Please Help Lion in Trouble

[halamaya]

Always asking for help, oh well I give it my best. My Fuzzy has been acting strange since last week. He jumped out of a 2-3" gap in the back of my tank, and was saved by my roommate. He seemed to recover. Earlier today he didn't feel like eatting (not like him at all.) Now he looks as he's having trouble breathing, mouth isn't open but his gills seem to be working very hard. Two things right off a little wrong. My skimmer wasn't working properly and my nitrates went up to 20. Skimmer back in action, water mixed for a change tomorrow. Salinity was a little high 1.027 also. I switched salt brands (quite a difference in calcium levels.) Should I dip him in some Hydroplex?
ph 8.0
amm 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 20
alk 10
calcium 500

 

[cranberry]

Erf. What has he been eating until now? Who are his tank mates?
How long was he out of the water before he was found? If it was witnessed, did he hit hard. How long ago was that? Was the skimmer off at that time? Could the oxygen been low? When did you switch salt? Before or after the jump. How much of a water change did you do at that time?
I'm not sure what hydroplex is.... I'll go look that up. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't use it, but there could be lots of others having success with it.
Lions jump for sure. I've had 2 different ones bail 3 different times. They've had several unsuccessful attempts as well.
Could he be getting ready to shed his cuticle. My fish can get picky around that time. The breathing hard could be him loosening it up, but usually that's accompanied by a lot of "yawning". I suspect that's not the issue here.
Can he open his mouth? It's not locked, is it?

 

[cranberry]

Ah, I can't get into any of the websites from work that show the ingredients, but I know the product you speak of. I personally wouldn't use it.... but maybe others recommend it.
Are you seeing anything visually wrong with him besides the breathing?

 

[rcreations]

20 Nitrates isn't high for a fish, so that's not the problem.
You say your salinity is 1.027? What was it before? Fish can't take a sudden increase in salinity very well. They do ok when you lower it but if you raised it from 1.024 to 1.027 suddenly, that would bother your fish for sure.

 

[halamaya]

Salinity has gone up very slowly, been creeping on my. He was eatting Frozen Krilland freeze dried (stopping the krill after this half a tub is gone,) Chopped up silversides, Ghost Shrimp, sometimes he eats the mysis shrimp. I feed the ghost shrimp flakes for a day or so in my fresh water tank first too. My roommate said he heard the landing from teh other room (hardwood floors.) He jumped a week ago today actually. I did switch salts befor the jump I bought a small pale makes 55 gal and its almost gone. The heater had gotten knocked off teh back wall and was in the sand the temp was down to 75 degrees, the day he jumped. He has eatten since the fall, and he can open his mouth. I just meant he wasn't opening it trying to get in more air from his gills.

 

[halamaya]

P.S. Cranberry my LFS guy wanted to know how I had a female Red Rooster Waspfish. I asked him to try and find me a male. think I have to bring him in a picture. He actually knows a ton, and they send him around to all the seminars. He even gets people to come talk here in town. With his Mom and Pop store he's actually manage to put the box stores out of salt water business. They're the only pet store in town with saltwater fish now. Hydroplex is a dip, and I've had pretty good luck with it.

 

[cranberry]

I was just making sure on the mouth thing.... I wasn't really suspecting lockjaw.... but I think you mentioned before he was eating krill which has been associated with the occurrence. I gotcha on the breathing thing, he has increased work of breathing, but he's not to the point of using his mouth to draw water in?
What have you tried to feed that he has refused? It's not old is it? But I suspect again that's not the issue where he is breathing harder.
This is just me and what I would do.... and have done. Lions are hardy. I always give them a watchful eye and a water change verses pulling them out. One of my seahorses would be out by now.... but lions are tough. So much can be alleviated with a nice water change. If his breathing didn't change in a day.... and again, this is just what I do..... I hypo them and lower the tank temp. If there's a bacterial infection going on, it slows it down until I figure out. If it's parasitic, the hypo will help. WHEN *crosses fingers* he eats again, give him some fresh silversides with Beta Glucan (vitamin aisle) stuffed in there. Is he big enough to do that with? I can't say enough about the stuff.
So much of what I do is based on what I see. I'm not so good at advising on health issues by word alone.
When is the last time he ate?

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by Halamaya
http:///forum/post/3190114
P.S. Cranberry my LFS guy wanted to know how I had a female Red Rooster Waspfish. I asked him to try and find me a male. think I have to bring him in a picture.
Were you able to explain to him, or no?
Oh, I agree there are some knowledgeable LFS peeps out there. Our daughter worked at one as a teenager.... so one can't assume the kids don't know what they are talking about either. When we educate the LFSs in our area on some products, they are always eager to learn.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by RCreations
http:///forum/post/3190061
20 Nitrates isn't high for a fish, so that's not the problem.

I've become convinced that nitrates at a level. say<80ppm, hurting fish is the biggest misconception in the hobby. From what I've read on variuos forums, over the last few years, hobbyists are losing countless hours of sleep and spending a small fortune to correct a perfectly safe nitrate level. Nitrates will hurt inverts, of course, but not fish.

