Can anyone help me figure out why my lionfish died?

[fishinphilly]

I had my Volitan Lion for more than two years. He was in a 75g with a double saddled butterfly and a coral beauty angel. (I was going to upgrade to a bigger tank when the lion started getting bigger). He was eating frozen silversides every day.
Last week, I had a nitrate spike. Still haven't been able to determine the cause. The lion stopped accepting food, and eventually died.
To my knowledge, the nitrate spike would have taken more of a toll on the butterfly or the angel, but they are still perfectly fine.
Any help?

 

[rcreations]

How big a nitrate spike are we talking about?
Lions are pretty tolerant of higher nitrates and they can also go for weeks without eating. So yours shouldn't have died in 1 week because of not eating.

 

[fishinphilly]

It was a really big nitrate spike, around 85 ppm? Hit all of a sudden. Still haven't been able to get it down to a reasonable level, even doing 5-10g water changed a day.

 

[lion_crazz]

What was different about the day you noticed the nitrate spike? Did you do anything to the tank?

 

[fishinphilly]

I was away at school, my dad noticed the lion acting strange, and tested the water right away. Usually water test about once a week. Was perfectly fine the week before.

 

[lion_crazz]

What were the other water levels? Any ammonia? pH drop?

 

[fishinphilly]

No ammonia at all, Didn't test for PH

 

[fishinphilly]

Just checked again, pH is at 7.8, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, and nitrates are still high

 

[lion_crazz]

Hm, pH is definitely on the low end. What is your specific gravity?

 

[lion_crazz]

How did the fish look when he was dead? Bite marks? Mouth wide open?

 

[fishinphilly]

sg is at 1.024. No bite marks on the lion...just lost all color, went pale right when he died, then his color came back after he stopped breathing. a few scrape marks on his sides, from hitting the rocks. His eyes didn't really look any different after he died.

 

[fishinphilly]

mouth was closed when he died.
Don't think it was lockjaw, because when he first started giving me trouble about eating, he wouldn't jump at the silversides right away, but would wait until they hit the bottom, and grab them, but only after the butterfly would start picking at the silverside.

 

[fishinphilly]

Just tested the pH again, it's back up to 8.2

 

[srfisher17]

I doubt it was nitrates, that level won't hurt many fish and lions are very hardy. (They have actually been used to cycle tanks.) I lost a 2 or 3 yr old volitan under similar circumstances. Never did have any idea what happened. I wrote it off to "just one of those things"; unfortunatly fish do die and we often never know why. It sure is a good idea to at least look for a cause, though.

 

[hammerhed7]

did you feed anything else but silversides? Could be liver problems due to diet, they need a variety of food, and they certainly don't need to be fed everyday. Sounds like what kills most lions, fatty liver disease due to poor diet and overfeeding.

 

[fishinphilly]

Nope, he was on a strictly silverside diet : /
Thats what I'm starting to think too, Hammerhed. Thanks.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by FishInPhilly
http:///forum/post/2714566
Nope, he was on a strictly silverside diet : /
Thats what I'm starting to think too, Hammerhed. Thanks.
Yeah; I didn't read the 1st post closely enough. Too many kids in the house. IMO; the #1 thing for long term lion success is a varied diet (raw shrimp, scallops,silversides, squid,clam,etc) and vitamins (selcon, etc.) I feed lions 3 times a week and they do very well.

 

[hammerhed7]

agreed, it is so hard not to overfeed lions, I have quite a bit a experience with them, and it is an inner struggle not to overfeed them, they always act like they are starving. I have also found that feeding fresh seafood from the store is not only healthier for the fish, but also cheaper than buying silversides and squid packaged as fish food, I do still buy and feed silversides along with the fresh foods.

 

[hammerhed7]

Philly, just out of curiosity how big was your lion when he died?

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by Hammerhed7
http:///forum/post/2715485
agreed, it is so hard not to overfeed lions, I have quite a bit a experience with them, and it is an inner struggle not to overfeed them, they always act like they are starving. I have also found that feeding fresh seafood from the store is not only healthier for the fish, but also cheaper than buying silversides and squid packaged as fish food, I do still buy and feed silversides along with the fresh foods.

I agree. And the fascination of watching a lion spread its fins and hunt a live fish makes it almost impossible not to do. If I did feed a couple live mollies every month or so I'd never admit it; because its so easily overdone. Almost all fish do well on a variety of fresh seafood, cut to size, and soaked in Selcon.