Something is wrong with my lionfish

[StayPuft]

For the past 2 or 3 weeks, something's been wrong with my mombasse lionfish. Some days his eyes get really cloudy, almost opaque white. Then a few days later they clear up almost completely. Then they get cloudy again, then clear. Otherwise he's doing fine, eating everything I put in the tank, is active, normal breathing, no marks on his body.

For the life of me I can't figure it out. I'd say he was going blind if his eyes didn't keep clearing up every few days. Don't have any idea what the problem is. I also have a fuzzy dwarf in this tank and she's fine and also a baby snowflake eel, also fine.

Tank conditions are normal, Ammonia and Nitrites are 0, Nitrates are less than 20. pH stable at 8.3. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Kengaroo131]

i dont have a clue but i have a question. do your lion and your dwarf lion get along well without fighting or the possible threat of the big lion eating the small one?

 

[StayPuft]

Nah, they get along great. No agression at all.

 

[Kengaroo131]

sweet i wanted to get a volitan but wasnt sure if it would bother my fuzzy. thanks! and good luck finding out whats going on with your lion!

 

[billsreef]

Get a strong flashlight and take a look at his eyes with a head on view, kind of like if your trying to find a hidden spot of dirt on glass. Take a look for slightly raised translucent bumps. If you find those, they are flukes and easily treated with a freshwater dip. If not, we'll have to try and figure out what else it could be.

 

[StayPuft]

Bill, that's exactly what they look like! Thanks! What are flukes and what causes them?

 

[billsreef]

That's what I was afraid of, but at least they are simple to cure. Flukes are a trematode parasite. They are probably on the other fish in the tank as well as other parts of the fishes body, it's just that the eye is the easy place to see them. They come in on the fish, just but one of many possible parasite/disease issues that cause me to recommend that aquarists quarantine all new fish

Treatment is a series of FW dips. Prepare dip container of fresh water, the FW needs to be dechlorinated, aerated, and close in pH to the tank. Dip each fish individually for at least 1 minute and up to 5 minutes. The closer to 5 minutes the better. Watch the fishes reaction, they might stress a bit and lay down, that is ok, but if they start really skitzing out after the initial transfer, it's time to remove them back to the tank. Do this when you have no distractions, so you can pay attention to the fish in the dip without loosing tack. You will see the flukes turn opaque, and then they start falling off. Be very careful with the lion, don't want to get it's spines hung up in a net, or you jabbed Usually 3 dips spaced about 2 to 3 days apart will eradicate them.

 

[StayPuft]

The only fish in this tank are 2 lions and a snowflake eel. Does the eel need the freshwater dip as well?

 

[billsreef]

Eels are fairly parasite resistant, but not parasite proof, so better safe than sorry