Dwarf Lion Fish RIP

[NorCalToy]

Sooooo my Dwarf Lion passed away over the weekend while I was away. Willow (older people will get the connection) was an active member of my reef tank for over a year.

He was a stubborn SOB, only taking frozen krill and silversides a few times in his life. He enjoyed a steady stream of peppermints and ghosts. Got him for $50, spent $1k on food .

Most recently he went on a full on hunger strike because peppermints and ghosts were nowhere to be found at my LFS. So for almost a month no food. He didn’t look sick, actually he still looked full (not sure if he’d pick off an emerald crab, but my crabs are pretty big compared to his mouth.

Anyways, I was able to get some camel shrimp but they were also huge, so I cut one in half and fed him this past Friday. Then I left for the weekend and my son mentioned he hadn’t seen him all weekend. It was a pretty big camel shrimp, could it have killed him?

I found Willows skull this morning confirming he was dead. It was kind of wedged in some rocks. Could he have been hunting the other camel shrimp that escaped and got stuck? BTW his skull was picked clean.

Or could he actually have been sick from not eating for so long? I don't Have parameters but all other fish and inverts are fine…(Tomini, clowns, ornate leopard, chromis, crabs, urchin).

Kind of want some advice, I liked having him around, made the tank exciting and entertaining again, especially when he would eye the clowns but they stuck to their anemones… should I get another one or was I pushing my luck with my clowns and coral?

tldr…Lionfish didn’t eats for 3 weeks, ate camel shrimp, died, possible causes?

 

[SlugSnorter]

prob starved

 

[lion king]

My only advice is if you decide to get another one; never count on them to take dead food and make sure you have a source for live food. Along with what you where feeding you could also offer guppies, feeder or fancy, as well as an appropriately sized molly. A ghostie tank can be a simple small tank with a sponge filter, or even just a container. There's no need to spend $1k on food for one lion.

 

[frankieg2293]

totally should have fed him live feeder guppies, he def starved.... im selling mine you want him?

 

[Locutus617]

My only advice is if you decide to get another one; never count on them to take dead food and make sure you have a source for live food. Along with what you where feeding you could also offer guppies, feeder or fancy, as well as an appropriately sized molly. A ghostie tank can be a simple small tank with a sponge filter, or even just a container. There's no need to spend $1k on food for one lion.

Where have you gotten yours in the past? I have tried petco twice now and on both occasions I haven't had any luck. Drip acclimated them to a higher SG and they wouldn't eat live ghosties so I started a general cure treatment. Both perished within 4-5 days and refused to eat. Ammonia was 0 and they were in a 20 gal qt by themselves. QT had been up for over 3 months prior to placing the dwarf fuzzies in.

 

[Cell]

There is a new Willow show on Netflix, fyi.

 

[lion king]

Where have you gotten yours in the past? I have tried petco twice now and on both occasions I haven't had any luck. Drip acclimated them to a higher SG and they wouldn't eat live ghosties so I started a general cure treatment. Both perished within 4-5 days and refused to eat. Ammonia was 0 and they were in a 20 gal qt by themselves. QT had been up for over 3 months prior to placing the dwarf fuzzies in.

If your tank conditions are good and you are matching sg, offering live foods, and treating with gc right away if they don't eat; you are doing all you can do. Honestly the dwarf lions have a very dismal survival rate, some lfs in my town don't even bring them in. One lfs owner said "they always die". Petco certainly isn't the best source, but getting locally will always be best. If you have a small business lfs you work with, you could have them order one for you, and pick it up in the shipping bag.

 

[Locutus617]

If your tank conditions are good and you are matching sg, offering live foods, and treating with gc right away if they don't eat; you are doing all you can do. Honestly the dwarf lions have a very dismal survival rate, some lfs in my town don't even bring them in. One lfs owner said "they always die". Petco certainly isn't the best source, but getting locally will always be best. If you have a small business lfs you work with, you could have them order one for you, and pick it up in the shipping bag.

Are you matching your tanks sg to be the same as the LFS or are you drip acclimating until the sg matches that of the tank? I was drip acclimating until the sg matched that of my tank.

Also I appreciate the feedback, I have read many of your posts and trust your opinion on the matter. Figured you would be a good resource on this.

 

[lion king]

Are you matching your tanks sg to be the same as the LFS or are you drip acclimating until the sg matches that of the tank? I was drip acclimating until the sg matched that of my tank.

Also I appreciate the feedback, I have read many of your posts and trust your opinion on the matter. Figured you would be a good resource on this.

I always put my new fish in an observation tank, so I match the tank to the bag water. Anytime you raise the sg more than .002 there is a risk. If the tank sg is higher than .002 than the bag water then I would suggest an extended acclimation, even as long as 2 hours.

Another point even though the negative repercussions would happen much faster. Make sure to dose gc to actual water volume, not tank size. You must account for displacement or you danger an overdose.