volitan lionfish wont eat???

[tommygunzz]

i have tried both frozen and live food for him, i got him last night all he does is lay on the bottom by the rocks. Any suggestions? i have tried tong feeding and everything my tank temp is 80 and everything else is good

 

[Ziggy953]

It could just be that he needs to get used to his new surroundings....give him a few days and see how things go.

 

[tommygunzz]

What is the best tank temp for these guys???

 

[Ziggy953]

I think 76-80 is a good range...the trick is to keep the temp stable....no swings one way or the other. If you have your tank at 80 that is fine as long as it doesn't drop overnight and then climb back up. Stability is the key.

 

[tommygunzz]

if it dies drop what would be causing it?? not a good enuff heater?? i am new to this whole salt water thing... thanks

 

[Ziggy953]

If it dies the temp drop could attribute to it but probably not the cause. How long has this tank been set up? how big is the tank?

 

[tommygunzz]

i just transfered everything from my 40 to my 90 gallon tank, i have only filled my tank 3/4 full and put the 60 lbs of rock from my other tank and all the substrate and filter material into the 90 my clown and damsel are doing ok as far as i can tell

 

[tommygunzz]

the 40 gallon had been going for close to 8 months and i used all the water from it as well

 

[Ziggy953]

I say give the lion a few days to get adjusted and see how it goes.

 

[tommygunzz]

what does gasping for air mean?? he looks asthough he is gasping to get air

 

[Ziggy953]

Have you checked your ammonia level?

 

[roka64]

If he was hungry your damsel and clown would probably be gone by now.
We definitely need some water parameters with a liquid test kit (for better results).

 

[tommygunzz]

my nitrite was high apperantly my tester kit died.....i have done a 50% water change and still have high nitrite's, i guess they spiked during the tank swap, stirring up gravel and stuff. any ideas on a fast way to lower nitrite's other than full water change?? i put some purigen in my filter....my ph,amonia and solitity test fine just nitrite and nitrate's are high

 

[ccCapt]

If you just moved the substrate from the old tank into the new tank and didn't rinse it or wash it, your tank is now going thru a cycle. If you have nitrites, you most likely have ammonia and that will cause the lion to gasp. The ammonia burns their gills.

I would do 20-30% water changes every 2-3 days until your nitrite is 0 and you nitrate no more than 20.