Lion has trouble eating

[ssg_mm]

Ok. So I went away for a few months and had someone taking care of my tank. I fed my lionfish one med silverside today and he had a lot of problems. He rolled it around in his mouth, coughed, and looked like he was gonna choke on it. It almost seemed like he couldn't chew it properly. I'm very concerned and afraid to try feeding more. Please help...he's looking thin!
:help: :help:

 

[angelsrock]

try krill

 

[nicetry]

How old is the lion? Have you fed the fish since your last post?
Lions can develop a growth or goiter in their throats. If this grows too large, it can prevent the fish from being able to ingest food. Watch the fish and see if you can look into it's mouth as it tries to eat or yawns. Sometimes these growths are visible. At this point, chop up any foods into small pieces. The fish can't ingest any large items.

 

[ssg_mm]

Lion is about 1 yr old and I estimate 7" I fed it a small silverside on SAT and again he had problems chewing/swallowing. I could not see any growth but i could see the fish just sitting in the mouth. I tried a small piece of scallop yesterday and he didn't struggle as much but still "coughed" a couple of times.
What can I do to help him? How does this goiter go away or heal?
Thanks.

 

[tnt]

My lion is 5-6 inches. I give him pieces of food about the size of a quarter or smaller and he gulps them right down. If I give him bigger pieces, it takes him a while to get it down. He will keep moving it around in his mouth trying to get it turned right. I would try giving him smaller pieces. I cut the silversides up into 3 or 4 pieces. My lfs has a huge lion and they don't even feed him whole silversides. How often do you feed him?

 

[ssg_mm]

Thanks for your input.
I feed him 2-3 times per week depending on how much he eats. I'm going to start feeding 1-2 times per week and give smaller peices.
However, he would eat 2-3 silversides or one whole shrimp before I even brought him home from LFS. He's even taken fish from serpent star whith a full mouth.
But smaller is the way I will go.

 

[lion_crazz]

Have you checked the levels of the tank? Specific gravity? pH? Nitrates? What are you using to test the specific gravity?
When I had this problem with my lion, it was because my specific gravity dropped to 1.010 - it's a long story, but the lion lived through the ordeal and came out okay.

 

[ssg_mm]

Gravity is good at 1.022; ph 8.3; ammo 0; nitrite 0; nitrate is highish but I'm fixing that now. I guess water changing is a complicated procedure for some...much like brain surgery!
Thanks for your input.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by SSG_MM
nitrate is highish but I'm fixing that now.
well you answered your own question.

 

[ssg_mm]

Ok. Got the nitrates back to normal and lion still won't eat. It doesn't seem to even be interested anymore. I tried to offer some live rosies and even a goldfish (I know it's not the best food source but I was desperate) and he didn't even stalk.
I've noticed some redness and slight swelling on what looks to be the nose. Almost like he's congested with a cold or something. Other than that, no signgs of external disease, fungus, parasites etc. Eyes are clear and his color is good. None of my other fish are sick and there have been no new additions to the tank. Could it be an internal parasite?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[lion_crazz]

how long has the nitrates been down? And how long was it a problem?

 

[ssg_mm]

since after my post on 9-26, I did 2 - 20gal water changes which got to 0-5ppm. Right now I'm looking at about 10ppm.
I just watched lion divebomb from top of tank and dig his face in the sand. I turned on the light to look at him and he went spaztic...crashing into the rocks head first....now just lying upside down on bottom. He's breathing heavy..........
WHAT CAN I DO????

 

[lion_crazz]

Well turning the light on shocked him quite a bit, I'm sure. Why was the light not on at this time of day? Did you have it off to keep his stress level down or something? At this point, there doesn't sound like much you can do.. I'm sorry.
When you went away on vacation, did you measure out the food for each feeding or did you just leave it up to the person feeding the tank to decide how much to give him? Also, was a water change done on the tank during the few months that you were away?

 

[ssg_mm]

the last pic...you can see the nose redness........bruised?

 

[lion_crazz]

the reddening of the face or tail region is something that lionfish get from stress or from physical trauma...

 

[ssg_mm]

My lights come on at 3pm MTN.
I don't know what could cause the continued stress though. Water parameters are back to normal...feeding schedule and amount was outlined and understood for while I was gone...water were said to have been done but I can neither confirm nor deny they were...
It's snowing/cold here and tank temp went to 76 from 77.5.
I've had this guy for over a year and don't want to lose it now.
Thanks for your help

 

[lion_crazz]

Well I really hope you do not lose him. At this point, I would just leave him alone and keep everything in the tank stable so that he does not get stressed out any further...