Lionfish not swallowing food

[DarkElite020]

Hi all, posting this in case anyone has some advice for me. I have a volitan lionfish in a 100 gallon tank. Usually, I feed him until he's pretty full every 4-6 days, I feed small chunks of frozen tableshrimp or more rarely guppies bred from my freshwater tank and have been giving him that for a while. It had been 4-6 days from his last feeding so I went to feed him again, he appeared interested in the food and took a small chunk of shrimp, but refused more (which is unusual behavior for him). I offered him a guppy which he was more excited about just because I wanted to make sure he got something in him, and he took that too, but after refused more food. Since that was still odd I did a 25%-30% water change, followed by a 3 day blackout since I'm battling some greenhair algae. I tried feeding him again because after the blackout it had probably been 10 days since his last solid feeding and I'm getting worried because he is getting thin. I tested my water and its 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites. I was suspicious of my test being wrong (especially because I had algae growth) so I brought a sample to my lfs and they gave me the same results (and also said my ph was 7.6). I read that they go off of food for water quality or if they are being picky, so while at the lfs I picked up some silversides.

The weird thing:
My lionfish is excited to eat and seems like he WANTS to eat. I gave him a small piece of silverside (definitely not too big of a piece, it was quite small) and he took it in his mouth-- but he's not swallowing it, and I've come to realize he's not swallowing anything I'm giving him now. He let the silverside sit in his mouth with his mouth closed, no rapid gill movement, no "coughing" gesture like he's choking. He opened his mouth once after watching him for a while and I saw the silverside piece still in there. He held it in his mouth for an HOUR before he finally spit it out and I picked it out of the tank. He seemed excited again when I moved the tongs to grab it (he's trained to eat from a pair of tongs) but at that point I didn't want to stress him so I stopped offering food that day (yesterday).

Like I said, he is getting really thin and I'm getting worried, I fear he is excited for food because he is essentially starving but cant eat. I bought epsom salt, kanaplex, and prazi pro last night. The prazi pro hasnt arrived yet but the other two have and I'm hoping to use a 5 gallon bucket for a medical dip for him. Can I dose kanaplex and epsom salt at the same time or should I do it on separate days? Is there anything else I can do/should try? Thanks in advance.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all, posting this in case anyone has some advice for me. I have a volitan lionfish in a 100 gallon tank. Usually, I feed him until he's pretty full every 4-6 days, I feed small chunks of frozen tableshrimp or more rarely guppies bred from my freshwater tank and have been giving him that for a while. It had been 4-6 days from his last feeding so I went to feed him again, he appeared interested in the food and took a small chunk of shrimp, but refused more (which is unusual behavior for him). I offered him a guppy which he was more excited about just because I wanted to make sure he got something in him, and he took that too, but after refused more food. Since that was still odd I did a 25%-30% water change, followed by a 3 day blackout since I'm battling some greenhair algae. I tried feeding him again because after the blackout it had probably been 10 days since his last solid feeding and I'm getting worried because he is getting thin. I tested my water and its 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites. I was suspicious of my test being wrong (especially because I had algae growth) so I brought a sample to my lfs and they gave me the same results (and also said my ph was 7.6). I read that they go off of food for water quality or if they are being picky, so while at the lfs I picked up some silversides.

The weird thing:
My lionfish is excited to eat and seems like he WANTS to eat. I gave him a small piece of silverside (definitely not too big of a piece, it was quite small) and he took it in his mouth-- but he's not swallowing it, and I've come to realize he's not swallowing anything I'm giving him now. He let the silverside sit in his mouth with his mouth closed, no rapid gill movement, no "coughing" gesture like he's choking. He opened his mouth once after watching him for a while and I saw the silverside piece still in there. He held it in his mouth for an HOUR before he finally spit it out and I picked it out of the tank. He seemed excited again when I moved the tongs to grab it (he's trained to eat from a pair of tongs) but at that point I didn't want to stress him so I stopped offering food that day (yesterday).

Like I said, he is getting really thin and I'm getting worried, I fear he is excited for food because he is essentially starving but cant eat. I bought epsom salt, kanaplex, and prazi pro last night. The prazi pro hasnt arrived yet but the other two have and I'm hoping to use a 5 gallon bucket for a medical dip for him. Can I dose kanaplex and epsom salt at the same time or should I do it on separate days? Is there anything else I can do/should try? Thanks in advance.

Im suspecting gill issue or possible water issue. To start with, are the gills red or swollen or normal and can you post a video under bright white light- no blue?

 

[DarkElite020]

Im suspecting gill issue or possible water issue. To start with, are the gills red or swollen or normal and can you post a video under bright white light- no blue?

