lionfish are dead

[aerialist]

last night he just floated around the top of the tank near the powerhead, didn't seem too interested in food. this morning I woke up to find his body rolling across the bottom of the tank. no idea what happened. he was taking food from tongs just fine, and I even got some glass shrimp for him to hunt, thought he was doing great. checked my water, all looks good. anemones and corals are fine, featherdusters and other fish too. did lose a sailfin tang a couple weeks ago, figured it was the lionfish bullying him since they'd chase each other whenever the tang was nearby. sucks to lose another fish, really liked that guy. now I'm on the hunt for a harlequin tusk.

[zeno9]

It's really unfortunate about the two fish. If your water parameters are fine, it's possible there's some underlying disease or infection at play. I mean, the tang could've been stressed out by the lionfish, but for a healthy fish that was eating well to just give up like that is concerning. Especially since it wasn't a new addition. I'd probably wait 3-4 weeks before adding any new fish and just observe the health of the ones you've got left in the tank.

[aerialist]

I was thinkin of gettin 2 more damsels and some more liverock while savin up for some nicer fish. I've had the lion for a month and a half now, so it's weird that all of a sudden this happens. I mean the ghost shrimp and all my other stuff are doin perfectly fine, just seems weird that he went down like that.

[felinxo]

Sadly, a month and a half is pretty standard for a lionfish - they can go without food for ages, what usually happens is they're not actually eating, just starving to death.

[reefkeeper1]

I'm really sorry to hear about your loss, I can relate since I've lost a dwarf lion before and I know how special they can be. I'm currently keeping a volitans. I'd like to know more about your lion, what kind was it and what was its diet like? I recall having a fuzzy dwarf for over a year, but I later found out that they shouldn't be fed freshwater foods like goldfish, minnows, or neptunes as their main staple. Krill shouldn't be their main food either, I learned that the hard way.

[violet_night]

I think I can relate to what aerialist went through, my Lionfish died due to poor water quality when I first started out with freshwater, I learned the hard way. Get that Skimmer and a Good Fully Matured Filter running before adding fish, trust me it makes all the difference.

[aerialist]

my skimmer and water are fine, all parameters are in check. i was feeding him frozen krill and glass shrimp, he loved those. wouldn't touch raw shrimp and no store around here had silversides. did eat a few of my damsels though. talked to an old timer at my lfs and he said lionfish are wild caught, can sometimes have parasites from way back when they were caught.

[violet_night]

last night he just floated around the top of the tank near the powerhead, didn't seem too interested in food. this morning I woke up to find his body rolling across the bottom of the tank. no idea what happened. he was taking food from tongs just fine, and I even got some glass shrimp for him to hunt, thought he was doing great. checked my water, all looks good. anemones and corals are fine, featherdusters and other fish too. did lose a sailfin tang a couple weeks ago, figured it was the lionfish bullying him since they'd chase each other whenever the tang was nearby. sucks to lose another fish, really liked that guy. now I'm on the hunt for a harlequin tusk.

Honestly, if your water parameters are fine, I'd say Lionfish are just too delicate, not worth the hassle. I mean, mine passed away and I didn't bother replacing it. It's just how it goes sometimes. I've since moved on to Pufferfish, Triggerfish, and eels - they're way more intelligent, entertaining to watch, and have unique personalities. Plus, they're super hardy and can live for years. I've got some pics of my puffers, check 'em out for inspiration.

[aerialist]

So my snowflake moor is really coming along, teaching him to swim up to the top for food, don't worry the tank's sealed off. Got some new additions, a yellowbell and domino damsel - actually just the yellowbell now, my eel's not a fan of black fish, took out the 4 stripe damsel too, just killed and left it. Also picked up a blue spot puffer and a pink squirrel fish, my daughter's obsessed with it since it's pink. Still on the hunt for a harliquin tusk and flame angel, we'll see what's next after that.