FUZZY DWARF

[ansonluna]

My lion has got cloudy eyes. Is there some sort of treatment I can give him? Do I QT him? Will it go away with time? I know when I had Cichlids I would treat the tank and everything would go back to normal.

[GaryP]

I'd give Richard at CB Pets a call. He is the best disease guy I know.

[ansonluna]

well my water parameters are pretty good. I went and got a 10gal qt tank and i will medicate.

[ansonluna]

well thanks for letting me know. i went ahead and got him medicating in the qt tank. I had already bought the meds and a small tank. thanks for the info though. I will remember for next time. He hangs out in my sump/fuge in the stand that runs lights opposite the main tank, so i don't every really see him much. Everyonce in a while I go down there and make sure he is still alive. I just dump about 3 dozen ghost shrimp in every week and i assume he eats them. Some end up in my main tank, some in the skimmer and he'll go around with a bloated belly for a while.

[alexwolf]

i read somewhere that lions dont take well to meds. What are you using?

[monica]

Out of curiosity- why is he in your sump?

I have mine in my main reef and he doesnt hurt anything.

[ansonluna]

alex - useing FUNGUS CURE by AQUARIUM PHARM., INC

monica - he's down there because I don't want him eating my fire or clear shrimp.

[CD]

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MarineAquariumAdvice.com - Article by Terry D. Bartleme

Feeding

Newly acquired specimens will usually begin to eat live fare. Once they have started to eat, they can be trained to consume non-live foods. Offer foods that are similar to what they would eat in their natural habitat. This would include fish and crustaceans such as silversides, uncooked prawns, krill, shrimp, crab (although expensive) and fish fillets of marine origin. They need some iodine in their diet which is provided by shrimp, crab, or uncooked prawns.

Avoid using freshwater fish such as goldfish as a mainstay in their diet. This food is nutritionally deficient for lionfish. An improper diet causes fatty-liver degeneration and overfeeding can cause the fish to become impacted. You can kill a lionfish with kindness by overfeeding them. Do not feed your fish until their stomach is bulging as if it would burst. This is very unhealthy for the fish and you are certainly not doing them any favors. Their natural instinct is to eat at every opportunity. I know how they can beg to be fed, but they don't seem to know when to stop for their own good. Feed your lion two or three of times a week. You can feed small juveniles a little more often using smaller amounts.

Training a lionfish to accept new food requires some patience. Don't expect to be successful on the first attempt with each new food. Try putting some new food on the end of an acrylic rod and move it in front of the fish to get its attention. You can also drop food into the water right in front of them. Once the fish is trained, they will eat it as it drifts through the water. Most lionfish will not eat food off the bottom of the aquarium.


Once your fish is eating non-live foods on a regular basis then you can avoid using live foods altogether. Using live foods seems to cause some specimens to become more aggressive and overly excited. They can break their jaw on objects in the aquarium while striking at live prey. I have seen this happen with several fish so please err on the side of safety. Accidents like this may be avoided by dimming the lighting at feeding time. Lionfish in the wild do most of their feeding during the dawn and dusk hours. Their vision may be better when the lighting is less intense.

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Also something from WWM inre cloudy eyes in lionfish:


>Anyway, wondering what I could try to clear up the lions eyes?
>>This would be a situation where a hospital tank is called for, because you really don't want to try treating the main display. A 30 gallon Rubbermaid tub works great if you haven't got a hospital setup ready for him. Then, Epsom salts (search our site for amounts which escape me at the moment), vitamin soaking the feed (love Selcon), VARIETY of feed (add crustaceans to his diet - if you don't want the extra waste then shell them; krill, shrimp, squid, so on), and if all else fails, you may wish to try an antibiotic treatment. Personally, I would try to go the nutrition route first, and would keep lighting dim for him (they seem to prefer dimmer lighting). If you can get a syringe to inject the vitamins into the feed, then you know he's getting a set amount.
>Like I said he acts totally normal, so I don't initially feel like it's a big threat, but I would like to get it cleared up as soon as possible.
>>Are you able to target feed him reliably? If so, then try changing up his feed (though the eel will benefit, too), and adding the supplement. Give it about a month, if no improvement get more aggressive. If he deteriorates AT ALL, get him into the hospital tank quick.
>Many thanks in advance for your help and keep up the good work. THE TEAM RULES. Tom
>>Thank you, Tom, we do try (though don't always succeed!). Marina

[monica]

anson- thats a good idea, I have 3 huge cleanners in mine, but he has never botherd them. I guess because he grew up with them.

I have had fuzzy for over a year now and I could never train him to eat frozen food, he just spit it back at me, so I hand feed him saltwater guppies I special order in.

The only shrimp he bothers is the pep's, I cant keep any in the tank, I feed him those as treats for good behavior. :lol

[ansonluna]

so one can maintain a fuzzy dwarf on feeder shrimp alone and keep it healthy?

Thanks for that other information. Maybe I can keep some feeder shrimp in some nutrients and then put them in his tank.

[ansonluna]

I had my fuzzy in a qt tank and was recommended that he not be medicated because lions don't have slime coat and medications are really hard on them. so i put him in my display tank where i could keep an eye on him. his eyes are still cloudy and i did a major water change a couple of days ago. his eye have white spots on them but i don't know if it's just sand suck to his eye or what. somebody help with this little guy.

[Richard]

Could be eye flukes. I would either give him a 3-4 minute FW dip or treat with Prazi-Pro. Personally I would give him the fw dip but lots of people are uncomfortable with doing them. Prazi Pro should be a safe med for him but it's kinda expensive at around $18. Don't use Clout on lions, it'll take care flukes but might kill him too.

[BeachBum]

Could be eye flukes. I would either give him a 3-4 minute FW dip or treat with Prazi-Pro. Personally I would give him the fw dip but lots of people are uncomfortable with doing them. Prazi Pro should be a safe med for him but it's kinda expensive at around $18. Don't use Clout on lions, it'll take care flukes but might kill him too.

I second the FW dip. It should kill off any external parasites. Make sure the FW is the same temperature and and the same pH level as in the display tank.