Lionfish died unexpectly????

[fish junkie]

I had bought my wife a lionfish for christmas, had it in my cycled 20 gal qt, parameters are sal=1.023, ammo=0, nitrite=0, nitrate=20ppm, temp 77.8, ph=8.2. He was getting to the end of his quaritine time. My wife seen him yesterday breathing hard in the morning and was dead before I got home from work at 2:30. He was eatting well the day before, no signs of illness??? was feeding him frozen mysis shrimp. I did 20% water change every two weeks. Can anyone tell me why he might have died???

 

[fmarini]

necropsy will be the only way to find out how/why it died.
it seems you had the fish for more than 1 month, so its gotta be something at your end. I'd go back over the QT tanks, water quality issues and any potential foods

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Fish Junkie
http:///forum/post/2457908
I had bought my wife a lionfish for christmas, had it in my cycled 20 gal qt, parameters are sal=1.023, ammo=0, nitrite=0, nitrate=20ppm, temp 77.8, ph=8.2. He was getting to the end of his quaritine time. My wife seen him yesterday breathing hard in the morning and was dead before I got home from work at 2:30. He was eatting well the day before, no signs of illness??? was feeding him frozen mysis shrimp. I did 20% water change every two weeks. Can anyone tell me why he might have died???

Welcome to the boards! How did he look when he died? Do you have a powerhead in the tank? Were his gills red?

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by FMarini
http:///forum/post/2458418
necropsy will be the only way to find out how/why it died.
it seems you had the fish for more than 1 month, so its gotta be something at your end. I'd go back over the QT tanks, water quality issues and any potential foods
As frustrating as it is, it is not uncommon to have a fish die and never find out why. This hobby has so many variables and is really still in its infancy, knowledge-wise. IMO, its amazing we do as well as we do; given the incredibly complex world of the reef and all the stress of capture and all the stuff a fish goes through before he's a healthy member of our Display tanks.

 

[fish junkie]

Thanks for the welcome. I went over my qt tank again and the parameters is the same. He look ok, no ich dots or anything like that, but I didn't look at his gills. What does red gills indicate?

 

[hotjeepinmomma]

I don't really know what to tell you! I had 3 different kinds of lions and they all died with in 2 days, my water was fine and all i don't know, the lfs told me they are hard to keep! So i gave up on them!

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Fish Junkie
http:///forum/post/2459393
Thanks for the welcome. I went over my qt tank again and the parameters is the same. He look ok, no ich dots or anything like that, but I didn't look at his gills. What does red gills indicate?
Red gills indicate a bacterial infection or it could be parasites in the gills.

 

[weatherby]

Originally Posted by Fish Junkie
http:///forum/post/2457908
I had bought my wife a lionfish for christmas, had it in my cycled 20 gal qt, parameters are sal=1.023, ammo=0, nitrite=0, nitrate=20ppm, temp 77.8, ph=8.2. He was getting to the end of his quaritine time. My wife seen him yesterday breathing hard in the morning and was dead before I got home from work at 2:30. He was eatting well the day before, no signs of illness??? was feeding him frozen mysis shrimp. I did 20% water change every two weeks. Can anyone tell me why he might have died???

First off let me just say I'm not writing this to flame:
You've had a lion (Volitan's?) since before Christmas and only fed it mysis? That in itself might be a factor... My Volitan's eats very small silversides and occasionally, (depending on how picky she's feeling), krill... I'm not sure Mysis is enough food for a lion of any kind let alone a Volitan....
(Again, not trying to flame or anything just saying that I've never seen my Volitan eat mysis when fed to the other fish, she waits for her silversides or krill)
Either way, I wouldn't shy away from a lion just because of one bad experience. They are sensitive and finicky animals but when you get one that thrives they are also very beautiful and unique as well!