 

[halamaya]

So I just went and helped my parents put up their Christmas Tree, I get back home and my Fuzzy's eyes are glossed over, which means he's getting worse fairly quickly. He looks terrible. He's not very old only about 4 -5 inches long, and he did most of the growing with me. I've had him about a year. So that would make it hard to eat anything if you can't see it. He ate about 3 days ago a couple ghost shrimp not as many as usual. He's behind the rocks so I can't take a picture right now. Glossy eyes and hardend breathing are the only Visual signs right now. His colors might be a little faded also.

 

[halamaya]

So my LFS has found me a yellow Rhinopias for 200 bucks. Should be coming in tomorrow sometime. No real pressure if I don't like him for whatever reason I don't have to buy him. I imagine I will have trouble waiting for my Fuzzy to get better to put him in though.

 

[halamaya]

Tankmates could be better but, seems to work so far. Bursa Trigger, waspfish, blue spotted puffer, kleins butterfly (ejected from my reef tank,) snowflake eel, maroon clown, sculpin, plesiops betta, red serpent star, pillow star, chocolate chip star, yellow brittle, and a greeen brittle star. The Kleins is the only one that I've actually seen nip at my lion. He did it when I was trrying to catch him to dip him. He got a few spots on his fins after the move. Haven't seen any on my Fuzzy though.

 

[halamaya]

thank you for all the help!!

 

[cranberry]

Is that his normal body colour?
His tankmates could have startled him to jump. One time I was looking at the fuzzy so hard I could see him getting nervous... next thing BOING!
You're getting a Rhinopias for 200!! I need to move out of these parts!
How's his breathing today?

 

[halamaya]

That's his color. In the morning he looked a bit dull but he actually got a bit brighter as the day went on. He's a little on the chunky side. The top of his head is loosing some color tonight. His breathing still seems the same. Still looks like he's working harder than he should be. He always gets nervous when I stare at him, starts shifting himself. I lowered the salinity some today and I think the weather will probably lower the temps in my tanks, and raise my gas bill; 5 degrees!!! Any ideas on the glossy eyes? I wish I could take pictures like yours Cranberry but I was in a hurry to get to work. we will see how my Rhinopias looks when he gets here, a yellow one though should be neat. My LFS guy is pretty cool, he looked for almost 2 monthes to find one that had enough color and was only 200 bucks. My friggin Sea Hare died in my reef tank today too WTF. A few monthes is all I can ever get out of them, they do wonders on the hair algae though.

 

[halamaya]

Going to go to work for about 12 plus hours hope he's ok when I get back. Eyes are about the same breathing might, MIGHT be a little bit better. Do you think his coloras are odd Cranberry, or just wondering what his real color was?

 

[cranberry]

Man, I typed something last night and I got booted.
They can be all sorts of colours and they definitely change. In the morning mine is pretty pale.... or if he is resting. Sometimes when the food goes in the tank, mine gets super colorful. Was just curious.....
I didn't realize his eyes were glassy. It could be a part of the fall, I guess, because mine was breathing hard for a couple of days and his eyes got cloudy for a day. But your guys eyes look odd. Are they fluid filled or anything? They just look... buggy.... odd.
Again, this is just what I would do. If he didn't improve in a day, I would hypo. It's a very benign treatment if you think you have the time to deal with a hypo tank.

 

[halamaya]

I feel like crying, I thought I had pushed the glass far enough back that he wouldn't be able to get out. He didn't even make it to the floor he was just on the top of the glass. I'm so sad and frusterated with this bull@#^&#37;. Maybe I'll just ship the Rhinopias to you Cranberry.

He was so spooked all of a sudden. Never acted like this befor. You'd think he would of remeberd what happend last time he jumped out.

 

[cranberry]

Oh Nos! That's how I lost my first one. I saw it the first time.... no one was home the second time and I had left the feeding lid open. I felt so bad. I've made a buttload of bad decisions along the way that had less than desirable outcomes. But don't give up. Sure, if someone looses the passion over time, of course... those I would say get out. Your passion is just popped.... it was there just before all of this... it will return.
When I put my fuzzy in his new tank I knew I had to put eggcrate over it but was procrastinating. When I read your thread, I got up and went and did it.

 

[halamaya]

Well atleast I helped someone!!! I just hate how everytime I have a problem my water tests' come out fine. This coral or fish is dieing but I have no idea why!! I'll probably guilt trip my LFS into giving me some money off something to make me feel better. It's really not about the money though. I'm still very excited to see my new fish on Staurday. Going to be tough waiting a week or so to take him home. Thanks for everything, I'm sure I'll need help again soon. I really liked my Fuzzy if I get another Lion I might look into getting a Fu Man Chu. Or atleast look for a Fuzzy with some unique colors like yours Cranberry.

I forgot I usually use plastic wrap to cover up odd holes. A couple layers would be enough to keep a Lion in right?