Lionfish help?

[pcardone]

My lionfish hasn't ate in about 5-6 days now. I know thats not an extrodinary amount of time without eating, but what worries me is that he doesn't seem to be acting quite right. He was eating live at the LFS and ate silversides a few days after I took him home, but that was the last time he ate. His breathing looks unnatural, as he looks like he is taking big gasps, then blowing them out on occasion. You can see sand blow away if he is close enough to the bottom. Also, since this morning his color seems to have faded drastically. He was a nice shade of red and now seems to be a very pale red. He's a red volitian and my water params are as follows, 1.024, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and <5 Nitrate and 8.2PH. He doesn't seem to be interested in food at ALL. He just may not be hungry yet which is possible, cause when I fed him, I gave him 2 silversides, which 1 may have been suffice, but he sucked them down like popcorn chicken. Other then that he kinda lays in certain spots, then swims around a bit, finds a new place to chill out, and that has pretty much been it. Other then the color fading, no other noticable things about him.
Thanks!

 

[lionstorm]

I know sometimes lionfish just lay around and sit on rocks or don't do a lot and thats supposed to be pretty normal, hmm.
Not sure what to say about his not eating, I've read that it can take up to two weeks to get them eating regularly, are you just feeding him silversides for starters? I would give him time and he should come around. If all else fails I would suggest trying some other foods (not sure what else lionfish really like, i have a pufferfish but i wanted a lion bad so i know a little about them) im thinking krill, shrimp of some sort, brine shrimp perhaps? Good luck I hope you can get him eating, Lionfish are awesome

 

[moraym]

As far as taking big gasps of water, and then blowing out, my dwarf lion did this on a regular basis, and shouldn't be much of a concern.
Doesn't sound like you overfed him, he shouldn't be full off of 2 silversides five days later. Try to change the diet a bit. My lion wouldn't eat silversides after a while, but went for krill.

 

[gdamador]

My volitan lion has been eating krill soaked in garlic juice... he loves it. I noticed at first when I was learning how to feed him that sometimes he would eat lots of pieces and then cough one or two back up. It seemed that they had almost not gone down right or had gotten stuck. I would see him opening his mouth rapidly until he would get it out. He hasn't been doing that for days though, he's just eating like crazy. Maybe yours has something that is just stuck down the hatch or something. I don't know, no expert, but just my humble opinion.

 

[innsmouth]

If this is any indication of what lions are capable of you might be fine. My volitans lion swallowed a live crayfish meant for my eel. the thing was feisty and BIG. I thought my lion was a goner for sure. I could see the tips of it's claws hanging out of my lion's mouth. Took him about a week to want food again and he was pretty lethargic (even for a lion) but he sprung right back and is as healthy as an ox. Lions are tough fish and if your water params are as good as you mentioned he's probably just being a lionfish. Some things you might want to rule out are parasites like ich and isopods. Do a search for them. Good luck!

 

[pcardone]

Thanks everyone, when I looked at him this morning, he was just laying against the side of the tank, looking down at the sand, but his color looked like it was returning, starting from the front. I have also tried krill to get him to eat, but no luck just yet. I'll make sure I soak them with my garlic guard before I try again. Hopefully only a few more days like this then he is back to normal, cause it is kinda bummin me out, I just wanna see him eat like normal. As for parasites, I don't see any ich spots on him, and his eyes look completely normal so no popeye happening, and his body doesn't look filmy as described in Paletta's book, New Marine Aquarist, or whatever it is called. I also shined the flashlight down his mouth when it is slightly opened and nothing looks lodged or jammed in there, kinda weird how it looks like his teeth are like shaped and deeper in his mouth, rather then the outer edges, must be how they eat by swallowing partial first, then the teeth must chew everything up. It almost looks like 3-4 openings with sharp teeth on each of the sides of the openings. Sound about right?
Thanks guys,
Phil

 

[pcardone]

UPDATE:
This morning Lion looked better in color, but by the time I got home from work tonite, he was in the same spot in the tank and he died. I can't tell what took his life. As you saw by the post my water params looked normal, and he looked really normal. Only thing I am starting to wonder is that his body had some white spots. Now I have seen ich before, but this did not at all look like ich. These white spots looked as though they belonged to him like normal, not parasites hanging off of him. The spots also seemed pretty big to be ich, 1/8" most of them, and like I said, didn't look to be clinging, rather on him like apart of his beautiful colors were. Also mainly on his fins, none on his body. This is mysterious, I am more concerned why I lost him more then anything.
Thanks for all your help,
Phil

 

[lionstorm]

sorry about your loss at least you tried

 

[pcardone]

Originally posted by LionStorm
sorry about your loss at least you tried
Its a learning experience. I don't feel it was as much of a mistake on my part, but none the less, learn from it.
Thanks for the help buddy,
Phil

 

[innsmouth]

Wow, that's a drag. I guess you win some and lose some. i think the spots you're talking about were always there? Most volitans have them. If they suddenly appeared maybe it was velvet? I'm not sure to be honest. Did you try to see if they could be removed easily? Oh well, sorry to hear it and better luck next time.

 

[pcardone]

No, I didn't try to remove them cause like I said, they just looked too "normal" to him, didn't want to go plucking good stuff off of him.
Thanks!

 

[kittykitty]

the spots could have been a part of his normal coloration, that you would only see when he is stressed out or sleeping.

 

[lions n nd]

I have had many lions I have learned that when this starts the only thing you can do is treat for a bacterial infection
That's what causes the color loss in patches and then it grows took me a long time to figure this out lost quit a few before finally figuring this out.
sorry for your loss wish i would have seen this earlier to tell you.

 

[pcardone]

Thanks Lions N ND, i'll have to remember that cause he won't be my only lion. They are such beautiful fish, I am going to get another one. I just hope I can find one as beautiful as he was, when I got him, he was full of color, a nice size, not too small, not too big, beautiful fins, looked amazing. SW is always a learning experience. <and a costly one> lol Thanks!!