Sick lionfish HELP

[avilamillar]

I went to Miami for the spring break and I came back yesterday to find my lion fish a little weak, it wasn't swimming openly like it used to. I left someone in charge of my tank and the person said she fed the fish everyday with mysid shrimp, which I believe she did. This lion fish was really healthy before so im not sure what could happened. It doesn't want to eat anymore and the flesh in its spines looks different(see pics). The only weird thing that happened is that the electricity went out for about 2 hours(I know it was only two hours because my timers were off by 2 hours) my skimmer overflows a little when I turn it off and on again so some of the waste could have gotten into the water again.

Even with that incident the other 2 clowns and 2 anthias are perfectly healthy and eating like before.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn167/avilamillar/L1020092.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn167/avilamillar/L1020094.jpg

It has this things hanging from the spines

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn167/avilamillar/L1020091.jpg




Some spines even have holes on the flesh. It's barely noticeable in this pic but you can see it.


http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn167/avilamillar/L1020095.jpg

[Mike]

Water quality? Could it be getting a stray electrical current from something?

[avilamillar]

Water quality? Could it be getting a stray electrical current from something?

I had nitrate and amonia test that I always see but now that I'm looking for them they're gone! I dont think they are too high though because I dont see much algae, the coral I have in there(GSP) is opening fine, and the other fish are happy. I dont feel any electrical current whenever I get my hands in the water but it could be just a little bit. Would a ground probe fix that?

I'll try to find my tests and post the parameters.

Thanks

[blupez]

You should test for voltage with a voltmeter. Be sure you have everything on/running though. It's possible to 'feel' for voltage and never notice it due to something not running or the voltage not high enough. For example having a controller vary times on different circulation pumps could cause a problem with one to go unnoticed. Borrow a voltmeter if you don't have one or buy one for about $10-20. You don't need anything fancy. Set it to test ac (some meters may not say 'ac' but will have a squiggly line (sin wave) to indicate it and a dashed line for dc.), place one lead in the tank and the other in the ground connection of an electrical outlet. In my opinion this is something to test on some sort of regular interval. If there is low stray voltage it will not be felt by you due to the high resistance of your skin unless you have a cut but can be felt by your fish.

If you do find stray voltage then the correct thing to do is one at a time disconnect something and retest until the stray voltage is found. Remove the faulty component and then connect everything. In reverse order connect one at a time and very that the voltage did not return. There could be more than one faulted component.

A grounding rod is good to have to prevent stray voltage from causing problems with tank inhabitants. However it's just a sort of short term insurance and it shouldn't be used to allow the use of what's really causing the problem. Serious problems could occur such as an electrical fire. Or if the grounding rod for some reason comes out you could be seriously shocked. Another reason I don't think the 'touching the water' test is a good idea.

The stringy stuff is it shedding I think. And the holes I'm thinking is fin rot...which would be why it's shedding. I'm not highly experienced with diagnosing problems though so you might want to wait on someone else to offer more insight.

[avilamillar]

You should test for voltage with a voltmeter. Be sure you have everything on/running though. It's possible to 'feel' for voltage and never notice it due to something not running or the voltage not high enough. For example having a controller vary times on different circulation pumps could cause a problem with one to go unnoticed. Borrow a voltmeter if you don't have one or buy one for about $10-20. You don't need anything fancy. Set it to test ac (some meters may not say 'ac' but will have a squiggly line (sin wave) to indicate it and a dashed line for dc.), place one lead in the tank and the other in the ground connection of an electrical outlet. In my opinion this is something to test on some sort of regular interval. If there is low stray voltage it will not be felt by you due to the high resistance of your skin unless you have a cut but can be felt by your fish.

If you do find stray voltage then the correct thing to do is one at a time disconnect something and retest until the stray voltage is found. Remove the faulty component and then connect everything. In reverse order connect one at a time and very that the voltage did not return. There could be more than one faulted component.

