Thx but it is not even looking at the fish and the pimple like thing growing on it's lower side of mouth is getting larger. Also it didn't yawn from yesterday not sure if it can open it's mouth or not, it's little pale too(turned whitish in colour)
Plz help my sick lionfish
- Thread starter Lionfish
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Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
All these can have to do with the stress from the move. Follow the course. You lose nothing from waiting to euthanize. As of now, it's too soon in the treatment to be concerned about the fish not eating. "Yawning" is not something to judge a fish by. Lions and Grouper and other large fish "Yawn" to realign their jaws. If the jaws are not out of alignment, there's no need to yawn. This is why it's not a good indicator.
Today the it's upper jaw bump is big and like pointy, it may be giving it a pain. It's whitish coloured and means very stressed. I think it's longest hunger strike was for 4 weeks so there may be some hope. It goes on hunger strikes if I feed it krill which I did last time. It really hates dead food for sure so I hv avoided it but don't know why it is not taking intrest in them now
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
If the bumps are growing in the presence of the Kanaplex, they could be caused by internal worms. These are not always worms that are harming the fish but are making them uncomfortable. (I've often found worms in the flesh of some species of fish I go fishing for. ) If this is a worm, it may be making it's way out of the fish so don't be surprised if the pimple pops. If this does happen, siphon the bottom of the hospital tank so that it is removed and unable to re-infect the fish. It should look like an either white or redish/brown thread like worm. 
I would be trying fw dip to ensure though, I had treated this fish via 1.008 salinity for flukes in past coz it does carried it. I think it is swimming in flow and lethargic just like symptoms that were there before. It is weird but it is looking more active which is not a normal thing for lionfish. I offered it everything but it would just not open it's mouth now. It's like lockjaw now. I offered dead food, it was just acting like it's blind and passes away from it without reacting. It's not blind as it is following me everywhere but not interested in food
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
Something IS going on with the M Blue on the market today. I just don't know what that is. I had issues with fish eggs not hatching when exposed to the M blue I was using. I've been using M Blue on fish eggs for over 40 years with no issues until this latest purchase. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have concluded the issue was M blue poisoning but between your issues and mine, it's a fairly good conclusion. Usually it would take a high dose to cause poisoning so I'm not 100% that that is the issue but there is something you can try. You can try using a good carbon or something called a PolyFiter pad (https://www.poly-bio-marine.com/products.htm ) which will pull the M. blue out of the water. There's a small possibility that should it be something else organic in the water, the Poly-Filter should pull it out.
I had issues with fish eggs not hatching when exposed to the M blue I was using. I've been using M Blue on fish eggs for over 40 years with no issues until this latest purchase. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have concluded the issue was M blue poisoning but between your issues and mine, it's a fairly good conclusion. Usually it would take a high dose to cause poisoning so I'm not 100% that that is the issue but there is something you can try. You can try using a good carbon or something called a PolyFiter pad (https://www.poly-bio-marine.com/products.htm ) which will pull the M. blue out of the water. There's a small possibility that should it be something else organic in the water, the Poly-Filter should pull it out.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
Poisoning is a tough call. Based on what I was reading about M Blue poisoning, the fish should have died if the poisoning was really bad. There are also some poisons that are retained in the flesh while not really affecting the fish. ( Ciguatera poison is a good example of this. Larger fish get it from eating smaller fish that pick it up from the foods containing certain microalgaes they ate. ) So it's hard to say there is no chance of recovery. If it were my fish and the fish was not showing signs of suffering ( i.e. heavy breathing, inability to swim, floating, resting upside down, etc), I would wait it out. In the end, the fish will either live or die. If you euthanize, you take away the potential to live. If the fish was showing any of the signs of suffering other than not eating, I would euthanize. Lack of feeding is just a symptom. It takes a long time for a fish that is not an active swimmer to die from starvation. If the fish had plenty of " meat" on it's bones, it can go without feeding for quite a while. It may lose weight but that doesn't mean it can't gain it back when/if it starts to feel better. So it's your call. There really is no right answer at this point. I just gave you my opinion if it were my fish.
Thx sir. U were with me from beginning till the end. It is near death now as it can't breath and it's lying on bottom with face downwards but still trying to do something. I think I should start over again. I may do a full water change or add some demsels before adding something else. I also ordered some new test kits to be sure that my old ones and lfs kits were working right. To be honest I think I really messed up in diet part maybe it's diet was not good.
Thank u so much for help
Thank u so much for help
Aa weird it again came back to normal after a fw dip but I am not seeing anything in Fw dips. I am dosing copper but weird. Few hrs ago, it was unable to breath but now it is breathing like normal again. I think I may drop salinity too if it helps
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
That's the thing with poisonings, the fish will not act normal. There are stresses in the bodily fluids, organs and flesh that need to be flushed out. I would not lower the salinity for now. You need the fish to be drinking water and flushing any toxins out of it's body. There is a reduction in the amount of flushing that can go on when you put marine fish in low salinity environments. It's good for short term parasite treatments but we are talking days not weeks or longer.
As for diets, Lionfish are meat eaters. The best food for them is fish, shrimps and crabs. Larger Lionfish feed primarily on fish. The best way to get veggies and fiber into them is by gut loading the fish with things like spirulina algae and then feeding them to the Lionfish. In nature, that's how they get most of their fiber, from the guts of their prey.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
Well, you gave it every chance so you should feel okay about it. There are going to be things you can not control with fish. All those bumps apparently were the problem. I'd be curious if they were just tumors or parasitic worms. If you are curious, carefully open up one of the bumps with a sharp knife or razor blade and see what comes out of it.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
I was afraid of that. It seems your fish was infested with an internal worm specie and something was causing them to all come out at the same time. ( Possibly the lower salinity. ) Freshwater dipping is good for EXTERNAL parasites but not for internal parasites. ( Your worms would be considered internal parasites.) By keeping the fish at a lower salinity, the water exchanged in the cells also lowers in salinity which can cause an adverse environment for the internal parasites to live in so they leave to find a better environment. Lower salinity environments are best for short term treatment, not long term. Marine fish should be kept at the same or close to the same salinity as the ocean they came from. In Florida, where there are tons of Volitan lionfish now, the salinity is 1.025 and they are doing just fine.
I would suggest that you start keeping your marine fish at close to that salinity for the long term and if you want to do a lower salinity treatment, do it in a separate tank and then return the fish back to the " normal" water. I would also suggest treating any new lionfish or other bottom dwelling fish with this : https://fritzaquatics.com/products/fritz-expel-p prior to adding them to your main tank. This will treat most internal worms. Bottom dwelling fish tend to carry more internal worms than active swimming fish. That's as true in freshwater as it is in saltwater fish.
