Lionfish Swimming Laps?

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday I noticed that one of my lionfish (volitan) is just swimming like crazy near the back of the tank. It swims across the tank, down, then up a few times, then back across to the other side. I watched it do this for about an hour last night before I went to bed.

I have two Lions and this one is usually setting on a rock or in the corner of the tank, swims around slowly for a while, then back to a corner. My other is acting normal and usually is floating around the middle of the tank.

I have not noticed any fish messing with it or anything else out of the normal.

I will test my water when I get home to see if anything is out of the normal parameters.

Has anyone ever experienced this?
Is this something to be worried about.

My tank is 180 gallon and the lion is about 6 inches. I have had it for about 3 months now.

Thanks for any advise you can give.

 

I have no experience with lions, so I am sure Greg or Renee will chime in, but is it trying to shed its cuticle?

 

When was the last time you fed them? How often? How much and what was it? Can you describe a typical month of feedings?

I know the activity you speak of, and it is unnerving when you don't know the cause. I've seen it for hunger, environmental irritation and disease (mainly Ich).

Is he shedding frequently? Can you grab just a general picture of him?

Yes, please check the water parameters. Some fish will be more susceptible to changes than others of even the same species.

Did you do any tank maintenance lately? Clean the glass? Change the lights? Move something around in the room? New TV? New surround sound, speakers, stereo, loud girlfriend? Check and see if it does it more during certain hours of the day.

 

Thanks for the help!

I usually feed every 3 days. Silversides, raw shrimp in one feeding and Krill, frozen formula 1, trigger, and formula 2 cubes on the next feeding.

They are due to be fed today, so I will see how it is acting when I get home.
I have never noticed either of my lions shedding, maybe it happens at night or when I am at home? Should they be shedding?

I will see if I can get a decent picture of him, but he seemed to look normal to me.

I did have a huge accident with my tank a week and a half ago, where most of my water was drained out of my tank, because my canister filter. I did not put the canister back on the tank, so there is less flow and filtration on the tank now. I did put a new celing fan in the room the other day, but I would not think that would bother it, but who knows.

Yes, my wife is very loud. Maybe I can kick her out try a new girlfriend and see if that helps

 

And there it is..... he didn't like what happened and he may not like what is going on now. Hopefully he'll settle back in. Keep an eyeball out for Ich. Drop an airline for a bit and with a water change like that, keep a check on those water parameters. Was the replacement water premixed, preaerated and preheated? I would dose the tank with Vitamin C. I've used Brightwell at double the recommended dose without any issues.

You may not see him molt if he is large enough. If all of a sudden he starts molting, it would be Ich or irritation or both...... or neither

LOL @ the girlfriend.

We put our big vollie in a beautiful 100g tank from a 55-60 (I forget) and thought he would be SO "happy". Well, he wasn't. He was zipping around in there all over the place. Then I happen to put my foot somewhere near the tank and noticed this horrible vibration. We put vibration pads under the pumps and he settled right in.

Where you had an "incident", I would just try to keep his little life perfect and see if he gets over it. If not, it requires more investigation. I guess we'll see how irritated he is tonight.

Can you grab a video? Not sure how easy that is for you.

 

Thanks Renee!
He is still swimming more than normal but has calmed down a little. I did feed him and he ate as normal.
I did a water test with strips and nothing looked out of the normal but I am planning on doing a water change in the next two days.

When I lost 2/3 of my water I did not have enough Rodi water so I had to mix up tap water and conditioner for about half of the water I lost.

I looked him over and everything looked ok to me. He is the darker one in the pic. Sorry about the quality I took it on my iPad.

 

I'm going to bet he's just stressed. He looks wonderful. That's a nice volitans/Russels mix!