A grounding rod is good to have to prevent stray voltage from causing problems with tank inhabitants. However it's just a sort of short term insurance and it shouldn't be used to allow the use of what's really causing the problem. Serious problems could occur such as an electrical fire. Or if the grounding rod for some reason comes out you could be seriously shocked. Another reason I don't think the 'touching the water' test is a good idea.

The stringy stuff is it shedding I think. And the holes I'm thinking is fin rot...which would be why it's shedding. I'm not highly experienced with diagnosing problems though so you might want to wait on someone else to offer more insight.

something like this would be good?

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202353293/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=multimeter&storeId=10051

I try to get it tomorrow morning to check if thats the problem but wouldn't the other fish be affected too if that was the case?

The lionfish has been acting weird too. It had never been aggresive but today I saw him chasing one of the clowfish which is too big for him to swallow. Then he starts like looking for something then goes to the bottom again. When I saw that I tried to feed him but he wont take the food. Is he going crazy or something? :S

My only LFS is petco and I wanted to get some live food to check if he will eat it, what should I get?

Thanks

[blupez]

Yeah something like that is fine. You don't need anything fancy and it comes in handy around the house too. Fish will react differently to things like stray voltage and water conditions. When was your last water change? Are you using tap water?

I did a google search and found a LFS in the area. Didn't want to post the link or mention any names since they're not a sponsored vendor list wastn't sure of the rules. However, it seems like you have better options than petco. I lived in Edinburg for a few years and seem to remember a place over by the mall in McAllen somewhere too.

[avilamillar]

Yeah something like that is fine. You don't need anything fancy and it comes in handy around the house too. Fish will react differently to things like stray voltage and water conditions. When was your last water change? Are you using tap water?

I did a google search and found a LFS in the area. Didn't want to post the link or mention any names since they're not a sponsored vendor list wastn't sure of the rules. However, it seems like you have better options than petco. I lived in Edinburg for a few years and seem to remember a place over by the mall in McAllen somewhere too.

Yeah I'll go to home depot to get it right now. I did a water change about I moth or so, and I started the tank with 0 tds water as well as the water changes. I checked nitrates and phosphate about two weeks ago and they were undetectable. I'll test today for nitrate and amonia.

There were some LFS a few years ago but they all closed, there's only one but opens once a month...

I'll see if I can find Maracyn-two to treat fin rot. I have some questions though.

How big does the QT needs to be?
The treatment lasts 5 days, do I need to do water changes during those 5 days to de QT?
Does the QT needs light?
Should I try to feed the lion fish while in the QT?

Sorry for all the questions but I guess I better ask before making it worse.

Thanks

[avilamillar]

On my way to home depot I stopped by petco and the closest medicine to maracyn two I found was maracyn-oxy. I don't really know the difference but the active ingredient of maracyn-oxy is stabilized chlorine oxides. Should I get it?

[Mike]

We have some medication you mix and bind to food, which doesn't do you much good if he doesnt eat. Try soaking the frozen mysis (PE MYSIS if you can find it since it is bigger) in garlic before feeding to try to elicit a feeding response. Live ghost shrimp or even peppermints might work also. Try feeding the shrimp first, so if he eats them, he also gets what they ate for nutrition. Good luck.

[avilamillar]

We have some medication you mix and bind to food, which doesn't do you much good if he doesnt eat. Try soaking the frozen mysis (PE MYSIS if you can find it since it is bigger) in garlic before feeding to try to elicit a feeding response. Live ghost shrimp or even peppermints might work also. Try feeding the shrimp first, so if he eats them, he also gets what they ate for nutrition. Good luck.

Yeah the problem is that he's not eating :( before spring break I was feeding him shrimp but during the spring break I told the person that was taking care of my tank to feed with PE mysis, which the lion fish was eating perfectly. I tried whole shrimps with garlic yesterday, but I'll try mysid today.

Another question. I got the multimeter but im not sure what to measure. I can measure DC voltage, DC current, AC voltage, and resistance. which is the right one to use for the aquarium?

Thanks everyone for the help.

