Lion fish

[Jclaeys]

Hey everyone I am new to the hobby. I started in fresh water and the moved to salt I assembled a tank and let it cycle for 2-3months and finally on Sunday I bought a lion fish he is eating good but I just noticed he is breathing just a bit heavy so I tested the water and it is perfect. Any thoughts
-thanks

 

[jay0705]

Define perfect? What are your readings? How much water flow? What/ how often are you feeding?

 

[Jclaeys]

Define perfect? What are your readings? How much water flow? What/ how often are you feeding?

I am feeding frozen krill once a day the readings have ammonia nitrates and nitrites all at 0 the flow was very heavy so I turned the wave maker off and now it seemed to help a bit but he is still using his mouth to breathe

 

[jay0705]

Krill is a horrible choice, nutrition wise. What kind and size is the lion? Lions only need to eat 3 times a week. I feed my dwarf frozen prawns, live ghost shrimp, jumbo mysis, and strips of sw fish. Haddock, cod, ect.
Your tank is fairly new, but 0 nitrate is odd. You should be showing some

 

[Jclaeys]

Krill is a horrible choice, nutrition wise. What kind and size is the lion? Lions only need to eat 3 times a week. I feed my dwarf frozen prawns, live ghost shrimp, jumbo mysis, and strips of sw fish. Haddock, cod, ect.
Your tank is fairly new, but 0 nitrate is odd. You should be showing some

I thought krill was kinda wired I wanted to get silver sides but the guy and the store said to start with krill. He is about 3inch and I wasn’t zero it was just below 20 I just didn’t want to confuse any one. One thought I had was maybe he was just nervous because I was so close to the tank. Thanks

 

[jay0705]

Is it a dwarf or volition lion. No worries about confusion, most of us shouldn't get confused too easy lol. How did you acclimated aswell?

 

[Jclaeys]

Is it a dwarf or volition lion. No worries about confusion, most of us shouldn't get confused too easy lol. How did you acclimated aswell?

it Is a black volition I drip acclimated it for 40min it is weird though because he looks and acts fine he just seems to be breathing a bit heavy. Thanks for all the help by the way

 

[jay0705]

Gotcha. What kind of filtration/ water flow do you have?
A volitan shouldn't be hard to feed at all. Definitely cut down to about 3 feeds a week tho. Variety will be your best bet long term.
Np on the help. Corals i would be no help lol. Lions are one of my favs

 

[Jclaeys]

Big canister I know they are a nitrate factory but I have been trying to find a sump I have a UV sterilizer a protein skimmer and a wave make but I shut it off so he wasn’t constantly fighting with the water

 

[jay0705]

Gotcha ok. Yes if you clean it weekly your fine. Otherwise nitrate trap lol.
How big is the tank? You seem to have a good idea what your doing so please don't say 10 gallon.

 

[Jclaeys]

It’s 60gal I plan to upgrade eventually but 60 seemed like a good start

 

[jay0705]

Ok excellent. Just keep up on your water changes bc lions can be messy. If its eating krill you should have no issues w other foods. You can even try shrimp from the grocery store. Make sure its sw shrimp tho and raw. You may even find some small smelts there aswell

 

[Jclaeys]

Ok thanks for all the help I really appreciate it

 

[kayesh]

Affordable Lionfish from Reefs4less.com

 

[Bella Smith]

A gorgeous lion. Do you use wave maker?