Lionfish floating problems

[ilawis]

Hi all I've enherited a lion fish along with a few other preditor fish and he seems to be having boyancy issues unfortunately I'm not by the tank so I wouldn't be able to provide any water parameters until tomorrow but I know the water is not great.

The guy I got the fish and rock and sand from had to shut his tank down and gave me everything he had. His tank was a well established tank of 6 years but I don't know what he was thinking but the tank was filthy I took a bucket of sludge out of one section of the sump alone. On top of that he took all the rock out of the tank and left it in the rain for hours before I could pick it up and then the got drive to get it home this was about 2 weeks ago as such the cycle is broken and even tho I have his Rock and sand in my tank (brand new tank) I know the ammonia has been bad (around 1ppm) I have been dosing with stability (similar to doctor Tim's) and also prime (detox for ammonia and nitrates and nitrites) my initial water is direct from the ocean and I've done 1 800ltr water change on Saturday (system is 1500ltr) the other fish seem fine (2 morays (one is almost 3ft long) a epeloate shark (cat shark also 3ft long) a stars and stripes puffer (8") a crab 2.5" shell) I am only flying home tomorrow so limited on what can be done today

Oh filtration is a roller mat and a protein skimmer. Water looks clear

All fish are eating once every 2 days usually whitebait tho they are some pilchids last Friday

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Can you post some pictures of the lionfish taken under white light, as well as a short video?

So - the lionfish is still feeding? I wonder, captive lionfish can develop obesity - fatty livers and fat in their body cavity. If that gets really bad, it could make the fish positively buoyant. Usually, this fat buildup is offset by less gas in the air bladder, but maybe that mechanism is not functioning properly?

Jay