Sick Lionfish...need help

[REDROSE]

We, my boyfriend and I, are very frustrated at this point. We are the owners of a Lionfish which we have had for the past year. He has been the happiest and healthiest fish until recently. Last Wednesday, July 23, 2003 he seemed to have a seizure. He jerked and swam incredibly fast right into the tank wall, then proceded to nose dive to the bottom. He incredibly is still alive. He has not eaten and most of the time proceeds to float upside down in the tank. His color has gotten redder, his nose is raw from thrashing about every once in awhile like he is continuing to have seizures but not as violent as the initial one.

The water is 80 degrees. His diet is live goldfish every other day and Mysis(?) Shrimp once a day. He is in the tank with a Puffer, Angel, Clownfish, Yellow Tang and a Purple Tang. He is a beautiful fish and we are very sad that this is happening. Does anyone out there have any suggestions, any ideas why this might be happening. Please HELP!!!!


Update: Our Lionfish has passed away.

Thanks for all the feedback I have received on this. It is much appreciated.

[cusweatin]

i had a friend who had the same problem and it turned out to be a nasty batch of feeder fish that made the fish sick are the other fish ok? also you need to remember in the ocean the lionfish does not have access to goldfish and needs to have the protien and other elements in better food goldfish are the worst thing you can put in your tank they are filthy and nasty and will polute the water if you can get him back to good health try to ween him off the goldfish slowly it can be done also i would take him out of the tank asap and put him in quarantine hope this bit was a help im no expert so more opinions would be good but from experience that is what i think happened

[OrionGirl]

While I don't agree with all of the above, I do agree that goldfish are not a good food for a lion fish, or any other saltwater fish. They contain fats that SW fish can not digest, and can not deal with, in addition to inhibiting vitamin absorption. Think heart attack and you're in the neighborhood. Also, lions do NOT need to be fed that often. Ours is growing quickly, and gets fed a mix of chopped shrimp, squid, mussels and octopus every other day.

Very few, if any, diseases or parasites from a FW fish could be transmitted to a saltwater fish.

It is likely that your fish is suffering the effects of a poor diet. While not the cause, the diet has probably allowed a bacterial infection, or other problem to infect him. I would remove the fish from the main tank, and treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic--preferably a medicated food. Try silversides and chopped SW fish instead of the goldies. I am sorry to say that I don't think this will work--it sounds like the lion is terminal.

Without knowing what size tank you have, or any other parameters, I will say that the list of fish you have could be a disaster--tangs are notorious for fighting with conspecifics, some species of angels get enormous, and many puffers will get very large as well. The clown, depending on species, may become a snack for the lion eventually. They all have different food needs--and none should be eating goldfish.

[TheTim]

yup, cant feed the lion gold fish, stick to the saltwater fishie foods =x like he said, they arent made to digest FW fish.

[Guy W]

that is a lot of feeding also. Most people feed their lion fish 2 or 3 times a week tops.

[Triggerman]

Overfed,overfed,overfed.
They will engorge themselves if food is available.
They should only be fed 3x a week.
F.water feeders are a slow death.That comes later.
It sounds like his body cannot digest the food fast enough before he takes in more.
The food will actually rot in their gut.
By the way ,how is he doing?