MrFolgers
New member
My lionfish has ich and his eyes are reallu cloudy. He hasnt eaten in 4 days and is looking really thin. He just sits on the bottom of my 75 gallon tank. Heres what he looks like
My lionfish is sick
- Thread starter MrFolgers
- Start date
tkeracer619
New member
He needs to go into QT and treated with copper or you will probably loose it.
brian762
New member
Go to Petco and buy a 10gal tank for 12.99 and a cheap filter. you can not treat ich in the DT as it will kill your good bacteria and probably your corals. Read the stickies on the New to Reefing section. your tank will have to be fishless for atleast 6-8 weeks to kill of the parasite.
thereeftank
New member
Traces of copper will be left in your DT for a long time, causing demise of things you'll add-in in the further. Definatly get a QT.
slief
RC Sponsor
I wouldnt bother with hypo.. I would use water from your DT and treat the QT with copper as mentioned above. It will kill the ich parasite almost immediatiely. Ich attacks the gills of the fish making it difficult for the fish to get adequet oxygen so make sure you add an air stone to the QT. From your description and the fact that the fish is no longer eating, I would say your time to resolve this is VERY limited. Waiting for hypo to work at your stage of ich will most certainly end up with a dead fish. Quarentine and treat with copper immediately.
Uncle Salty 05
New member
Match the salinity of the DT or maybe just a little lower.
The lionfish will need to spend the next 8 weeks (at least) in the QT for the ich to die out in the DT without a host.
Do you have any filtration on the DT that could be transfered to the QT?
Without an established biological filter you will need to do water changes almost daily to avoid an ammonia spike and will need to add additional copper with each water change. Copper must be kept at therapeutic levels to be effective. Cupramine seems to be the brand of choice these days, follow the instructions to the letter.
Good luck!
The lionfish will need to spend the next 8 weeks (at least) in the QT for the ich to die out in the DT without a host.
Do you have any filtration on the DT that could be transfered to the QT?
Without an established biological filter you will need to do water changes almost daily to avoid an ammonia spike and will need to add additional copper with each water change. Copper must be kept at therapeutic levels to be effective. Cupramine seems to be the brand of choice these days, follow the instructions to the letter.
Good luck!
Uncle Salty 05
New member
Five days isn't that long, but it maybe too late no matter what action you take. The fish may simply be too far gone to save. Not your fault, sometimes it happens.
How long have you had the fish? How often does it normally eat?
It looks like a fairly good sized lionfish, it could be dying of old age.
How long have you had the fish? How often does it normally eat?
It looks like a fairly good sized lionfish, it could be dying of old age.
MrFolgers
New member
Ive had him since christmas. I bought him 7 inches and now hes about 9. I spoil him and feed him 1 silverside every night.
gweston
New member
He looks bad 
poor guy.
Your best bet is to get a quarantine tank and move him to it. Then let your tank go fallow (fishless) for a full 8-10 weeks to purge the display of ich. Then, any future fish make sure to quarantine (see the qt threads for info).
I personally like 20 long tanks for quarantine, but whatever you can fit in the space you have should be fine.
If he does survive in QT. Still let the display go fallow for 8-10 weeks. The lion will need to be treated with copper (cupramine) until the ich is eradicated. Treating with copper isn't necessarily a cakewalk for the fish either. Some lose apetite. If the fish isn't eating now, chances are low that it won't survive.
Don't let the bad prognosis stop you from trying. I have treated fish that are not eating (bacterial infection, not ich), and brought back from the verge of death. Other times not so lucky. I even hand fed a fish with bad vision (almost blind) for months manually, to have it -fully- recover and gain its vision and vitality back.
poor guy.Your best bet is to get a quarantine tank and move him to it. Then let your tank go fallow (fishless) for a full 8-10 weeks to purge the display of ich. Then, any future fish make sure to quarantine (see the qt threads for info).
I personally like 20 long tanks for quarantine, but whatever you can fit in the space you have should be fine.
If he does survive in QT. Still let the display go fallow for 8-10 weeks. The lion will need to be treated with copper (cupramine) until the ich is eradicated. Treating with copper isn't necessarily a cakewalk for the fish either. Some lose apetite. If the fish isn't eating now, chances are low that it won't survive.
Don't let the bad prognosis stop you from trying. I have treated fish that are not eating (bacterial infection, not ich), and brought back from the verge of death. Other times not so lucky. I even hand fed a fish with bad vision (almost blind) for months manually, to have it -fully- recover and gain its vision and vitality back.
Uncle Salty 05
New member
How big is your tank and what means of filtration do you use?
rinconmike
Member
I have a FO tank and have treated with cupramine. Only issue is it usually takes more of it than what is noted to get to the proper levels (i.e. .25 to .5 to eradicate the ich per seachem). The sand, and dead coral skeletons sucked it up in my case.
I never plan on having any corals or inverts in my FO so I am not worried about anything leaching over time.
I do have a QT now I set up for a new fish and treating with curpamine is much easier, mainly because what is noted to dose gets the right levels since the empty tank has nothing to absorb it out of the water column.
This is based on my experience dosing my tank twice - each time had ich after a new fish. Both times, the fish did not look as bad and everything seemed to work (also had a lion); however, I did have a butterfly that got cloudy eyes around a week after I started using it (assumed secondary infection) and one eye never cleared up (I assume it is a blind eye now). Now I have a QT and been treating a new wrasse for 2.5 weeks.
Another note with the lion, the first time I treated, I put in 50% does day one and I think it was too much for the lion at once. After around 2 days, Lion seemed fine and I kept adding to get to around .35 to .4 (so it looked on the test kits).
I also found using the Red Sea test kit is better than the Seachem. To me, the Seachem is hard to read.
If you does, in the QT or display, just do it slowly (over several days).
Mike
I never plan on having any corals or inverts in my FO so I am not worried about anything leaching over time.
I do have a QT now I set up for a new fish and treating with curpamine is much easier, mainly because what is noted to dose gets the right levels since the empty tank has nothing to absorb it out of the water column.
This is based on my experience dosing my tank twice - each time had ich after a new fish. Both times, the fish did not look as bad and everything seemed to work (also had a lion); however, I did have a butterfly that got cloudy eyes around a week after I started using it (assumed secondary infection) and one eye never cleared up (I assume it is a blind eye now). Now I have a QT and been treating a new wrasse for 2.5 weeks.
Another note with the lion, the first time I treated, I put in 50% does day one and I think it was too much for the lion at once. After around 2 days, Lion seemed fine and I kept adding to get to around .35 to .4 (so it looked on the test kits).
I also found using the Red Sea test kit is better than the Seachem. To me, the Seachem is hard to read.
If you does, in the QT or display, just do it slowly (over several days).
Mike
MrFolgers
New member
I found a 10 gallon in my basement
tkeracer619
New member
Do not hypo. This fish needs copper.
Hypo takes too long.
Hypo takes too long.
Uncle Salty 05
New member
I was referring to your DT.
