I think my lionfish is dying >:(

[ag09g]

So my volitans lion who ive had for three years is trying to give up the ghost and I dont know why...
About a week ago he quit eating and has just been sitting on the bottom of the tank barely moving. On tuesday, and before then, he outwardly appeared totally normal, but over the past few days he has developed some scratches on his body and now he has ripped a huge whole in one of his pectoral fins. Im also pretty sure he might have developed a bacterial infection because his tail is also ripped and looks like its disintegrating.....
basically hes in terribly shape and going downhill quickly. We live on the water and so have easy access to live bait shrimp from local fisherman, and usually feed him 2-3 every other day. There were 7 in the tank and we havent added any since tuesday, so actually it seems like he hasnt eaten in more than a week...
Any way, it looked like something had taken little bites out of the base of his tail so i think the shrimps may have been molesting him at night. I removed them but I have no idea what to do for this fish!

oh, also, I think hes gotten the scratches (and probably torn fins) from ramming into the rocks. Yesterday I walked to the side of the tank to look at him and he FREAKED out and swam full speed into the glass before diving into a cave and jamming himself between two rocks.

The tank is 135g and the only other inhabitant is a yellow tang who is still vibrant yellow, active and eating.
there are also a couple caribbean anemones in the tank. He doesnt normally go on that side (theyre all located to the far left) but im not discounting that hes gotten stung.

The water tests are:

salinity 1.025
Ammonia/nitrite 0
nitrate 40
pH 8.1
temperature 77

Im going to try and do a water change tomorrow to try and at least get the nitrates down, but I just dont know what else to do for him

I need help!! I dont want to lose him, but i dont have a good feeling :(

[hkarmy25]

Your nitrates are kinda high, salinity is a little high as well. Other than that looks fine. How old was the lion when you acquired it?

[ag09g]

He was only about 3 inches long when we caught him, I dunno how old that is but he was a lil guy! So its not like he was full grown when we got him and is now dying of old age...

and yes the only thing I could think of was the nitrates, but even then, like you said.."kinda high"
I wouldnt have thought theyd be killing him but still allow anemones to be thriving.

[ag09g]

Any one else have an idea what's going on or what I can do?

[namxas]

NO3 of 40 ppm isn't your problem with a lionfish.

What has changed in the system?

Any tankmates? If so, what?

Has the fish been molting a lot?

Any spots, or cloudiness in the eyes?

Is the fish gilling hard?

Has anyone used any cleaning agents near the tank, or in the same room?

The fish's actions make me think "bad water" (poisoning) or something weird like stray current.

[Gregs138]

I was gonna say check for voltage or poison as well. Maybe something got dumped in the tank. Hand cleaner/lotion/soap/windex. Something like that. Maybe run some carbon and do a 50% water change.

[ag09g]

Nothing has Been added to the tank since August, and that was the addition of two small Atlantic carpet anemones. His breathing is very slow and doesnt look labored or heavy, eyes are also clear. Only physical issues I see are the deteriorating fins and he's been a bit paler since yesterday.

As far as I'm aware there haven't been any cleaning products. I go to college in another city so I've just been visiting at home since last Tuesday. My dads the only one who goes up to the tank so I'm pretty sure he wasn using any cleaning agents up there....I'll ask though!
There's currently carbon in the filters and I'm harvesting RO water for a wate change.

If it were voltage or a poison though why would the yellow tang not be affected? I would have thought the lion would tolerate it more than the tang, but I have no evidence to support that belief.
Also, how would I check for stray voltage??

[ag09g]

Oh also, he hasn't been shedding a lot. A bit on his fins but nothing on a large scale

[Gregs138]

Voltage meter, maybe your pops has one in garage already they are pretty common.

ground it to the grounding plug of an outlet(or any other solid ground-a BIG metal wrench/vicegrips would probably work too).
turn the nob to 120 AC Voltage.
Stick black end in ground,
stick red end in tank.

