lion fish waste

[saltymist]

So I was watching my lion fish yesterday and he gave a big wriggle of his body and out came a little ?waste? material, the waste material (poop) was not what I considered to be a normal like what you might get from a damsel fish, but rather this slimy looking clear stuff.
It's hard to explain but it was this stuff that was clear in nature (or rather perhaps opaque since I could see it in the water), and looked like it might be slimy if you were to try and touch it.
Well, soon enough it was sucked up into the filter.
But then he gave a really big wriggle of his body, and POOF, out came a huge amount of this waste. It was sucked up into the filter within about 3 minutes or so, but this got me rather concerned that if a lion fish puts out this much waste, then I may not have the means to clear it from the water, depending on how often he does this.
Anyone that has a dwarf lion fish, is this the normal waste material for a dwarf zebra lion fish?

 

[drakken]

I had a dwarf lion but never saw him poop so I can'y answer if what you are seeing is normal. If he's eating and pooping then he's most likely healthy.
A protein skimmer is highly reccomended for a lion tank.

 

[saltymist]

Now that you mention it, it could be something like that.
But it happens so fast, the second time it happend, he wriggled his body, and then within a blink of an eye there was a cloud of this stuff, some of looked like it could be rings, like as if it were surounding his body and he wriggled it off.
I'll have to watch closer next time, but chances are you've nailed it, since he did this whole wriggling dance maneuver before it appeared.
Thanks,

 

[fmarini]

AS JW mentioned the clear slimey stuff is actually the lionfish's cuticle. The "wiggle" is the indication that the lion will shed the cuticle.
Many sedentary fish have cuticles covering their skin, they periodically shed this cuticule to remove any unwanted organisms which settling on them since these fish are so sedentary.
Nothing to worry about, and means the fish is in good health.
frank

 

[fantasy reef]

but in answer to your question regarding fish waste, yes, lionfish do produce alot of waste matter.