lion fish dying

[bosslady]

My lion fish is dying. He might be died before I get an answer to this post. He and all tank mates were fine this morning. I did a water change this morning. He just started darting around the tank. He is yaning a lot. Like he was trying to get air. Floating on his back not swimming. I got him out the main tank into a QT. What could have gone so wrong so fast?

no sign of any disease.

 

[Hara]

you need to give us a little more information than that really. what are the water parameters? How do you do water changes? Do you make sure that the water is well oxygenated and mxed and the same salinity and temperature as the main tank before you add it? What size is the tank and how much water do you change? What are the other tankmates and how are they acting?

I am pretty sure you will lose the lion, but maybe we can make sure the other fish stay fine and this doesnt happen again.

 

[bosslady]

I haven't tested the water yet. Trying to get lion set up in QT. first. My tank is a 75 gal. I removed 15 gals. I add fresh water same temp and saline 2 gals at a time. After my first post I noticed my trigger is missing. All other tank mates are fine. Maybe the lion ate the trigger.

 

[Hara]

I am having a hard time understanding how you change water...do you mix up a total of 15 gallons of saltwater ahead of time, and it is nicely aerated and the same as what you took out when you put it back in?

 

[Fluff]

Test your water and post the results. Sounds like water issues to me. Ammonia or nitrite poisoning. If your trigger is missing, maybe there is a chance it died and is causing an ammonia spike. What other fish are in the tank?

 

[bosslady]

My lion fish died. I mix 15 gals of RO water in a large container ahead of time. I do mix it well. When I clean the tank I clean the glass on the inside with a brush only used in the main tank. I clean the sand with vacumm.that removes the dirt and water. Then I drain the remaining water. That way anything I stir up in the tank is removed. I remove 15 gals at once but only replace a couple of gals at a time. I have been doing it this way for the last two years.

nitrate 40
nitrite .5
alkalinity 180
ph 8.0

The ****** trigger is out in the open again swimming he must have been hiding again. I have a naso tang and a gold strip clown.

 

[Fluff]

Sorry for your loss.
The nitrites could have been the culprit. If these are your numbers after the water change, that would mean the nitrites were even higher. Even a small amount can be lethal to some fish although lions are normally more tolerant. I would do more water changes to get the nitrites down to 0.

 

[bosslady]

I lost my wide eye squirrel and my trigger is not looking good. I have a QT tank set up and moved the remaining fish to it. The clown and tang I think may make it. Tommorow I will do another large water change in the main tank. I got a new sand vacumm for Christmas. This is the first time I used it. I belive that I stirred up to much of the sand to deep into the bed. That is what might have caused the spike. All levels were good before I distrubed the bed. I do water changes every other week. My lion was about 6" long and beautiful. He will be missed everyone in the family loved him. Company loved to watch him eat.

 

[steve-s]

Jeanett,

How many fish where in this tank prior to the lions death?

Also how often do you feed the lion and with what?

Cheers
Steve

 

[bosslady]

besides the lion there were 4 other fish. I fed the lion feeder fish twice a week. The others I fed every other day. The lion sometimes ate that as well. He was not a picky eater he ate anything.

My clown and tang made it through the night. I am going to do another water change on the main tank today.

I plan on leaving the fish in the QT for a few days. I figure they have been stressed enough to switch them back again.

 

[demodiki]

I would leave your remaining fish in QT for a couple of weeks until you get your water parameters back in line. How big is your QT tank? Do make sure you are checking your parameters in the QT and be prepared to do water changes there as well.

What kind of feeder fish were you feeding the lion?

 

[steve-s]

Sounds like a combination of issues that may have led to the fishs' demise. If you have properly aged your new SW prior to use (12-24 hrs) and your top off water is not killing your pH, I would relate this to husbandry. The water change otherwise sounds coincidental. The water quality is well below par which quite honestly impairs the fish's immune response as does the stress of overcrowding. Combine that with the possible use of FW (?) feeder fish, and you have a recipe for disaster in regards to the lion. Feeder fish in general are not a good choice for many many reasons SW or FW. The fattiness of the FW fish can harm the lion over time and cause internal bacterial infections. The SW feeders can introduce a host of problems common to all SW marine teleost species and unless raised by you or properly QT'd and cleared of any common ailments not a good choice, even then with caution. The jaw gaping could also suggest lack of a proper diet (goiter) which can also be a direct result of the food types fed.

Overall, I think you really need to re evaluate your stocking choices and properly research the species you wish to keep before getting them. Sorry if this seems like a lecture but I don't know another way of phrasing this so you understand it's importance.

Cheers
Steve