Drawl lion question

[alddb]

This lion has me baffled. Had him a few years now. No other fish appear sick or any issues. I read these fish can molt… is this what he is doing? He is not labored breathing, just laying there on the rock. Not eating. Only moves to turn direction on rock. One eye clouded over but appears like a pin hole in center. Face is loosing some color like the skin is peeling.

 

[AKG]

Can you post photos under white light so easier to ID? Thank you.

 

[Sharkbait19]

How are the water params?
Looks to me as if there is some sort of infection. Has there been any injuries or anything for it to injure itself on?
@lion king

 

[BilboLaggins]

Could also be cloudy eye hospital tank and Melafix might solve that.

 

[AKG]

Maybe you are running too much carbon as well, fish get weird injury looking things with no reasonable explanation from too much carbon sometimes. Or cloudy eye as state above. If you aren't against a dip I'd try the dip first and go from there of it comes back when you reintroduce it to the tank.

 

[alddb]

Can you post photos under white light so easier to ID? Thank you.

That was my white light

 

[alddb]

That was my white light

This lion has me baffled. Had him a few years now. No other fish appear sick or any issues. I read these fish can molt… is this what he is doing? He is not labored breathing, just laying there on the rock. Not eating. Only moves to turn direction on rock. One eye clouded over but appears like a pin hole in center. Face is loosing some color like the skin is peeling.

 

[alddb]

How are the water params?
Looks to me as if there is some sort of infection. Has there been any injuries or anything for it to injure itself on?
@lion king

That’s what I was thinking. He got hurt somehow.

 

[alddb]

Maybe you are running too much carbon as well, fish get weird injury looking things with no reasonable explanation from too much carbon sometimes. Or cloudy eye as state above. If you aren't against a dip I'd try the dip first and go from there of it comes back when you reintroduce it to the tank.

We just added carbon for first time yesterday hoping it would help. It’s in a reactor. He developed this eye issue two days ago

 

[lion king]

One eye being affected usually means an injury, but that would not be accompanied by a loss of appetite or skin peeling. Shedding is something a lion will do but the fading is more universal and if there is clouding of the eyes, it would be both eyes. Shedding can effect appetite. With one eye being cloudy and the peeling of the skin on the face, there could be some sort of infection, or one starting or ending. I have found with optimum water quality and a good diet, preferably with the live gut flora of live fish, most lions recover without any treatment. Using any meds with lions is tricky business, they do metabolize these chemicals differently and most times it turns out badly. Have you checked ammonia levels and are any other fish having an issue. You say you have had him for a few years, what is his diet and feeding schedule, has he gone off of feeding before. I've never found carbon to be issue, if so, this woul likely cause issue in both eyes.

 

[alddb]

One eye being affected usually means an injury, but that would not be accompanied by a loss of appetite or skin peeling. Shedding is something a lion will do but the fading is more universal and if there is clouding of the eyes, it would be both eyes. Shedding can effect appetite. With one eye being cloudy and the peeling of the skin on the face, there could be some sort of infection, or one starting or ending. I have found with optimum water quality and a good diet, preferably with the live gut flora of live fish, most lions recover without any treatment. Using any meds with lions is tricky business, they do metabolize these chemicals differently and most times it turns out badly. Have you checked ammonia levels and are any other fish having an issue. You say you have had him for a few years, what is his diet and feeding schedule, has he gone off of feeding before. I've never found carbon to be issue, if so, this woul likely cause issue in both eyes.

He mostly only will eat krill. Sometimes go a day without eating. Ammonia is at zero. I did check that. I am trying not to go live fish due to having small fish in my tank now and them not bothering them. I have a large snowflake eel in that tank also.
I did do a half dose of prazipro today (worry with the lion and eel doing full dose) but forgot he started the carbon yesterday so most likely did nothing being never turned off. I tried soaking garlic today on the food and he still showed no interest. He did eat three days ago. This eye was found yesterday like this.
only change we have done was a co2 scrubber about a week ago. I couldn’t keep the ph at 8.2. Kept dipping to 7.8, Now holding at 8.0. Then he did the carbon yesterday in the reactor instead of rhosguuard phosphate stuff we had in there (was time to switch it out). But the eye was like that before doing the carbon.

 

[lion king]

He mostly only will eat krill. Sometimes go a day without eating. Ammonia is at zero. I did check that. I am trying not to go live fish due to having small fish in my tank now and them not bothering them. I have a large snowflake eel in that tank also.
I did do a half dose of prazipro today (worry with the lion and eel doing full dose) but forgot he started the carbon yesterday so most likely did nothing being never turned off. I tried soaking garlic today on the food and he still showed no interest. He did eat three days ago. This eye was found yesterday like this.
only change we have done was a co2 scrubber about a week ago. I couldn’t keep the ph at 8.2. Kept dipping to 7.8, Now holding at 8.0. Then he did the carbon yesterday in the reactor instead of rhosguuard phosphate stuff we had in there (was time to switch it out). But the eye was like that before doing the carbon.

If you have been feeding him krill every day I'm surprised he's lived as long as a 1.5 yrs. Lions need to fed on a fast/gorge feeding schedule because of the way they metabolism food, feeding daily will lead to fatty liver disease, which usually effects small lions in less than 2 years. Krill is very high in thiaminese and will bind vitamin B1, a B1 deficiency also usually effects small lions in less than 2 years. These 2 issues can present in many forms, effecting the immune system and infections and disease follow. A single eye injury many times does point to an injury, but without proper nutrition a simple injury can turn to a bacterial infection, which could be indicative of the skin peeling.

