New Lion fish

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
M

masonsmom

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
42
Location
Mississippi
I just got a lion fish yesterday and he will go to the bottom and breathe really hard then go swim around for a while, then got back to the bottom and on and on... i have a 3 stripe damsel in the tank... the lion fish is extremely small and so is the damsel i also have hermit crabs... I think my lion fish ate one of me hermit crabs.. do they do that? and is that normal behavior for a new fish.. because i am paranoid now i got a humu humu the other day and died 2 hours after i got him he didn't survive the change well.... what goes good with a lion fish? I will appreciate anyone's help!!! I am new at this...
 
What type of lion did you get? What size tank?
How old is the tank and what are your water parameters?
I have hermits with my lions and they don't bother them. I guess it's not impossible for your lion to have eaten one, but I find it unlikely. Even more unlikely since you just added him and it will probably take a few days for him to eat and get accustomed to the new tank.
As far as tank mates, it depends some on what type of lion you have, as well as tank size.
 
You know when I got him from the pet store they failed to tell me what kind he was... horrible i know but i got him for a good price... he didn't eat my crab he finally turned over... I don't test my own water i take it to a store all i know is that something is white.. and my salinitu is 1.022.... he is fine now i think he gets tired and just stops to rest.. he is a light colored lion fish with one antena thing on his eye.. he is about the size of a finger... do you know what type it could be... i let him acclimate for 20 min.... i let him stay in the bag and stuck the bag in the tank and he threw up while he was in there... any advice would be great....
 
i also have a lot of algea the hermit crabs are doing pretty good at eating it, what other things could i get to do the job that are easy to care for.... starfish?... i don't want my lion to eat it and i am considering getting a triger soon a niger triger...
 
I don't know about most people, but my acclimation period is usually an hour or so. What size tank is it?

You might want to consider getting your own test kit at home. Most of the test kits are relatively inexpensive, and easy to use. Also how old is your tank?
 
I have had my tank set up about 2 months now.... I have a underground filter and a outer filter.... Its a 44 gallon tank... right now he is just laying on the bottom not on his side on his belly... my damsel is okay swims great... i bring my water in every other week to get tested.... he will swim around for like 10 mins of so they go lay down forever and get up swim again for like 10 mins..... is he hungry because he did throw up his food when he was in the bag... if he is suffering from to fast acclimation is he going to be okay?... I appreciate everyone's help. i know i am not good at this stuff yet..
 
I want to say he is a Volitan Lionfish he looks like that one but with one of his eye antea things missing
 
i read that acclimation thing and i do not understand it... quarantine tank.. is that the tank with my other fish ... can some one please but it is easier terms.... thanks so much again everyone
 
If he is a volitan, he will quickly outgrow your tank. Another thing is that you can expect your damsel to become a quick snack in another couple of months. If you want a lion for your tank, you should return this fish and consider some of the dwarf lion varieties.
 
quarinteen tank is a tank u have just for receiving new fish.. u put them in it (it is setup to the exact same as your show tank) and u let them stay in there for a week or 2 to make sure they are eating, dont have any diesease or anything that can pass to the show tank and yrou other fish...

as for aclimating what I do is I put my fish in a bucket with the water they cam in.. and then I put in abou 1/2 a cup of MY tank water into the bucket every 20-30 min I do this for abotu 2 hrs then I add the fish to my show tank...

with my FW fish I just hang the bag in the tank (open so O2 can enter the bag) for about an hour or so .. this way I can check out the aggression possabilities with my other fish etc and the bag water then gets to tank temp and I add the fish...

one last thing.. NEVER add lfs water into your tank.. ALWAYS scoop the fish out and then put it in your tank... this is the best thing to do for the safty of yoru home aquarium

Dave
 
Yeah, that method sounds a lot better. I did empty out the fish with the store water into my tank. So, from my description (about him staying in one spot at the bottom of the tank, but swimming occasionally), is he going to be ok?
 
i don't think he is gonna make it.... he was okay earlier today but for about 3 hours he has been at the bottom of the tank and on his side in between two rock...
 
thats a shame.. have u done a waterchange yet or since u had him in there???

maybe run to the store and get a few ghost shrimp and try to feed him

Dave
 
Or small chromis. What's your ammonia levels? If there are any traces of ammonia your lion could be suffering from that. Lions are very sensitive to ammonia levels.

If it is a Volitan, and he does make it through the night. You might want to consider taking him back to the store. Like Hara said the dwarfs are very nice, and less of a threat to your damsel. Good luck!
 
I got my water checked everything is good... he still has his belly on the rock... he came out once today i asked some one today and the said their lion acted like that but i have never heard anything like that.... i got him some frozen shrimp i don't know if he will eat it because they were out of small fish and he is really tiny...

Meridith
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
None of my fish are eating. What should I do?
Replies
5
Views
242
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
B
Should Angel fish go first in new planted tank.
Replies
3
Views
381
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
B
Fish ammonia
Replies
8
Views
341
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
S
New member in need of a lot of help please
Replies
7
Views
564
smash
S
T
Fish in cycle
Replies
1
Views
392
Andy Sager
Andy Sager

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom