Mysterious Lionfish Death?

[DarionSkye]

Hi everyone, I’ve been reading this forum for a while and gotten lots of useful information but this is my first time making an account and posting. I’ve been in the hobby for a few months now with a 55g long that’s been established for about the past two months. I recently picked up a volitan lionfish but just found him dead in my tank this morning less than a week later. I am clueless as to how this might’ve happened or what could’ve caused it. The other tank mates include a panther grouper, engineer goby, and Picasso Trigger, along with a starfish, urchin, and some snails and hermits. I know the tank is small for those types of fish but all of them are 2.5 inches or smaller right now and I plan on upgrading within the next couple months, and I don’t think that directly caused his death. My first thought was that the trigger killed him, but there were no broken fins, scrapes, or bite marks and I hadn’t witnessed him being picked on prior. I tested the water immediately after I found him and had


15 ppm nitrates

0 ppm nitrites

.25 ppm ammonia


I think the ammonia is because he was probably dead in the tank for a couple hours before I woke up. I feed them all frozen mysis shrimp and shrimp pellets. When I found him he had full color, no exterior injuries, and his mouth was open. The only thing that was different about this fish is that I got him from a different LFS. Any help/tips would be appreciated as I am relatively brand new to the hobby and this is my first fish death.

Also, my filtration system is 2 hang on the back filters, an aqueoun 55/75 and an Aqueon 20. I have 200W of heat pre set at 78. And I have 2 550gph powerheads, one in each corner.
Thank you in advance!

 

[lmforbis]

For starters your tank is way too small and you know this. Basic rule is if your tank isn't big enough for the adult fish don't buy it until you have a tank that is big enough. You have several large fish (even if they aren't large now) in a space that is too small. The trigger and grouper need at at least a 180 gallon tank. The lion a 120. You can do a dwarf lion is a small tank (55) not a volitan. These are also aggressive fish. Most marine fish are very territorial and will become aggressive, even small ones, when they can't establish a territory. They will become stressed from the aggression of their tank mates as well as from the lack of their own territory.

I cant say why your lion died, it could have been many things. Waht were you feeding it? Was it eating? Was it eating at the fish store? Were any of these fish quarantined before you added them to your tank. All fish should be quarantined for at least 30 days to make sure they are healthy. If something pops up they are in a place where they haven't been able to infect the other fish or the display tank and they can be treated. Another reason for quarantine is to allow them to acclimate and start eating well before they are added to the display.

 

[DarionSkye]

For starters your tank is way too small and you know this. Basic rule is if your tank isn't big enough for the adult fish don't buy it until you have a tank that is big enough. You have several large fish (even if they aren't large now) in a space that is too small. The trigger and grouper need at at least a 180 gallon tank. The lion a 120. You can do a dwarf lion is a small tank (55) not a volitan. These are also aggressive fish. Most marine fish are very territorial and will become aggressive, even small ones, when they can't establish a territory. They will become stressed from the aggression of their tank mates as well as from the lack of their own territory.

I cant say why your lion died, it could have been many things. Waht were you feeding it? Was it eating? Was it eating at the fish store? Were any of these fish quarantined before you added them to your tank. All fish should be quarantined for at least 30 days to make sure they are healthy. If something pops up they are in a place where they haven't been able to infect the other fish or the display tank and they can be treated. Another reason for quarantine is to allow them to acclimate and start eating well before they are added to the display.

I didn’t know all that, so I appreciate it. obviously I knew they were aggressive and territorial fish, as I did do my research beforehand, but my LFS gave me the impression they would be fine while they were small.
As for the lionfish, he was fed frozen mysis shrimp and I saw him eat once before I took him home. I coincidentally also feed all my fish mysis shrimp and pellets. He did not eat for the first two days that I observed, from stress I presumed. But I witnessed him eating the 3rd day so I relaxed a little. Then about 3 days after that I found him dead with no indication as to how. My friend who has been in the hobby longer than I said it happens sometimes with young wild caught fish but didn’t know exactly why.

He was not quarantined, even though I now know they all should have been. I recently learned about quarantine tanks and am trying to figure out the best way to do that with my current setup. But no, none of my other fish had been quarantined either.

 

[DarionSkye]

I didn’t know all that, so I appreciate it. obviously I knew they were aggressive and territorial fish, as I did do my research beforehand, but my LFS gave me the impression they would be fine while they were small.
As for the lionfish, he was fed frozen mysis shrimp and I saw him eat once before I took him home. I coincidentally also feed all my fish mysis shrimp and pellets. He did not eat for the first two days that I observed, from stress I presumed. But I witnessed him eating the 3rd day so I relaxed a little. Then about 3 days after that I found him dead with no indication as to how. My friend who has been in the hobby longer than I said it happens sometimes with young wild caught fish but didn’t know exactly why.

He was not quarantined, even though I now know they all should have been. I recently learned about quarantine tanks and am trying to figure out the best way to do that with my current setup. But no, none of my other fish had been quarantined either.

I am here to learn, so any advice on how your QT is set up would be helpful, how big, what filter, how close to your DT is it, etc.

 

[lmforbis]

A QT set up is pretty simple. A 10 to 20 gallon tank. No sand or rock. A heater, a small power head, a sponge filter and air pump (these are super simple filters but very effective because you can seed the sponge with bacteria in the tank before setting up the QT and it is easy to sterilize afterward), a sea chem ammonia badge. A few pieces of PVC pipes in various sizes and shapes for hiding places. I don’t use a light on mine, just ambient light and I keep it in an area where there isn’t a lot of people moving around to reduce stress.

 

[lmforbis]

Never believe the guy at the fish store. He’s trying to sell you a fish.

 

[slide95]

Fish are often stressed when introduced to a new environment and even though a fish may appear to be healthy when you buy it the added stress of moving it to a new tank can reduce it's ability to fight off disease.

Was your QT still cycled? If you didn't add a nh3 source then the bacteria would have died off and nh3 poisoning could have killed your first fish.

If cloudy eyes chances are it is a gram negative bacteriological infection. How does your water test? If it tests OK for ammonia which should be zero, (if present could cause burns and thus damage delicate eye tissue) then it is probably bacterial.

You need to move your lion back into a cycled QT and treat it.

 

[jay0705]

Imforbis is spot on with her info. What your feeding the fish is fine for regular sw fish. Not so much for large predatory fish like lions and groupers. Their big fish and eat big things. Fish, shrimp, squid, ect. There a huge bioload on a tank aswell. Showing intrest in your food and eating enough is totally different. A full grown lion only needs to eat 3 times a week. But that would beca couple of silver sides or 3 4 sw shrimp. Smaller fish need far more food more often