lion fish dead>>>>>>

[newreefer1]

i have 55gal 45b live rock sand bed base,
ammonia 0
nirite 0
nitrates 0
ph 8.2
temp 78
sal 1025
first real fish added was fuzzy dwarf lion fish. he would not eat any frozen food first 4 or 5 days. hide and moved around the rock work during the day and at night i would see him swimming around. i decided to add several ghost shrimp on day 5 or 6 he immediately ate 3 or 4 right away. i also added a percale clown. the clown would not eat all that day. next morning i woke to dead lion laying belly up on bottom of tank. water changes are weekly clown fish still doesn't eat on 3 day i don't know what is going on any ideas........

 

[Mike J.]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! How did you cycle the tank? How long has it been set up? Zero nitrates in a new tank raises a red flag. When is the last time you checked ammonia? Did lion fish have a pinkish coloration to it and does you clown fish now?

 

[newreefer1]

hey , i have had the tank set up for about 8 weeks nows i had cycled it with the live rock testing every day . watched ammonia spike nitrite spike and nitrate spike once all levels were stable i had added two damsels for about 2 weeks prior to adding the lion. oh and nitrates are not 0 they are about 10 ppm. not the best typer! still check ammonia and levels every couple of days since the lion every day. maybe the lion did he didn't seem too colorful and where i got him from" newbie mistake" they had not been able to feed him yet. the clown does have kinda of a glows pinkish color around the white on his body

 

[rayn]

Lions can be touchy. What color fuzzy did you have? Could have been a internal parasite. One thing before buying another lion would be to see him eat. I won't buy one if it doesn't eat or hasn't been eating in their system for a while.

10 on nitrates isn't bad, keep them in check if adding corals.

 

[Mike J.]

The reason I asked about the pinkish pigmentation is a very common problem is acclimation stress. It is caused by a large change in specific gravity. A lot of the time the fish will recover after a few days, but sometimes, being already stressed, they don't make it. A lot of fish stores keep their tanks at a lower salinity because it's easier on the fish and safer - a fish can tolerate a lower salinity much better than a drastic rise. A good way to acclimate a fish is to test the water it was kept in and then slowly raise that level to your tank's level over an extended period of time. Which is another very good reason for an observation, quarantine tank.

What can you do now? Hope the fish recover. Entice the fish to eat with live brine shrimp or food soaked in Selcon or similar healthy food.

 

[newreefer1]

yes newbie mistake with the lion. he was reddish brown> no corals yet most likely gonna be fowlr although smaller of a tank i would like to try another lion down the line just want to make sure my tank is safe first and if not what to d

 

[rayn]

I would think the tank is fine. Have you tested ammonia avian since the lion?

A red fuzzy going pink is stress colors. Either it didn't acclimate well, shipping, or something internal. This is why, like Mike J. said, QT is good. You can watch, treat for anything internal, and keep anything out of the DT.

 

[newreefer1]

yeah no ammonia and all levels are the same . I'm gonna try today with the live brine shrimp. thanks for the advice

 

[jman9331]

A buddy of mine had a lion fish as well actually went through 2 of them, they refused to eat. His recommendation to me was if I decide to buy one have them feed it in front of me.