Lionfish starving itself

[charlucero]

I have a 110gallon tank and last week my v. lionfish stopped eating and lays at the bottom of the tank. I did a water change and added an extra power head in increase water movement. The tank has been set up over a year. A blue damsel, chocolate chip starish and 2 snails live with the lion. There in no torn fins ,no spots, bright color and the fish overall looks great. He seems like he has chosen to stop eating and is wasteing away. Nitrates at 50ppm, nitrites good, ammonia good, specific gravity good. Ph 8.6. The only thing different in the last 2 weeks is orange algae has been growing faster than usuall, but I thought maybe that was just because there has been more sunlight lately. The lionfish started swimming tail up in the air head down in the corner of the tank by my eheim filter about 6 days ago. He was breathing more rapidly than usuall starting 4 days ago. Today he is breathing very slow. He moves very little he lays at the bottom of the tank then swims to the other side of tank and lays alomost on his side. PLZ help any advise would be great.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by charlucero
http:///forum/post/2573665
I have a 110gallon tank and last week my v. lionfish stopped eating and lays at the bottom of the tank. I did a water change and added an extra power head in increase water movement. The tank has been set up over a year. A blue damsel, chocolate chip starish and 2 snails live with the lion. There in no torn fins ,no spots, bright color and the fish overall looks great. He seems like he has chosen to stop eating and is wasteing away. Nitrates at 50ppm, nitrites good, ammonia good, specific gravity good. Ph 8.6. The only thing different in the last 2 weeks is orange algae has been growing faster than usuall, but I thought maybe that was just because there has been more sunlight lately. The lionfish started swimming tail up in the air head down in the corner of the tank by my eheim filter about 6 days ago. He was breathing more rapidly than usuall starting 4 days ago. Today he is breathing very slow. He moves very little he lays at the bottom of the tank then swims to the other side of tank and lays alomost on his side. PLZ help any advise would be great.
Welcome to the boards! What do you feed your lion? Are your nitrates always that high?

 

[florida joe]

I also was curious about your nitrates. You state ammonia and nitrites good exactly what does that mean. Sep is right on IMO in questioning what you feed your lion. They can get an impacted gut from frequent feeding.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/2573681
I also was curious about your nitrates. You state ammonia and nitrites good exactly what does that mean. Sep is right on IMO in questioning what you feed your lion. They can get an impacted gut from frequent feeding.
And fatty liver disease from FW feeders.

 

[charlucero]

He gets 2 small goldfish a day alomst everyday . Nirates are usuall ytaht high and nitire show white which is 0 ppm according to my teat kit. I have always had a little high nitrate and very low/safe level nitrite. A few weeks ago the lion ate a XL lawnmower blenny and had a very large tummy and I did not feed him for the next 3 days. Lionfish is about Med size about 7 inch.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by charlucero
http:///forum/post/2573702
He gets 2 small goldfish a day alomst everyday . Nirates are usuall ytaht high and nitire show white which is 0 ppm according to my teat kit. I have always had a little high nitrate and very low/safe level nitrite. A few weeks ago the lion ate a XL lawnmower blenny and had a very large tummy and I did not feed him for the next 3 days. Lionfish is about Med size about 7 inch.
Do some water changes to reduce the nitrates. FW goldfish are very bad to feed your lion. It causes fatty liver disease which can kill him. Get him eating silver sides. You may have to use a feeding stick. Wiggle the silver side in front of him. You may have to use some other live food while you are training him onto frozen. Ghost shrimp work well. Put the shrimp into a cup and add fresh garlic. When you feed him frozen silver sides soak those in garlic as well. He will associate the smell. He may continue to not eat for awhile. Don't worry to much yet about that. They can go for several weeks without eating. Work on getting those nitrates down. When he is more comfortable try feeding him again.

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by charlucero
http:///forum/post/2573702
He gets 2 small goldfish a day alomst everyday . Nirates are usuall ytaht high and nitire show white which is 0 ppm according to my teat kit. I have always had a little high nitrate and very low/safe level nitrite. A few weeks ago the lion ate a XL lawnmower blenny and had a very large tummy and I did not feed him for the next 3 days. Lionfish is about Med size about 7 inch.
IMO you are over feeding him

 

[charlucero]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2573749
Do some water changes to reduce the nitrates. FW goldfish are very bad to feed your lion. It causes fatty liver disease which can kill him. Get him eating silver sides. You may have to use a feeding stick. Wiggle the silver side in front of him. You may have to use some other live food while you are training him onto frozen. Ghost shrimp work well. Put the shrimp into a cup and add fresh garlic. When you feed him frozen silver sides soak those in garlic as well. He will associate the smell. He may continue to not eat for awhile. Don't worry to much yet about that. They can go for several weeks without eating. Work on getting those nitrates down. When he is more comfortable try feeding him again.

