Umm..lionfish with lockjaw??

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acid_burn

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Feb 9, 2004
Messages
190
Location
MI.
Well for the fourth day in a row my volitan has not eaten. When I come into the room with food he swims toward the glass as usual and when I drop a shrimp in he attempts to eat it but it looks as if he cant open his mouth?? The only way I can describe it is lockjaw. He seems normal, color is good tummy is still fat. The only other thing that looks different is both antennas above the eyes are bent down, I remember them standing straight up before.

Thanks,
Rich
 
Could be from overfeeding or you need to soak the food in vitamins once in awhile for added nutrition. Not much I think you can do about it at this point except hope it remedies itself.

Cheers
Steve
 
Ok, he still has not eaten. Now both antennas above his eyes are completely bent down and curled up(what does that mean?). I tried giving him silver sides but still no luck. I thought he was bothered by the yellow tang being in the tank with him so I removed the tang but still no change in attitude or feeding. Dont know what to do at this point, i've had him since almost the begining of my SW hobby and dont want to see him perish. Any more help??

Thanks,
Rich
 
acid_burn said:
Now both antennas above his eyes are completely bent down and curled up(what does that mean?).
No clue! :? Does it still appear to have the closed jaw issue? I know when I used to have one they did tend to yawn every so often.

Any more help??
Live foods would be the best option at this point. Glass shrimp or the like. How's your LFS for stuff like that?

Cheers
Steve
 
I have seen him yawn once since I posted forgot to mention that, so I now know its not an issue with his jaw. As far as the LFS goes, I have only seen live feeder fish. I know they arent the most desired but maybe its worth a try??

Thanks,
Rich
 
Be careful what fish you choose.

If FW, only place in 1 or 2 small fish and be absolutely sure it is a temporary stop gap in getting the lion to eat. Feeding any kind of FW animal long term can cause problems and has little or no nutrition for the lion. Keep trying to entice the lion with the dead foods preferabley wity a feeding stick. A great alternative (long term solution) is getting black mollies which can be converted to salt and breading seperately as food stock. Might not sound appealing but it is actually quite environmentally sound.

SW feeder fish (damsels and the like) will be a huge risk unless QT'd first and treated if necessary before using as a food source. Given the 4-6 week QT time, not a good short term option.

Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks again, i'll go out to the LFS tomorrow to see what they have.

Rich
 
Update on lion, still hasnt eaten :( He has developed a spot behind his head, heres a pic. Anymore help?

Thanks,
Rich
 
Lionfish are not supposed to eat every day. As a matter of fact, if you feed them too often or too much food at once it can kill them. They need time to digest the food. If you give them too much food at once it can literally rot inside them before they can digest it. This can lead to an internal bacterial infection and even death. Feeding them daily can cause the same problem. Do not feed a lionfish until it looks like it could pop.

The lesion on its head could be from an injury and/or a bacterial infection. If the fins are drooping that is a bad sign that the fish is not doing well. Have you tried a large water change? You may have to carefully move the fish (lchase it into a bucket rather than catch it in a net). You might have to treat it with an antibiotic such as Maracyn-Two or Furanance in a quarantine tank. If the fish looks and acts normal then I would just do a water change and wait a couple more days.

Lionfish can also break thier jaws while striking at live prey. They can hit the glass or rock with thier jaw and break it. This usually happens when feeding them live prey.

HTH,
Terry B
 
His fins do droop at times when he sits at the bottom of the tank. He's the only fish in the tank with a mantis shrimp, base rock, and a CC bed. Could I just treat him in there with the antibiotic? I'll try a 25gal water change today(its a 75gal tank) befroe I do the antibiotic. He does act pretty normal hanging upside down under the skimmer box as he always did.

If he did break his jaw will it heal or is he doomed?

Thanks,
Rich
 
I would not use any antibiotic in your display aquarium. If a lionfish breaks its jaw then there often is nothing you can do outside of taking it to a qualified aquatic medicine specialist for surgery. Do NOT attempt to handle the fish yourself. There is a chance that the injury could heal, but it would take a long time so only a large fat lionfish could be able to survive without food that long. Feeding the fish before it is fully healed could result in re-injuring the jaw.

HTH,
Terry B
 
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