Volitan Lionfish - Thos with experience

Dolphins18

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Hello,

Been about 6 years since I’ve had a volitan and I stumbled across one of the black ones yesterday. Beautiful fish, just came in from Florida and the shipment bag matched my salinity (1.025) vs the 1.018 at the LFS.
brought him home and he was in fairly cloudy water. I floated him for about 45 minutes knowing that ammonia spike upon opening the bag.I didn’t drip him for longer that 30 minutes after the temp acclimation.
I obviously know better than buying a fish before it has made into the LFS tanks however that Certainly wouldn’t have been any easier on the fish.
If someone could please post a picture or two of their volitans lungs that would be great. That’s really what I need as he’s very lethargic and has what would appear to be somewhat swollen gills. (lions have a bit of a swollen gills look anyway). I know they are tough cookies but we all tend to blame ourselves when something isn’t doing well, whether or not there’s anything that can be done. Thanks
 

lion king

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I'm not sure of what you are looking, maybe you should post a pic of what you are concerned about. Acclimating from 1.018 to 1.025 is a difficult proposition, I take about 2 hours to do that, and it is usually better to have a tank where you can lower the sg to match the bag. . Raising sg that amount too fast can put fish into osmodic shock, they usually don't recover. There are numerous causes of lethargy, there are a number of things that he could been exposed to through collection to housing at wholesalers. If I get a lfs to bring me in a fish, I always pick it up in the bag, one acclimation vs 2 is much better.
 
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Dolphins18

Dolphins18

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I'm not sure of what you are looking, maybe you should post a pic of what you are concerned about. Acclimating from 1.018 to 1.025 is a difficult proposition, I take about 2 hours to do that, and it is usually better to have a tank where you can lower the sg to match the bag. . Raising sg that amount too fast can put fish into osmodic shock, they usually don't recover. There are numerous causes of lethargy, there are a number of things that he could been exposed to through collection to housing at wholesalers. If I get a lfs to bring me in a fish, I always pick it up in the bag, one acclimation vs 2 is much better.
Lion, the bag he was shipped in from Florida was 1.025 - the same as my water. I got to the store before the bag was even opened. The reason I got him was because I figured it was pretty likely the store acclimating then me getting him and acclimating him would be more stressful. Sorry if the initial post was a bit confusing. I can not get a good picture at the moment because of the way he is turned.
 
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Dolphins18

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Here is a picture from earlier. Though it isn’t a great shot of the gills. Upon more and more inspection I think it’s just a part of that armored they have.
His condition hasn’t changed much.

1FE7CF03-CE04-421A-BA53-8AB390655925.jpeg
 

Coralsdaily

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from this angel the fish appears to be alright. any other visible signs of distress? have you attempted to feed?
 

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He's very pretty, I hope he does well.

I'd turn your lights off, he's probably really stressed. He might have been knocked around in shipment. Would have been good to put him in a QT in case it's a disease flaring up from stress.
 
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from this angel the fish appears to be alright. any other visible signs of distress? have you attempted to feed?
Yea I have had a couple in the past, they ate pretty quick. I didn’t try first 24 hours but I tried a couple ghost shrimp a little awhile ago, he showed no interest, if anything may have stressed him out more. Not much more to do but wait and see.
Also yes when I saw him this morning I turned the half he was on off. They are all off now.
Thank you! I think he’s pretty too! Kind of unique for a volitan. Fingers crossed!
 

Coralsdaily

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Yea I have had a couple in the past, they ate pretty quick. I didn’t try first 24 hours but I tried a couple ghost shrimp a little awhile ago, he showed no interest, if anything may have stressed him out more. Not much more to do but wait and see.
Also yes when I saw him this morning I turned the half he was on off. They are all off now.
Thank you! I think he’s pretty too! Kind of unique for a volitan. Fingers crossed!
Though they aren't for everyone, I think they are splendid. I hope your fish the best and look forward to updates of him up and perky. definitely share more photos of this guy when it's fully acclimated. thanks for sharing
 

lion king

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A lion that size may be more interested in a fish than a ghostie, try a molly. Hopefully he came in healthy, they come in today with internal parasites more than not.
 

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I had one in a 125 fowler back in the 90’s. Grew him from 1 1/2 inches to about 9. Behaved more like an oscar than any other saltwater fish I’ve ever had. Easiest fish I have ever had.
 
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Dolphins18

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That’s what makes me think something is wrong.. never an issue years ago.
on a good note he has made his way about half way up the tank and appears to just be hanging out on a rock. It is pretty dark so can’t see much else.
 
