my lion is anorexic

[noogiefish]

I don't knwo what to do. I have had my lionfish for about 6-8mos. and he's been doing fine. I've weened him from feeders to krill, but lately he is no longer interested. He sits on the bottom of the tank and doesn't really display his barbs too much. I've switched up to squid hoping that he just needs a change, but that doesn't seem to work either. Any ideas? Its probably been over a week since i've seen him interested in eating and he doesn't look good. He lives with a Sailfin Tang and a Rainbow Wrasse in a 200g, w/d with skimmer. I thought the nitrates were a little high so i did a 20% change, but he cycled the tank originally, and i have 20 or so hermit crabs as well as a serpent star and sebea anemoneand they seem fine. Please help

 

[jdl/dayton]

It sucks to do it, but you may have to go back to live for a while. IF he is getting really skinny that is. It is possible he picked up an internal parasite which is giving him problems. Are you feeding freeze dried krill? If so get some frozen and try that.
You may want to consider moving him to a hospital tank and treating for internals and giving him a few live if you feel he may starve to death.

 

[fishymissy]

First, don't panic about him not eating. Lionfish can go quite some time without food and it won't hurt them one bit.
Second, see if you can't get a good look at him. Check to see if his eyes are clear, see if his fins are full and intact, check if his belly is distended, are there any unusual marks on his body, that kind of thing. When he swims around, are his fins open or clamped down?
How often have you been feeding him and how much at each feeding?

 

[salttrigger]

feed him live fish again, i feed my lion with goopies.

 

[noogiefish]

i usually feed him 4-5 days a week. its the frozen type stuff. The Squid somes in doses so i drop one in each day, the krill is one big brick so i try to chop off about the same amount. I've tried to go back to live and he did go for it, but not like he used to. he spends most of his time just sitting on the bottom of the tank. he looks a little thin but his fins look fine, i don't notice any unusual markings on his body either- same with the eyes. I'm beginning to wonder if i should take him to the lfs and let them hold him for a couple of days.

 

[jester]

Look uo "anorexic lion fish". I had the same thing about 6 momnths ago. Sorry but after trying all mentioned in this post and then some, he died.

 

[clowntrigger2k]

my clown is too , he doesn,t eat at all but he is still alive i don,t understandi,am gonna setup a hospital tank and see what happens good luck with the lion mine goes onj food strikes once in a while it isn,t good to feed them too much they get lazy

 

[silkks11]

yeah I wouldn't be completely worried about the lion just yet, try hand feeding him, mine responds to that extremely well and now will only eat from my hand haha, well better this way than eating live feeders right?? good luck to you