Plz help my sick lionfish

[Andy Sager]

Have you started with the vitamins yet? Also, have you checked your water quality?

 

[Lionfish]

sorry last MSG has grammer mistakes

 

[Lionfish]

I checked parameters and hv to use vitamins. I am thinking those water dissolve one would be good

 

[Andy Sager]

If the water quality is good, the fish not eating is a fish thing and not a water thing so getting those vitamins into him should help stimulate his appetite and keep him healthy until he is willing to eat on his own. Have you seen any more reduction in the bump in his mouth?

 

[Lionfish]

Sometimes i think it is smaller but then next min i think it's the same

 

[Lionfish]

These r latest vedios

 

[Andy Sager]

These r latest vedios

Sadly, looks about the same to me. The good news is that it doesn't look any larger tho. I'm not sure there is really anything we can do for that. It doesn't look infected so using an antibiotic will probably just be a waste of money. But it doesn't look THAT large that it should be preventing him from eating. Possibly there are other bumps inside the throat that are causing him to not swallow the foods you were giving. Hopefully the vitamins will act like an appetite stimulator. If they do, you can basically rule out the bump(s) being the cause of his not eating.

 

[Lionfish]

There is one more in it's uper jaw side and that has grown a bit and became little pointed

 

[Andy Sager]

I can't find any parasite pics that match what your fish has and the closest ones are bumps caused by the fish rubbing against the glass when waiting for food but if there is one growing inside it's mouth, that rules out it being a rub. So we are back to an injury ( possibly from a spine from a fish he ate) or it's like a skin tag we humans get.

 

[Lionfish]

Thinking of watching every feeding vedios i hv to find if any fish does hurt it. Don't know why it would beg for food but will not accept it. Does same with live food. This behavior is just like what it does in 1st day and it does when it is really scared. This time it is really weird coz it would snatch food from hands within an hr but it's been 2 weeks. I am also in weird situation coz it don't want to eat live food and i know it doesn't like the taste of dead food that i am noticing from few months

 

[Andy Sager]

It's definitely a weird situation.

 

[Lionfish]

Trying to get tetras too(i know it's not good for them) but that lfs denied that he can't pulled them out. Wanna try other places. That jaw is swelling from down side not sure what i am battling but i saw in last feeding vedio that it did struggle eating one molly. It left others and was coughing in that vedio. When i am trying to give it dead food, it would come up, but won't open it's mouth, just runs away and yawn don't know what this means too. Idea would be that it is in severe pain. Asked lfs he said just leave food on water column and it will eat tried that too and tried threads too. Tried with feeding stick but it would get scare. Everytime i go near tank, it would start begging but won't eat

 

[Andy Sager]

It really sounds like there is something growing inside the fish's mouth or throat which is why it tried to eat but didn't swallow it. While I am pessimistic of the fish's future, there is one last thing to try and that would be to medicate in a separate hospital tank. Depending on the size of the lionfish, you can do this in either a 10 gallon ( using 5 gallons of actual water) or 20 gallon tank ( using 15 gallons of actual water). If the fish is too large for either of these tanks, you will need to use a larger tank measuring out the water needed to allow the fish to be comfortable in the tank so you know how much medicine to use. You will need to measure out the water in the tank because the medications are designed for certain actual amounts of water. You need to be careful not to over dose or under dose the medicines. I do not recommend treating in the main tank as many meds suppress the nitrifying microbes which will cause a secondary problem plus it will be much more expensive to treat a large volume of water over a smaller amount.

You would use Kanamycin ( Seachem Kanaplex) for a full treatment because it is skin absorbed so just being in the water will get into the fish. This is the regimen from Seachem: Dosing in Water
Use 1 measure (included) per every 20 L (5 gallons). Repeat this dose every 48 hours to a maximum of 3 doses. In cases of severe infections, it is possible to carry out two rounds of treatment back-to-back. However, this should only be done if fish show no signs of stress at the end of the first round.

Keep the fish quiet with the light off so that it doesn't expend energy trying to beg for food or anything else. 48 hours after completing the first 3 doses, try feeding the fish a small food fish. If the fish continues to not swallow the food, I'd do a water change and repeat the med for another 3 dose regimen. If after the 6 doses of Kanaplex the fish continues to not eat and the bumps on the lip(s) do not show signs of reducing in size, you may need to consider euthanizing the fish as it's just going to eventually starve to death.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lionfish]

Saw this today. It's so confusing what's going on now it looks like lympho too but then what's growing downside it's jaw. Now little circles r growing just like the photo I saw when I searched lympho. Should I try cutting it?