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Good morning folks. He’s hanging on and actually doing pretty well now. He hasn’t eaten yet, but I am not really concerned with that at this time.
Can someone chime in on how they adjusted to a high flow tank? He is certainly not a big fan of the high flow, or extremely high lighting, 200+ par at the bottom. Over the weekend I gave him virtually no flow, and little light. For the sake of the other livestock in the aquarium I am beginning to ramp up the lighting and pump schedule. Upon turning on the weakest pump of the 3 he awkwardly made his way into a cave.
Any suggestions to adjusting to turning on the bigger power heads? My nems need them sooner or later..
 

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I would be very concerned he hasn't eaten, most time fish like this may have not eaten since collection, or barely enough to keep them alive. So they are literally starving, and their nature is to gorge anyway, so a healthy lion should eat right away. I feed my lions right away, and if they don't eat, i treat with general cure. In the early days when I didn't do this, they always died. When predatory fish, especially ones a little size get fed along the trail, the ethical collectors will feed them dying and diseased fish; so today it's almost a given that they have internal parasites. Not eating is a big red flag, they can still hang on for couple of weeks sometimes more, I am not kidding when I say you need to start treatment right now.

As far as flow and lighting; a lion's tank should provide a cave or caves which they can fully retreat into, cliffs and vertical landscape for them to perch. They should be able to have a spot or spots to hang from more aggressive flow. The caves would provide a space to retreat from the more intense lighting. Over time they will get more used to higher flow and higher light, but may reside in their caves during the day, and venture out after day lights off.
 

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This goes back a while, maybe early 90's. Remember mine was slow to like the tank very lethargic first few days. Fed guppies, and sadly one unplanned very large yellow tail damsel. Had few rocks and a cave he liked. Did really well after a while..
 
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I would be very concerned he hasn't eaten, most time fish like this may have not eaten since collection, or barely enough to keep them alive. So they are literally starving, and their nature is to gorge anyway, so a healthy lion should eat right away. I feed my lions right away, and if they don't eat, i treat with general cure. In the early days when I didn't do this, they always died. When predatory fish, especially ones a little size get fed along the trail, the ethical collectors will feed them dying and diseased fish; so today it's almost a given that they have internal parasites. Not eating is a big red flag, they can still hang on for couple of weeks sometimes more, I am not kidding when I say you need to start treatment right now.

As far as flow and lighting; a lion's tank should provide a cave or caves which they can fully retreat into, cliffs and vertical landscape for them to perch. They should be able to have a spot or spots to hang from more aggressive flow. The caves would provide a space to retreat from the more intense lighting. Over time they will get more used to higher flow and higher light, but may reside in their caves during the day, and venture out after day lights off.
Thank you lion king. I have not used general cure. Is this medication reef safe? It doesn’t necessarily need to be safe for corals, but must be safe for inverts.
thank you
 

lion king

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Thank you lion king. I have not used general cure. Is this medication reef safe? It doesn’t necessarily need to be safe for corals, but must be safe for inverts.
thank you

From my knowledge it is not reef safe, that is a question for someone else if they have used it in a reef. They need to be treated with Metronidazole and Praziquantel, and General Cure contains both, I don't think Metronidazole is reef safe. You can use Prazi Pro which is reef safe and contains Praziquantel. If that's all you do, that's what I would do, many times they do need the Metronidazole though. They each clear a different type of internal parasite or worms.
 
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Dolphins18

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From my knowledge it is not reef safe, that is a question for someone else if they have used it in a reef. They need to be treated with Metronidazole and Praziquantel, and General Cure contains both, I don't think Metronidazole is reef safe. You can use Prazi Pro which is reef safe and contains Praziquantel. If that's all you do, that's what I would do, many times they do need the Metronidazole though. They each clear a different type of internal parasite or worms.
What is the treatment procedure? If it’s a quick treatment I can do externally in a bucket but If it’s a long treatment that isn’t really an option. IF I can get him to eat mollies I’ll start feeding them food soaked in both and use some focus, but that’s all a big if depending on if he will eat.
His health seems to be improving every day, I don’t want to stress him if it isn’t necessary.
 
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Dolphins18

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I’ll treat him in a bucket as it looks its less than a week. Do you guys think daily water changes and a powerhead is enough? I have a Seneye that can monitor ammonia.
 
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Dolphins18

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Thoughts on this for treatment? It looks like he will be in there for about 6 days based on the instructions. Lion King, any info you can provide on things to look for during the process? Thank you

5B6D4787-DC73-4604-AB08-CA51412966A4.jpeg
 
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