Thanks for responding, I went ahead and medicated with epsom salt and kanaplex after reading it should be okay; this is a video from the medication bucket, I’ve put him back in the tank now and he’s hiding behind the rocks, but I’ll see if I can get a more clear video tomorrow. From what I can tell the gills don’t seem swollen and look normal, but I’m also not an expert.

edit: the video didnt attach im still trying to figure out this site lol sorry give me a few min :confounded-face:

 

[BristleWormHater]

Calling in reef support
@Jay Hemdal #fishmedics

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for responding, I went ahead and medicated with epsom salt and kanaplex after reading it should be okay; this is a video from the medication bucket, I’ve put him back in the tank now and he’s hiding behind the rocks, but I’ll see if I can get a more clear video tomorrow. From what I can tell the gills don’t seem swollen and look normal, but I’m also not an expert.

edit: the video didnt attach im still trying to figure out this site lol sorry give me a few min :confounded-face:

Epsom salt is a freshwater remedy as the fish is alertly in salt which contains magnesium sulphate. Kanaplex is a broad spectrum anti-bacterial remedy,

 

[DarkElite020]

Epsom salt is a freshwater remedy as the fish is alertly in salt which contains magnesium sulphate. Kanaplex is a broad spectrum anti-bacterial remedy,

Yeah Im not sure what exactly his issue is so im just trying what I can and hoping one of them will work. I know epsom salt is used for freshwater, but while reading around I've seen people mention that it has helped their lionfish as well so I added it to the list of things to try.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi all, posting this in case anyone has some advice for me. I have a volitan lionfish in a 100 gallon tank. Usually, I feed him until he's pretty full every 4-6 days, I feed small chunks of frozen tableshrimp or more rarely guppies bred from my freshwater tank and have been giving him that for a while. It had been 4-6 days from his last feeding so I went to feed him again, he appeared interested in the food and took a small chunk of shrimp, but refused more (which is unusual behavior for him). I offered him a guppy which he was more excited about just because I wanted to make sure he got something in him, and he took that too, but after refused more food. Since that was still odd I did a 25%-30% water change, followed by a 3 day blackout since I'm battling some greenhair algae. I tried feeding him again because after the blackout it had probably been 10 days since his last solid feeding and I'm getting worried because he is getting thin. I tested my water and its 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites. I was suspicious of my test being wrong (especially because I had algae growth) so I brought a sample to my lfs and they gave me the same results (and also said my ph was 7.6). I read that they go off of food for water quality or if they are being picky, so while at the lfs I picked up some silversides.

The weird thing:
My lionfish is excited to eat and seems like he WANTS to eat. I gave him a small piece of silverside (definitely not too big of a piece, it was quite small) and he took it in his mouth-- but he's not swallowing it, and I've come to realize he's not swallowing anything I'm giving him now. He let the silverside sit in his mouth with his mouth closed, no rapid gill movement, no "coughing" gesture like he's choking. He opened his mouth once after watching him for a while and I saw the silverside piece still in there. He held it in his mouth for an HOUR before he finally spit it out and I picked it out of the tank. He seemed excited again when I moved the tongs to grab it (he's trained to eat from a pair of tongs) but at that point I didn't want to stress him so I stopped offering food that day (yesterday).

Like I said, he is getting really thin and I'm getting worried, I fear he is excited for food because he is essentially starving but cant eat. I bought epsom salt, kanaplex, and prazi pro last night. The prazi pro hasnt arrived yet but the other two have and I'm hoping to use a 5 gallon bucket for a medical dip for him. Can I dose kanaplex and epsom salt at the same time or should I do it on separate days? Is there anything else I can do/should try? Thanks in advance.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The positive feeding response combined with an inability to swallow the food indicates some mechanical issue like a blockage. It could be a foreign object or it could be growth of a tumor. Unfortunately, if it is either of those, there really isn't any sort of a cure.

 

[DarkElite020]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The positive feeding response combined with an inability to swallow the food indicates some mechanical issue like a blockage. It could be a foreign object or it could be growth of a tumor. Unfortunately, if it is either of those, there really isn't any sort of a cure.

Thank you.

Unfortunately I agree and its what I am starting to believe to be the most likely cause. I am going to continue trying a few medical dips over the week to cover my bases, but I am not very hopeful for it being a bacterial or parasitic issue, but at this point I'm hoping it is so that its treatable and am crossing my fingers.

Given both I and my local fish store tested my water and said it was 0's around the board and his wanting to eat I feel like the water isn't the issue either. It would be one thing if just I had tested it but having another place do it and getting the same results would be a weird coincidence... and lionfish can sometimes go on hunger strikes in poor water conditions, which again mine wants to eat, so the the options for what the problem is isn't making me think that is the issue...
----

As a more general update/my plans:
For the epsom salt I know it is mainly used for freshwater and may not have a huge effect on saltwater, but I've seen one person suggest it for lionfish constipation when applied to its food (unfortunately mines not swallowing so that doesnt help) and another thread with a couple people claiming it worked for popeye which while yes its a different issue and im not too sure what its doing to cure those problems (working as mild anti-inflammatory etc?), its apparently doing something. I have no clue, but either way I attempted it for healing properties (if any of what I read was true) and my lionfish handled the treatment with it fine, although I can't say it improved anything either.

For the kanaplex, there was no improvement with the first dose either, as I attempted another silverside chunk today (which once again he was happy to take) and the problem persists.

My prazi pro arrives tomorrow, so I'll attempt that with one more round of epsom salt (which I might as well, cause its pretty gentle from what I can tell/read), and if he continues to not swallow a day or two after, I'm going to accept it's a mechanical issue :(

Edit: Good news! I spoke too soon apparently-- I watched him after giving him the piece for 30 minutes and he didn't swallow it so I wandered off to go take care of other things before posting, but I went back to check the tank after figuring he was going to spit it out, and to my surprise he has a silverside-sized bump in his belly!! Really hoping he keeps it down/that its deep enough in him to stay there and get digested and not coughed up. Yay salt and kanaplex!!