Dwarf lion

[Mbuna]

G'day all, nice to see Reefland is back on-line. I have a question about my dwarf lionfish, he seems to be changing colours from a real light white and bright orange stripes, to a dark white and dark orange colour. I hope he is all right, I have had him for about six to eight months, and he is eating well, I feed him prawn and ghost shrimp and occasionally(once every two months) guppies, (if I should feed him something else please let me know.)
Also, my velvet damsel has killed my coral beauty. I was very upset, the coral beauty was one of my first fish in the new tank. Then I went to replace the beauty and the bloody damsel killed the new one and the baby hippo tang. This guy is bad news, what should I do? I was thinking of getting rid of him, is this the best idea. (The velvet is about 13-14 cms long, he is fairly big, and well fed, (a.k.a. fat.) He has never been this aggressive before, so is he thinking he is king of the tank?

Thanks-------Cheers~Dave

[Mikeman]

If your dwarf lion is eating, i don't feel there is any cause to worry about its change of coloration, even though I've never heard of it, he may just be getting adult colors

as to the damsel, he's established his territory and the only way to battle his aggresion is either to take him out, or add fish that can hadle his mean streak........I'd take him out however if i was you

[eses]

Mine change colors throughout the day..They darken and lighten depending on mood, if they are being intimidated or intimidating, and when I feed. At night my yellow one lightens up to the point you can barely see gold bands along it's body.

I would say if yours lightens up and stays ghost white for long periods of time, it is probably stressing out. Mine usually stay "neutral" in between their darkest and lightest phases.

Something you may want to try that I've had good luck feeding is Forumla 2, Brine Shrimp, Mysis Shrimp, Krill and mixture frozen cube food that have a mix of veggie/meats. If you can get it to eat a variety of things it is much better than sticking to a few things.

Wes