Lion fish upside down????

Mini Coop · Apr 30, 2020

Hey all. I sold my lionfish tonight. I caught him really easily ... but when I put him in the bucket, he went upside down a bit. The guy texted me, and said that he has never turned right side up. I don’t know what in the world would have done this to him. Is he just mad? He looks like he filled up with air almost like a puffer fish and just can’t deflate. But I am worried about him staying up side down for the rest of the night. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.
I had a heater in the 5 gallon bucket to keep the water warm, so I know there was little to no temperature change.

MrZoaCrazy · Apr 30, 2020

Mini Coop said:
Hey all. I sold my lionfish tonight. I caught him really easily ... but when I put him in the bucket, he went upside down a bit. The guy texted me, and said that he has never turned right side up. I don’t know what in the world would have done this to him. Is he just mad? He looks like he filled up with air almost like a puffer fish and just can’t deflate. But I am worried about him staying up side down for the rest of the night. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.
I had a heater in the 5 gallon bucket to keep the water warm, so I know there was little to no temperature change.

Could be swim bladder

Sosuke · Apr 30, 2020

If he swallowed air their might be a problem with his swim bladder than

Mini Coop · Apr 30, 2020

MrZoaCrazy said:
Could be swim bladder

What does that mean? He was completely normal and healthy before I caught him.

Mini Coop · Apr 30, 2020

Sosuke said:
If he swallowed air their might be a problem with his swim bladder than

Any way to fix that or help him?

Big G · Apr 30, 2020

@lion king

Sosuke · Apr 30, 2020

If the fish was in the bucket overnight maybe he caused ammonia in it to spike a bit also.

MrZoaCrazy · Apr 30, 2020

Mini Coop said:
Any way to fix that or help him?

Unfortunately, many cases of swim bladder disorder do not respond to treatment.

Sosuke · Apr 30, 2020

Not sure unfortunately, medicine won't help, surgery probably will be too risky and won't really work

MrZoaCrazy · Apr 30, 2020

Also you can’t really handle a lion fish as they are venomous

Plecosam · Apr 30, 2020

Sosuke · Apr 30, 2020

MrZoaCrazy said:
Also you can’t really handle a lion fish as they are venomous

Lol totally forgot about that

Sosuke · Apr 30, 2020

3 big goldfish in a 10 gallon tank???

Plecosam · Apr 30, 2020

Concentrating on the wrong thing Sosuke

OrionN · Apr 30, 2020

It is so easy to catch a lion fish that I doubt that @Mini Coop caught him much earlier that she need.
I don't know what to do, just see how he is in a day or two.

Mastiffsrule · Apr 30, 2020

Evening

Hopefully lion king will stop by. I will mention in my experience it may not be a concern and I would observe. They can control their swim bladder a bit different and have been know to swim upside down. May be result of the transfer. I would observe since not much else can be done and see if he stops by to help

Mini Coop · Apr 30, 2020

Sosuke said:
Not sure unfortunately, medicine won't help, surgery probably will be too risky and won't really work

OrionN said:
It is so easy to catch a lion fish that I doubt that @Mini Coop caught him much earlier that she need.
I don't know what to do, just see how he is in a day or two.

yeah - caught him about 5 minutes before we headed out the door. 20 minute drive

lion king · Apr 30, 2020

Lionfish aren't known to have issues with swallowing air and not being able to dispel it, not like puffers or anglers. They will hang upside down and this is completely normal. Not much to be done other than just observe.

Just got the vid to load, that doesn't really look good. Tell me more about his history. How long have you had him, any previous treatment. I've only seen this when there's been an internal hemorrhage or in really old lions, but they usually right up pretty quickly. A hemorrhage could have occurred caused by stress of transport, but the primary cause could be unknown to you, previous damage to internal organs.

The normal hanging upside down would be at the top of the tank or under a ledge.

Mini Coop · Apr 30, 2020

lion king said:
Lionfish aren't known to have issues with swallowing air and not being able to dispel it, not like puffers or anglers. They will hang upside down and this is completely normal. Not much to be done other than just observe. If the transfer was as smooth as you described he should be cruising around soon.

Thank you everyone! We r keeping an eye!

lion king · Apr 30, 2020

Mini Coop said:
Thank you everyone! We r keeping an eye!

I edited my post after getting the vid to load, this is not the normal hanging upside down. If he doesn't almost immediately right himself up from this, the prognosis doesn;t look good.