dead lion fish red face?

i awoke to find my lion fish dead this morning and proceeded to check my parameters which are all at or extremely close to zero and when pulled my lion fish from the tank for his burial at sea i noticed his cheeks and face were really red. is this a sign of some kind of disease?
 

bigbonedee

Member
I am sure that peolple will comment on your experience if you were to give the details. Lions are pretty hardy and usually there is time for intervention against disease.
What other fish do you have and how are they acting.
Was the Lion showing any stress, darting, twitching behavior.
Was the lion out and about during the day or was he hiding.
How big was it and how big is your tank.
What equiptment do you run.
Did you recently introduce fish to the tank.
What were you feeding it and were you adding anything.
You said the face was red and I gather that includes the gills. Sometimes when infestation occurs it usually will attack the gills . The fish will exhibit labored breathing forexample with oodinium, Ich, and flukes.However without added details it is hard to know what happened. This is interesting since I have never heard of a Lion dying overnight. How old was it?
 
i was about four inches, it ate a few gold fish in the afternoon. it was just chilling in the back corner like normal the few times i saw him.
 
i have a 55 gallon. a yellow cow acting normal, koran angel acting normal, and a stars and stripes puffer acting normal. i introduced him about 3 months ago and before any of the other tank mates. i have had all four of them in there for about a month now with no signs of trouble. the koran did have a few things on its top fin and back fin that looked like salt granules. i assumed that was ick and began feeding my tank the garlic soaked food which got rid of the white spots on the koran. the lion never did eat any garlic soaked food as i was not able to figure out how to give him a garlic soaked live goldfish. i did not see and white spots on him at all.
 

bigbonedee

Member
I dont know many Lions that just hang out incorners with the exception of the Dwarf. Usually they perch themselves on coral and rocks unless you dont have any. I am thinking you have missed something. Was he ever yawning or darting?
 
he darted at times and other times he yawned. he for the most part just faced down towards the ground and was up against my back wall.
 

sistrmary

Member
That's kind of odd, all the dead lionfish I've seen (Via my LFS's addiction to fu manchus even though 1 out of 50 live in their tanks) have been almost completely white.
 

fmarini

Member
ding ding ding........
we have a winner
quote
" it ate a few gold fish in the afternoon"
When lions die they usually die w/ their mouths fully extended and this often causes the gill operculums to flair. While brooknella could be the culprit, lions will often yawn after ingesting a big meal and they use this yawning to shift food around and down their gullet.
Also lions just plain yawn to stretch their mouths
the darting....not sure
IME you most likely over fed or the lion had those goldfish go bad in its belly. Unfortunately i have helped a fair number of people who feed goldfish (usually a few to alot/meal) and the next morning the fish is dead.
Next time (if there is one), i usually feed lions until I start to observe the belly bulge. (small lions 2 shrimps worth). After this lions will over eat and if the food gets trapped and starts to rot in its belly. Yuck.
My lions just hang in the corners too, usually head down in a cave, on a rock, whereever
frank
 

natalie daniel

New Member
There is something wrong with my lion also. On Wednesday, we fed him some feeder guppies as we always do. On Friday, when I went to feed him again he would not eat. He just laid there. I tried getting him to move with my net, and he kind of darts a few times and then floats back down to the bottom of the tank. He is just extremely lethargic. I'm wondering what could be wrong and if there is anything I can do to help him.
 
you are NOT suppose to feed lion's freshwater feeders! Mine takes silversides right out of my hand. From what I have read and been told fresh water feeders can cause a lion to develop liver disease,plus you never know what parasites the freshwater feeders might be carrying,and then enter into your tank.
 

natalie daniel

New Member
The store that I bought my lion from feeds their lions guppies, and that is what they recommended I feed mine. If this not what I should be feeding it, what is the right food?Also, what is this brooknella, and is there any treatment for it?
 
I can't help you with the brooknella.But you should try and get your lion to eat silversides,shrimp,krill or squid.Freshwater feeders are no good for a lion.Like I said mine will take silversides right out of my hand,he comes swimming to the top everytime I come near the tank.Plus I usually only feed him every couple of days.If he has eaten a fairly large silverside he might go 3 days without eating,he pretty much lets me know when he is hungry.My lion does'nt care for squid or shrimp but he loves the silversides.Most lfs sell silversides(frozen saltwater minnows),give them a try.
 
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