What is a silver side and if feeding live fish such as goldfish or rosies what is the recommended amount to feed a lionfish??

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by charlucero
http:///forum/post/2573790
What is a silver side and if feeding live fish such as goldfish or rosies what is the recommended amount to feed a lionfish??
Silver sides are a type of fish that are sold for fish food. They are already dead and frozen. Feed the lion once every other day. He will probably eat two or three each time. It is not okay to feed them fresh water feeders.

 

[nicetry]

Do a large (25-30 gallon) water change using well aerated saltwater that has been mixed for at least 12 hours. Lions are actually one of the more pollutant tolerant fish and trates of that level would not likely bother an otherwise healthy fish, but in this case you need to make the tank conditions conducive to healing. I'll agree that the diet is probably at fault here. You say the fish seems to be wasting away. Is it getting thin/pinched in the abdomen?
Another problem with fresh water feeders is that they often carry pathogens that can infect sw fish. The lion may now have an internal bacterial infection, which could be causing the loss of appetite. You can try silversides. Ghost shrimp are good since the lion will be more apt to go after live prey. The fish wil not last several weeks w/o eating, and my sense is that if it doesn't recover within a week or so, it may not survive.

 

[charlucero]

He is swimming around a little more but still not eating. He is breathing slow, but not sitting at the bottom of the tank or hanging upside down at the filer. He tried to eat one ghost shrimp but got a mouthful of rocks-I did not see him spit out the rocks right away like he usually does. Any suggestion?? He did watch the ghost shrimp for about 20 mins before he went after it-he looked scared to eat??

 

[sepulatian]

Have you done a water change on the tank yet? It sounds as though he is feeling slightly better because he is at least trying to eat. He is not afraid of the shrimp, but was probably curious because it isn't what he is used to. Keep trying. Did you add any garlic in with the shrimp?

 

[charlucero]

He is eating the shrimp ok but will not even look at the silver sides. He still is not moving around too much. If the shrimp crawls right in front of him he will eat it but he will not go out of his way to get the shrimp. These shrimp are not cheap and do not stay in the feeder buckets I used for the goldfish. Would it be bad to give him a FW rosie or minnow every few days? There is only one store over an hour away that carries the Ghost Shrimp.
Thanks for the help.

 

[nls82580]

my lionfish will only eat rosies..i say at this point it would be give them what they want to eat and try to work a lil variety in around that or you can garlic its supposed to entice them to eat

 

[sepulatian]

No, don't feed him a fw feeder. That was the problem to begin with. If he doesn't like the silver sides then try krill. You may have to use a feeding stick or a wooden kabob skewer. Make it look like the food is moving in front of him. Have you tried adding some garlic?

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2581910
No, don't feed him a fw feeder. That was the problem to begin with. If he doesn't like the silver sides then try krill. You may have to use a feeding stick or a wooden kabob skewer. Make it look like the food is moving in front of him. Have you tried adding some garlic?
I absolutely agree. Do not feed your lion freshwater feeders. Try everything else before trying the worst (FW feeder).

 

[slpcamaro]

not trying to steal the thread but mine is starting to do that same he's eating but doing the floating on the top. I was feeding him the say so I am going to try the ghost shrimp I like live food better, I also have a snowflake eel and will have a bandit shark, trigger and possibly bringing back the mantis shrimp. What do you suggest feeding them same things or anything else.

 

[charlucero]

Yes, tried garlic my whole house smells like garlic. I think my lion is part vamp and garlic scares him. I will get a feeding stick tomorrow but he watches everything I do and knows the difference between live and not live food. At this point I will try everything even buying $.25 Shrimp.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by charlucero
http:///forum/post/2582321
Yes, tried garlic my whole house smells like garlic. I think my lion is part vamp and garlic scares him. I will get a feeding stick tomorrow but he watches everything I do and knows the difference between live and not live food. At this point I will try everything even buying $.25 Shrimp.
I understand that. When I bought my lion he wouldn't go near it with the stick. I played with the krill to get it into the flow so it looked like it was moving. It took me a few days. He now eats frozen anything.

 

[charlucero]

I will try that tomorrow thanks