Lion Fish Gone Nuts

[dougedoug]

My Lion Fish has gone nutso. He usually eats well, he eats silversides and even some prawn if big enough.. He eats good and is a decent size. never had a problem with him eating. Starting about 4 days ago he just stopped eating. Had a 25% water change yesterday and he is still not eating. Offered up some live gold fish and he is not interested. Wiggled some fish in front of him, still no go. His activity looks anxious where they are typically very mellow. Has been my strongest fish and now he is on hunger strike. Should I try some silversides in fresh garlic? Any recommendations. The tank is not over populated and no fish have ever messed with him.

 

[dougedoug]

Noticed he was slashing around in the tank and a few of his spikes broke. I do not see any rhyme or reason why this happened. Is he shedding?

 

[saxman]

My first question would be what are its tankmates?
What has changed in the system?
How long have you had the fish?
How much/how often do you feed it?
Water parameters? (Fine/Good isn't the right answer).
What size system is the fish in, and how is it filtered? It doesn't appear as if you're running LR in the DT.

 

[mjtech12]

like saxman said we need the info lion fish will eat like pigs then all of a sudden wont eat for days I don't think its a worry unless you find him belly up (god forbid) ive had many and some of them eat so eratic that they almost look like their choking if anything I used to entice and feed some of mine squid, you also said it looks like some of his spikes broke he might have hurt himself on something in the tank(like rocks or ornaments) and that's why he's not eating good luck bro

 

[saxman]

Quote:
Originally Posted by MJTech12 http:///t/394771/lion-fish-gone-nuts#post_3513989
ive had many and some of them eat so eratic that they almost look like their choking
FWIW, the lionfish weren't choking. Lionfish have pharyngeal teeth, and when they get ahold of a piece of food that's too large, they use these teeth to position and soften the food item so it can be swallowed. This behavior does make them appear as if they might be "choking", however.

 

[dougedoug]

Hi guys all my ammonia zero ph is good. He just started eating today. My other one just started not eating but I am not concerned. It's a 200 gallon tank with about 21 inches of fish not including my snow flake.

 

[saxman]

I'm more concerned about the missing dorsal spines and the fish being "edgy"...are you keeping any non-planktonic-feeding triggerfish, large angels or puffers? They tend to harass lionfish and nip off their spines. Eventually, the lions die due to stress.
IME, Thalassoma wrasses can be rather nasty as well...I've seen banana wrasses harass lionfish to the point of anorexia (cessation of feeding).