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by Weatherby
http:///forum/post/2461431
First off let me just say I'm not writing this to flame:
You've had a lion (Volitan's?) since before Christmas and only fed it mysis? That in itself might be a factor... My Volitan's eats very small silversides and occasionally, (depending on how picky she's feeling), krill... I'm not sure Mysis is enough food for a lion of any kind let alone a Volitan....
(Again, not trying to flame or anything just saying that I've never seen my Volitan eat mysis when fed to the other fish, she waits for her silversides or krill)
Either way, I wouldn't shy away from a lion just because of one bad experience. They are sensitive and finicky animals but when you get one that thrives they are also very beautiful and unique as well!

I've got to start reading more closely,at first reading,I just noticed the death part. Of course, Weatherby is 100% correct, Volitans are robust, fast growing fish that need variety, vitimins, and much more bulk in their diet than frozen mysiss. Appropriate sized pieces of fresh seafood with a garlic or Selcon-type supplement are, IMO, ideal. Once eating properly, I think a Volitan is one of the easiest fish to keep that we have; provided the owner does the research and has the room to keep them. I've been keeping SW fish for many years and I still read everything I can before I get a new fish.

 

[fish junkie]

I plan on getting another volitan, but not for a little while. I want to do a lot more reasearch on them. any suggestions are welcome. How big a tank I will need to keep them happy, what to feed them, what other fish can be kept with them, etc. Thanks for the advise. Any help is welcome being new to this hobby. My problem is everyone tells you a different thing for the same problem. My friend said that this website has a lot of good advise on it. The lfs I bought him from said he needed a meaty diet. That is why I thought the frozen mysiss was good.

 

[kwdelre]

Fish Junkie-
I think that you just got an unhealthy fish. He wasn't able to adapt to captive life well. You just never know sometimes.
I will say this though...they are extremely hardy fish. Before I knew (halfway) what I was doing I actually started a tank with a Lion without a long cycle period (because of some really aged live rock). I was crazy, but he is healthy as a horse. Variety in diet for all fish is my motto. i would not hesitate to go out and get a another sooner than you think.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by Fish Junkie
http:///forum/post/2466322
I plan on getting another volitan, but not for a little while. I want to do a lot more reasearch on them. any suggestions are welcome. How big a tank I will need to keep them happy, what to feed them, what other fish can be kept with them, etc. Thanks for the advise. Any help is welcome being new to this hobby. My problem is everyone tells you a different thing for the same problem. My friend said that this website has a lot of good advise on it. The lfs I bought him from said he needed a meaty diet. That is why I thought the frozen mysiss was good.
The research is a great plan. I wouldn't put a Volitan in anything less than a 110 gal tank, preferably bigger. These are big, robust, fast growing fish that can reach 15" or so. A healthy volitan can go from a few inches to a foot or so in its first year. If you have a smaller tank, I'd suggest a fuzzy dwarf lion. Mysiss is a great basic food, but too small to be a staple for most lions, especially volitans.. Good foods, IMO, are found in the seafood section of your supermarket, as well as the lfs. Size depends on the size of the lion. Fresh shrimp, squid (a favorite), silversides, krill, sand eels,(you see these in the lfs more often now), krill, chunks of raw SW fish, etc.Variety is very important. I have at least 6 items I feed mine. I am a real believer in vitamin supplements (I like Selcon) and soak all food in the vitamins first. Getting a new lion to eat dead food can be a challenge ( search for info on using a feeding stick), but once eating, they are long-lived, low maintenance, very personable fish. BTW, lions are not really "aggressive", IMO. They are hunters that won't often bother anything they can't swallow whole...but, they can be pestered to death by some triggers, puffers, etc. Good luck, you'll get very attached to your next one!