[blupez]

check AC voltage. i doubt it's a source of your problem and hopefully you don't find anything, but it's something that should be a part of a routine...like quarterly or something. just my opinion. you should read 0.0 volts...maybe even something like 0.5 which could possible be just an inaccuracy of your meter and no concern. if you see something like 3.4v then that's stray voltage.

[avilamillar]

check AC voltage. i doubt it's a source of your problem and hopefully you don't find anything, but it's something that should be a part of a routine...like quarterly or something. just my opinion. you should read 0.0 volts...maybe even something like 0.5 which could possible be just an inaccuracy of your meter and no concern. if you see something like 3.4v then that's stray voltage.

Yeah it reads 0.0 and I tested my other 2 tanks and they read 0.0 so it should be correct. I just measured ammonia with one of those testing strips and I think it reads zero(I know they're not the best but thats the only thing I found) I also found an API nitrate test kit so I'm gonna test right now and update. The lion fish is looking worse than yesterday :S the skin looks different too, a little more pale and its leaning sideways.

[avilamillar]

Nitrates undetectable with API test. I wish I could find my salifert kits to double check but I think it will be undetectable with those too. I have a 500G skimmer for a 160G tank... If the parameters are fine what could have caused fin rot? he was eating fine before, swimming in the open, and looked fat and happy.

[avilamillar]

I couldn't find the Maracyn two anywhere locally but my neighbor has Polyp Lab Medic

http://www.marinedepot.com/Polyp_Lab_Medic_30mL_Saltwater_Parasite_Medication s-Polyp_Lab-PP2111-FIMEPS-vi.html

It is antibiotic but it is intended to use agains ich so im not sure if it will work

[avilamillar]

The lion fish is getting worst by the hour. I feel really bad seeing it in this condition. is there a way to put it to sleep like when a dog is really sick? I would be surprised if the fish makes it through the night :(

[Mike]

Putting him in some salt water in the freezer, slowely freezes to death. You can also get some anethesia and slowely put him to sleep.

[blupez]

I hate it for ya! I'd guess the most frustrating thing is that there aren't any LFS's any more so getting the right medicine isn't easy.

[avilamillar]

I'll feel bad if I freeze it to death too :S what should I do?

IF there were some LFS with medicine I could have the QT ready in no time, I already have the tank, water pump, and everything. I could order the medicine from Marinedepot but it's like 45 dlls for next day shipping :S and I dont know if it will make it until tuesday, it's already having difficulties to breathe.

[blupez]

i called a LFS in McAllen...they have what you need. I didn't catch the name of the guy i spoke with but he seemed very knowledgeable and had a couple recommendations. They close at 9 today. I sent you a PM with their info.

[avilamillar]

i called a LFS in McAllen...they have what you need. I didn't catch the name of the guy i spoke with but he seemed very knowledgeable and had a couple recommendations. They close at 9 today. I sent you a PM with their info.

Wow I would have never though they would have it. On my way to the store. Thanks :)

[avilamillar]

They didn't have exactly what I was looking for but the guy recommended Formaldehyde, it is not a antibiotic like Maracyl-two but I really hope it works. I already have the lionfish in a different container, I used water from the main tank, 2 live rocks from the main tank and an airpump with a bubble stone.

I'll update if the fish gets better.

[SABOB]

Good luck, hoping for the best


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[avilamillar]

Thanks. I really appreciate all the support. I also got some ghost shrimp to check if he likes them and im also preparing a water change for the tank.

Should I try to feed him while the fish is in the QT or wait a few days for the medicine to work?

Thanks

[blupez]

you can try but i think fish are worse than people when it comes to being sick and eating. the move to the QT is going to be especially stressful too. plus you shouldn't move him to the QT and a few days later move him back to the DT if he gets better. keep an eye on him a couple weeks and let him fully recover and get strong again. a move too soon back to the DT could cause his immune system to drop and relapse the infection.

[avilamillar]

Well I'm really sad to say that the fish didn't make it through the night :( but at least it's not suffering anymore... RIP

After a few hours in the QT it started being more active so I thought it was getting better but I was wrong.

[Zack]

Really sorry to hear that bud. Like you said, at least he's not suffering anymore :/