sick lion

[debbie]

Hi, my fuzzy dwarf lion has been under the weather for a few days. She eats a tiny bit but I have noticed some large white bumps on the body. The other fish show no signs of anything and the water checks out fine. I have new carbons in both my filters too. Water changes are done every 2 weeks with daily top offs. Salinity is about 1.023- 1.024.
I was wanting to know if I can take this lion out and put her into a 10 gal quaranteen tank and treat her with Ick Guard containing victoria green/nitromersol/acriflavine ?

 

[debbie]

Well just an update regarding my fuzzy dwarf lionfish. All is just fine, do to my ignorance and being just a wee bit to slack on cleaning filters more regularily she has pulled through with lots of water changes, new carbon, cleaning filters etc. I now have a schedule that "must" be followed each and every week for this tank. This hobby is a never ending learning lesson, she is back eating activley and swimming alot more. No more of the big pimple things which I am sure was a bacteria problem.
"No room for error in this hobby"....

 

[v-lioness]

Good to hear Debbie..... Lions can be sensitive to water quality .....
Kaye

 

[debbie]

They sure can and tonight my lion has taken a turn for the worst. There was one of those large white pimple things just above the eye. It is not ich it is much larger and only one of them. Now tonight this thing seems to have opened up and now the whole eye is covered with a film type thing and they eye is all blurry too. I will just have to wait and see if it clears itself in a few days there are no other marks anywheres on the lion only this one eye. I hate myself if this was my fault for the water quality.....

Anyways will keep you posted as to what happens......

 

[k-rok]

Good luck Debbie. Sounds like you are doing all you can do to help the situation. Keep in mind how sensitive fish are - doesn't take much to make them sick. I've been dreaming of having a lion for a long time now - will be receiving my new 240gal. setup the first week of august - as soon as it is cycled I'm getting that lion! Hope yours recovers!

 

[lion_crazz]

Hey Debbie, do the markings look like ulcers?
What is your pH and alkalinity of this tank? It sounds like there is a fluctuation problem..

 

[debbie]

Well I don't know what I can really do today. It is horrible. The one whole eye is completely white, my lights have not come on yet but from what I can see with the natural light it does not look good.
My PH is 8.2 Alk 2.9 Salinity 1.023-1.024 Temp 79-80
I try not to fool around with "adding" chemicals to bring up this and bring down that. In the past with freshwater fish I lost a whopping pile trying to do things like this. I prefer the regular water changes and extra cleaning of the filters.
So I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens. I sure would hate to loose her but if that is the case I won't replace my lion just chalk it up to experience.

 

[lion_crazz]

How are the nitrates? If I remember correctly, this fish is in a 24 gallon tank, so you can easily be stressing the bioload with a lionfish.

 

[debbie]

As I have mentioned before my lack of not keeping up to par with my filter cleaning I am sure this is what started this whole thing. My water was getting a bit cloudy and that is when I noticed a few of these bumps and I started the water changes every other day to not set the tank off. I then bought new carbons and put them in too. The next day the water was nice and clear, the fish were obviously more alert too. Yes this is my 25 gal and I must do filter cleaning weekly now and water changes every 2 weeks without fail. This is put into my "bible" my note book that keeps me going from day to day.
Just keeping my fingers crossed that this will go away but man is it ugly it looks like a huge growth on the eye itself.

 

[lion_crazz]

I would begin doing weekly water changes. Bi-weekly water changes is probably not enough to keep the nitrates down.

 

[v-lioness]

Debbie though the eyes are white you can still bring this lion back, do not give up on it, I have seen lions with completely white eyes and they cleared.....
I have to agree with weekly water changes, this lion needs some vitamin soaked foods, if I remember correctly you don't add the extra vitamins because the frozen foods have vitamins in them. Most of the time that is just not enough to sustain a lion.
I would also pick up a few pieces of raw shrimp from the grocery store, feed this lion the tail area (plus some of the meaty area) of the shrimp soaked in vitamins.
If you can get Beta Glucan from a local health food store, try to get 7mg if not you can use 3mg. Just open the capsule and dump it on the food when soaking, this will help boost the immune system in this lion. I soak all of my lions food in Beta Glucan plus vitamins...
I would say water quality and possibly a secondary bacterial infection, keep the water up and they may both clear......
Kaye

 

[debbie]

Thanks to both of you for the positive feedback. I am just sick about this. The lion is such a beautiful fish and the only place affected is this eye. I will do weekly water changes from now on plus keep up on those filters too. I have attached a picture that I just took a few minutes ago, this looks just horrible but it seems to be peeling away now and I am hoping that the eye can completley recover. Thanks for the info about the vitamins and I will surley be adding them from now on.