 

[alddb]

One eye being affected usually means an injury, but that would not be accompanied by a loss of appetite or skin peeling. Shedding is something a lion will do but the fading is more universal and if there is clouding of the eyes, it would be both eyes. Shedding can effect appetite. With one eye being cloudy and the peeling of the skin on the face, there could be some sort of infection, or one starting or ending. I have found with optimum water quality and a good diet, preferably with the live gut flora of live fish, most lions recover without any treatment. Using any meds with lions is tricky business, they do metabolize these chemicals differently and most times it turns out badly. Have you checked ammonia levels and are any other fish having an issue. You say you have had him for a few years, what is his diet and feeding schedule, has he gone off of feeding before. I've never found carbon to be issue, if so, this woul likely cause issue in both eyes.

He mostly only will eat krill. Sometimes go a day without eating. Ammonia is at zero. I did check that. I am trying not to go live fish due to having small fish in my tank now and them not bothering them. I have a large snowflake eel in that tank also.
I did do a half dose of prazipro today (worry with the lion and eel doing full dose) but forgot he started the carbon yesterday so most likely did nothing being never turned off. I tried soaking garlic today on the food and he still showed no interest. He did eat three days ago. This eye was found yesterday like this.
only change we have done was a co2 scrubber about a week ago. I couldn’t keep the ph at 8.2. Kept dipping to 7.8, Now holding at 8.0. Then he did the carbon yesterday in the reactor instead of rhosguuard phosphate stuff we had in there (was time to switch it out). But the eye was like that before doing the carbon.

If you have been feeding him krill every day I'm surprised he's lived as long as a 1.5 yrs. Lions need to fed on a fast/gorge feeding schedule because of the way they metabolism food, feeding daily will lead to fatty liver disease, which usually affects small lions in less than 2 years. Krill is very high in thiaminese and will bind vitamin B1, a B1 deficiency also usually affects small lions in less than 2 years. These 2 issues can present in many forms, effecting the immune system and infections and disease follow. A single eye injury many times does point to an injury, but without proper nutrition a simple injury can turn to a bacterial infection, which could be indicative of the skin peeling.

I offer the fish krill, silversides, 1/2 clam shells and brine shrimp for smaller fish. But he only would eat the krill. Never attempted any other food despite being offered.

 

[alddb]

If you have been feeding him krill every day I'm surprised he's lived as long as a 1.5 yrs. Lions need to fed on a fast/gorge feeding schedule because of the way they metabolism food, feeding daily will lead to fatty liver disease, which usually effects small lions in less than 2 years. Krill is very high in thiaminese and will bind vitamin B1, a B1 deficiency also usually effects small lions in less than 2 years. These 2 issues can present in many forms, effecting the immune system and infections and disease follow. A single eye injury many times does point to an injury, but without proper nutrition a simple injury can turn to a bacterial infection, which could be indicative of the skin peeling.

I offer the fish krill, silversides, 1/2 clam on shell and brine shrimp (for smaller fish) daily. I use vitamin supplements once a week. He never attempted any other food except the krill.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This lion has me baffled. Had him a few years now. No other fish appear sick or any issues. I read these fish can molt… is this what he is doing? He is not labored breathing, just laying there on the rock. Not eating. Only moves to turn direction on rock. One eye clouded over but appears like a pin hole in center. Face is loosing some color like the skin is peeling.

Skin peeling and eye clouding over is more than injury issue as this appears bacterial. I would recommend quarantining this fish and treating with seachem kanaplex which would address both the eye issue and bacterial issue. Assure you are maintaining good water quality during treatment and also increase oxygen with use of air stone

 

[lion king]

He mostly only will eat krill. Sometimes go a day without eating. Ammonia is at zero. I did check that. I am trying not to go live fish due to having small fish in my tank now and them not bothering them. I have a large snowflake eel in that tank also.
I did do a half dose of prazipro today (worry with the lion and eel doing full dose) but forgot he started the carbon yesterday so most likely did nothing being never turned off. I tried soaking garlic today on the food and he still showed no interest. He did eat three days ago. This eye was found yesterday like this.
only change we have done was a co2 scrubber about a week ago. I couldn’t keep the ph at 8.2. Kept dipping to 7.8, Now holding at 8.0. Then he did the carbon yesterday in the reactor instead of rhosguuard phosphate stuff we had in there (was time to switch it out). But the eye was like that before doing the carbon.

I offer the fish krill, silversides, 1/2 clam shells and brine shrimp for smaller fish. But he only would eat the krill. Never attempted any other food despite being offered.

The ph dip also points to a oxygen dip, this is not my area of expertise, but this has caused issue with lions. Sometimes it's not just one thing. Perhaps a nutritional deficiency with the ph/oxygen dip and an eye injury turned bacterial infection. Optimum, stable water conditions with some type of dietary changes may help without medication. Not offering live food you would need to get them some fatty fish like salmon and maybe stuff some high vitamin c pellets like the ones from hikari in his food. Without a dietary change, treatment with an antibiotic would likely be for not. Antibiotic treatment has been known to cause liver injury to lions and severely shortening their lifespan.