See if there is a current going across the meter. If there is, disconnect one electric device at a time until you see no voltage. Get rid of that device-it's the faulty one.

[ag09g]

Ya he said he has one somewhere so well try to find that...

Also though, do you think it's possible one of the shrimps he ate could have consumed something that was toxic that's now poisoning the lion?
That would explain why the tang is fine and the lion is sick

[MrTuskfish]

Like The Lion King (Namxas) said above, nitrate & SG at this level are well within safe range for fish.

I think all fish need a lot more variety (with added vitamins) in their diet.

I managed a fishing marina in the Keys for a few years between college & grad school, ages ago. (Fishing, diving,drinking and getting paid--the ideal job) Our live shrimp tank wasn't the place I'd keep fish food in. Everything imaginable ended up in that tank. When shrimp ran large, we'd eat some and they tasted awful; not like the fish we could net from the bridges at night. I know live bait handling regs are much improved and I don't know if this contributes to your problem or not; but I sure wouldn't rule it out. Perhaps Namxas will chime in again.

[namxas]

If all the fish is getting are the bait shrimp, and you haven't kept them long enuff to void their guts and re-load them, the fish could have gotten hold of a bad shrimp or two. There are some little "netable" fish at our local marina, but I wouldn't feed them to my fish on a bet, as I know how nasty harbor water is.

Whenever we feed SW fish (damsels) to our stubborn fish, they receive a lengthy FW dip before we feed them out, altho I suspect that would kill a shrimp.

[ag09g]

Just out of curiosity how long would it take for the shrimps to "void their guts"? We usually buy them a dozen at a time I think so that usually lasts a couple weeks. But I'm sure we've fed him shrimp the day we've bought them before. If he survives this I can definitely make sure we wait a few days from buying before feeding them, and gut load the shrimps in the meantime.

Is there anything I can/should do for him though? We've mixed up about 20 gallons of saltwater so far, so the water change will be happening soon.
Should I try and put melafix in the tank for the fin rot?? Or just take a wait and see approach. We have a quarantine tank, but we currently have a harlequin tuskfish in there (was supposed to be the lions next tank mate), but the tank is only 55 gallons and I feel like trying to move him would be too stressful and I'm not sure he's even be able to move comfortably in there...

I just don't know what to do :(

[MrTuskfish]

I've seen bait tanks with a constant oil slick, long term use of food from that tank would scare me. But not all bait systems are that nasty.

[ag09g]

Oops double post

[namxas]

You might try adding some Vitamin C to the tank. It can be taken in thru the fish's gill structures, and goes a long way to improving a fish's health and appetite. If you can get the fish to eat, try loading some food with beta glucan, which will boost the fish's immune system.

[ag09g]

Thanks namxas, what dosage of vitamin C would I use?

[namxas]

Renee is currently using BRIGHTWELL VITAMIN C (http://brightwellaquatics.com/products/vitamarinc.php), and for in-tank dosing, she follows the label dosage.

However, if she feeds it to the fish, her dosage is "as much as you can get into them".

I think she was going to reply here, but her iPad "died" on her.

[ag09g]

I didn't know they had it made for aquariums with directions and such, thanks!!

[seahorsedreams]

I had made the longest post ever..... and my iPad betrayed me.

Has his diet been mainly shrimp? Can you give me a run down of an example of a month of feeding? They can go a very long time without eating while showing no signs of weight loss. Would you be able to throw a live guppy or Mollie in there?

Vitamin deficiencies can cause the very signs you speak of..... anorexia, neurological changes, frayed "chewed" fins, increased sensitivity to shock (you walking around the side of the tank to look at him and him freaking out).

He's a big boy, so we have time to try and get him eating again. But get that vitamin C into his water to help with stress tolerance and disease resistance while we work through this. I double the directions on the bottle. The Brightwell stuff is buffered, so I haven't expereienced any pH issues, like can happen with the human-grade store bought stuff.