhere to buy frozen until i did research and found they "could" eat those just so he could eat. the first day i fed him 2 ghost shrimp and 2 feeder guppies, his stomach wasnt bulging but sicne hes only like 1.5 inches long i figured that was more than enough. now i keep checking on him and he is kind of pale looking, especially right behind his head down to where his back fin starts., any reason why i should worry? or some suggestions.

p.s. i went to where my LFS and ordered some krill just waiting for it to get here.

[leebca]

Please do not feed this fish, freshwater fishes. Stick to foods from the sea/ocean. The freshwater fishes have a different kind of fat that marine fishes don't digest. The Lionfish will get fat deposits inside until the fish dies from these deposits.

You can get some live marine animals if you want. But, they should be quarantined to verify they do not have any marine diseases or parasites. One particular you might consider are hermit crabs. Get the 'tiny' kind. You can crack open their shell, rinse the live crab under pure (distilled) water, then freeze it for 2 nights. Thaw and offer this. The Lionfish eats not only small fishes but also crustaceans (like the krill you are trying to get).

For that size of fish you might also try and get some frozen ocean plankton. Make sure it comes from the ocean since 'plankton' comes from both the sea and the freshwater sources.

I'd say the feeding you gave may have overdone it. These fish each once or twice a week and not as much as you've fed in one meal. That, combined with the fact that the freshwater fish are not going to digest well is most likely the cause for some of the color changes.

Monitor the fish closely. Provide good, up close, hi res photos if the fish doesn't improve in a few days.

Good luck!