 

[ironeagle2006]

I have a 5 inch lion Volitan in my tank. He eats Sliversides Krill Squid loves my other treat I have a 20 gallon tank full of Feeder guppies I know but here is the thing tank is set up with a UV sterilizer and also sois my DT and he only gets tehm once every 2 weeks he goes NUTS when they hit the tank.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by ironeagle2006
http:///forum/post/2468724
I have a 5 inch lion Volitan in my tank. He eats Sliversides Krill Squid loves my other treat I have a 20 gallon tank full of Feeder guppies I know but here is the thing tank is set up with a UV sterilizer and also sois my DT and he only gets tehm once every 2 weeks he goes NUTS when they hit the tank.
The problem with guppies isn't anything UV will help; FW fish are too fatty for SW fish and lead to fatty deposits, especially around the liver, building up in the loin.(If you've done any fishing, just compare the fat, wiggly belly on a FW bass to a SW bonefish or snook which has no fat) I'll admit to feeding FW feeders every once( once a month, maybe)in a while, but I'd sure keep it to a minimum. There are a lot of folks on this forum, whose advice I respect, that will advise against EVER feeding FW feeders. Also, Lions can be picky, and may refuse good food if they come to expect the guppies.

 

[ironeagle2006]

he gets maybe a total of 8 every 2 weeks and also has to fight my triggers and wrasse for them. I am in the process of converting that tank soon to saltwater and getting mollys for it anyway making saltwater mollyies for feeders cheaper than feeder shrimp.

 

[fish junkie]

Thanks that is good advise. I'll have to scrape up more funds for a bigger tank. I was going with a 90 gal. But I think I will try and save for a 150. I am definitly going to get another lion and wife was thinking she would like a dogface puffer. Will these to get a long?

 

[kwdelre]

Originally Posted by Fish Junkie
http:///forum/post/2469461
Thanks that is good advise. I'll have to scrape up more funds for a bigger tank. I was going with a 90 gal. But I think I will try and save for a 150. I am definitly going to get another lion and wife was thinking she would like a dogface puffer. Will these to get a long?
Opinions vary with the tank size they should be kept in. If you don't over crowd your tank with large fish then a 90 gal is enough.
But you have to think: How much room is there to swim. If you have a 125g with a ton of live rock and coral, you may have the same swimming room as a 75gal fish only with only 50 pounds of live rock.
You see there are several determining factors.

 

[fish junkie]

I was thinking about maybe 70 pounds of live rock, a dogface puffer, volitan lion and maybe some kind of trigger. Do you still think a 90 is good and can these fish all live together. I also thought of a 110 but I think the height of that tank I would need a scuba suit to clean it.

 

[kwdelre]

Originally Posted by Fish Junkie
http:///forum/post/2469610
I was thinking about maybe 70 pounds of live rock, a dogface puffer, volitan lion and maybe some kind of trigger. Do you still think a 90 is good and can these fish all live together. I also thought of a 110 but I think the height of that tank I would need a scuba suit to clean it.
If you are not putting any corals in with them than heck yeah man. I have a blue jaw trigger with my lion. They are beautiful. I've never owned a dog face for aestetic reasons only but they should get along given the space they will have.
IMO, those three fish in a 90 g is plenty. But of course I'm sure there's people out there that disagree. Just give them room to swim.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by kwdelre
http:///forum/post/2469701
If you are not putting any corals in with them than heck yeah man. I have a blue jaw trigger with my lion. They are beautiful. I've never owned a dog face for aestetic reasons only but they should get along given the space they will have.
IMO, those three fish in a 90 g is plenty. But of course I'm sure there's people out there that disagree. Just give them room to swim.
A blue jaw is a good choice if you're going to have a lion & trigger. Lions, puffers, and triggers are often kept together; they SEEM like a natural combination. But, many times the lions flowing fins will be very tempting for the more aggressive triggers & puffers. You might get lucky and might not. So much depends on the individual fish that anything can happen. Stick to the less aggressive triggers and things will probably be ok. Just my opinion, but I'd never put a big puffer or an aggressive trigger (like a clown) with a lion; the lion just isn't in that "aggression" category.