Disease/parasite that only goes after scorpionfish?

2026_1 · 2026-09-22T10:24:06-0400

Hi everyone, the past month or so I have been trying to fight this disease or whatever it is in my tank, so far it has killed my fu manchu lionfish and yellow spotted scorpionfish and has infected my dwarf fuzzy lion on and off for the past month. The symptoms are just cloudy eyes and breathing heavily. I have clownfish, a hawkfish, and a wrasse in the same tank and they have shown no symptoms at all which i find to be strange. I have tried kanaplex, ruby reef rally, and prazipro and none have shown any difference on the fish. My fuzzy lionfish looked fine for a little while but shes now back with the cloudy eyes and heavy breathing. Does anyone have any leads or suggestions for what this might be or how to deal with it?

Jay Hemdal · 2026-09-22T11:04:27-0400

2026_1 said:
Hi everyone, the past month or so I have been trying to fight this disease or whatever it is in my tank, so far it has killed my fu manchu lionfish and yellow spotted scorpionfish and has infected my dwarf fuzzy lion on and off for the past month. The symptoms are just cloudy eyes and breathing heavily. I have clownfish, a hawkfish, and a wrasse in the same tank and they have shown no symptoms at all which i find to be strange. I have tried kanaplex, ruby reef rally, and prazipro and none have shown any difference on the fish. My fuzzy lionfish looked fine for a little while but shes now back with the cloudy eyes and heavy breathing. Does anyone have any leads or suggestions for what this might be or how to deal with it?

There isn’t a specific disease that only infects scorpionfish - but flukes can be more specific in their hosts than protozoan diseases are.

Can you post a video of the fuzzy under white lights?
Is it still eating?

2026_1 · 2026-09-22T19:45:10-0400

Jay Hemdal said:
There isn’t a specific disease that only infects scorpionfish - but flukes can be more specific in their hosts than protozoan diseases are.

Can you post a video of the fuzzy under white lights?
Is it still eating?

Jay Hemdal · 2026-09-22T20:11:51-0400

2026_1 said:

The eyes look like flukes can cause them to look. A video would help me judge the fish’s respiration rate and overall demeanor…..is it still feeding?

2026_1 · 2026-09-23T08:38:19-0400

Jay Hemdal said:
The eyes look like flukes can cause them to look. A video would help me judge the fish’s respiration rate and overall demeanor…..is it still feeding?

She did eat a few days ago but she seems to keep getting worse as time goes on

Jay Hemdal · 2026-09-23T08:49:48-0400

2026_1 said:
She did eat a few days ago but she seems to keep getting worse as time goes on

Yeah - that’s not good. It’s lethargic, with folded fins, rapid deep breathing plus the cloudy eyes.

Trouble is - this could be flukes OR a protozoan disease, and these require different treatments. Coppersafe for protozoans and be praziquantel for flukes. I prefer not to run both treatments at the same time, but you may need to.

You could dose with praziquantel and then get the coppersafe level up to 2.25 ppm in the first 24 hours.

I’d avoid using chloroquine - I’ve had toxicity issues with lions and that.