Lionfish sting?

mdavi

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This afternoon I went out to my aquarium and noticed my clown tang in the bottom corner where he likes to swim up and down. I happened to see my lionfish was crowded in the corner with him and my tang looked like he was trying to swim forward and back. Did my lionfish get him? If so I know it wasn't on purpose. They actually get along pretty well.

20220504_213609.jpg 20220504_213530.jpg
 
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mdavi

mdavi

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Also, my tang seems a little lethargic and as seen really tore up. I have moved him to QT.
 

lion king

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A lionfish sting would display as a puncture or a scratch of sorts. Unless the fish is in poor health or the puncture is deep in the internal organs most fish seem to recover fine and seem mostly unscathed. The only time I've seen a lion do real damage is in self defense with a deep puncture in the abdomen area, you'll see an inflamed red puncture wound, or even multiple punctures. The spikes can also cause a cut that is usually superficial. A deep puncture poisoning can cause lethargy but as you've described being torn up, it doesn't sound like a lionfish sting.
 
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mdavi

mdavi

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A lionfish sting would display as a puncture or a scratch of sorts. Unless the fish is in poor health or the puncture is deep in the internal organs most fish seem to recover fine and seem mostly unscathed. The only time I've seen a lion do real damage is in self defense with a deep puncture in the abdomen area, you'll see an inflamed red puncture wound, or even multiple punctures. The spikes can also cause a cut that is usually superficial. A deep puncture poisoning can cause lethargy but as you've described being torn up, it doesn't sound like a lionfish sting.
He was kind of wedged between the lion and the glass and kept trying to move forward and back. Those two get along well so I don't think he was "stung" on purpose. Maybe accidental scratching from being wedged? Is that a possibility? It does look like scratches but a lot of them. I looked really hard and all I see is superficial and no punctures (thats at least a good thing i guess)
 

lion king

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In my experience wounding from a lion has always been defensive. It would not be characteristic for a lion to repeatedly scratch or otherwise attack another fish.

Try and get a clearer photo as it looks to me their fins are torn and there may be something else going on. How long have they been in the tank.
 

vtecintegra

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Poor thing looks almost done for. Agree, lions sting is defensive. Lion would have just swallowed him if he wanted. Curious how that fish got into such bad shape.
 
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Steve and his Animals

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That looks like some serious aggression, nothing like that would come from a lion. Lions are actually quite wimpy fish, that's what the spines are for. Would be helpful to know what else is in the tank livestock-wise.
 

lion king

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We Hunt Lionfish in Roatan with a spear gun, then cook them and eat them.

Hope this helps

They destroy Reefs!!

Humans destroy everything and created the invasion problem to begin with, humans destroy the natural balance then blame something else for their destruction.
 

Cell

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Is this the full stocking list plus the spiny box puffer and blueline trigger?

I am currently looking for ideas and suggestions for my 150g aggressive tank. I so far have:

Clown tang
Hybrid PB + GR tang
Sailfin
Dwarf Lion
Leaf Scorpion
Humu humu
Snowflake eel
Ghost eel
 

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