 

[Andy Sager]

Saw this today. It's so confusing what's going on now it looks like lympho too but then what's growing downside it's jaw. Now little circles r growing just like the photo I saw when I searched lympho. Should I try cutting it?

Lymphocystis will look like a fuzzy white(ish) to grey( ish) colored ball. It's a virus. To physically remove it, you would just need to pull it off with your fingers. Here's the thing tho, it would not start out looking like a pimple, it would start out as a fuzzy ball and just get larger. Is this spot fuzzy? While fish with active Lymphocystis on the mouth may stop eating, you said your fish ate but did not swallow so that spot on his lip would not be the cause.

On a side note, if this were Lymphocystis, that would be an indication that it's not being kept properly as Lymph is caused by stressors (i.e. improper water quality, improper diet, too cold temperature). There's no real cure for Lymph but removal of the stressors can help the fish recover from the infection over time but will not cure the fish so it can come back again.

 

[Lionfish]

It looked like a fuzzy ball like knots. Don't know how that growth has disappeared. Now i am sure my lion is messing around maybe it is rubbing. it is too weird. Maybe it is lympho and lion is rubbing which is resultingin weird shapes of growth and it is all happening in lights off

 

[Lionfish]

My fish didn't ate but trying to eat. It won't open mouth. I also giving up on shifting it to another tank, i can't catch it. I know it can open it's mouth coz seen it yawning but would not eat

 

[Andy Sager]

It looked like a fuzzy ball like knots. Don't know how that growth has disappeared. Now i am sure my lion is messing around maybe it is rubbing. it is too weird. Maybe it is lympho and lion is rubbing which is resultingin weird shapes of growth and it is all happening in lights off

It also could have been an injury that developed a fungus ( which is also fuzzy in appearance) which would be easier to rub off than the Lymph virus would be. If the fish still doesn't eat, that wasn't the problem.

As for the best less stressful way of catching fish, use 2 nets. One larger net for catching and a smaller one to just guide the fish into the bigger net. The key is not to chase the fish but to guide the fish. Place the larger net in an area where it can stand with no help from you. Use the smaller net on the opposite side of the fish from the net. The fish will naturally move away from the smaller net which should make it move towards the bigger net. Keep moving the smaller net so that the fish moves towards the bigger net. Once the fish is in the bigger net, lift it up to catch the fish. Just remember, since this is a lionfish, he has venom in the top dorsal spines as well as pelvic and anal spines so you do not want to handle the fish with your hands, just the net. You also want to use a net with the tight weave so that the spines cannot get caught in the netting. They make a net for catfish which is this tight weave so that is the type of net you'd want to use for the catch net.

 

[Lionfish]

Shifted it and all water is taken from my new tank. New problem is it is acting like it is blind and this is resulting in smashing of that jaw. I had checked that it is not blind but don't know why it is doing that. Also, as I hv shifted it, it hv a weird problem that in new tank it don't eat for 2 weeks and I don't hv enough time

I think after kanaplex that Injury is little better but maybe there is something else too I am battling with. I may give it 2 days otherwise may enthausize though, I think it wouldn't last that long

 

[Andy Sager]

Shifted it and all water is taken from my new tank. New problem is it is acting like it is blind and this is resulting in smashing of that jaw. I had checked that it is not blind but don't know why it is doing that. Also, as I hv shifted it, it hv a weird problem that in new tank it don't eat for 2 weeks and I don't hv enough time

I think after kanaplex that Injury is little better but maybe there is something else too I am battling with. I may give it 2 days otherwise may enthausize though, I think it wouldn't last that long

The fish is probably just finding it's way in the new tank so not blind but unsure of where it can go and where it can't.
If the Kanaplex is working, as I said in my previous post, give it the full treatment, wait 48 hours after dose #3 and try feeding a small live fish ( like a guppy). If it's still not eating or swallowing the food, do a water change and do another 3 dose treatment as directed. No sense euthanizing before giving the fish every last chance to heal.