The flight of the Lionfish

One word to describe this would be "fiasco".

So let me just start out by telling you that my bf freaks out about my tank as it is (he was afraid that the anemone was gonna "get him" when he was helping me move some rocks one day...the nem was nowhere nearby), and he knows very well that the Lion is poisonous and so is even further freaked.

I was in a DEAD SLEEP last night when all the sudden the lights come on and he's literally yelling at me "Brandon! BRANDON!! Come get your fish! It jumped out!!!"

I thought I was dreaming. So I get up and sure enough there's the Lion sprawled out on the carpet, motionless but looking wet. Ron said he didn't know how long it was out of water but that he almost stepped on it. So my Lion is dead, but I didn't want to risk picking it up and getting stuck by it or using a net and getting it all tangled up.

So Ron fetches me my dustpan that I use to scoop up sand when switching tanks or something of that nature. I ease the scoop under the Lion and Flip-Flop! He's still alive!! And Ron freaks out and runs SMACK into the patio door!!!!

Honestly! He's across the room from this stupid fish, I'm groggy and still can't get my head around what is happening, and so the natural reaction when a poisonous fish flops "menacingly" on the floor nowhere near you is to run outside. Or into the glass door in this case. WTF?!?

So I got the Lion back in the tank and he was fine, relatively speaking. My guess is he's getting about big enough to eat the clown, that's why he ended up on the floor. My clown sleeps in the top left corner of the tank every night and that's about the direction I figure the Lion flew from.

The stupid fish actually jumped out AGAIN a few hours later. This time Ron handled it on his own but I still woke up from a feeling just as he had netted the Lion and eased it back into the aquarium. I saw the Lion this morning and he seems to be ok, but still breathing heavily. We'll see what happens. Quite the traumatic night.

Not only that but somehow the power strip on Ron's freshwater tank cam unplugged last night and now all his fish are dead and the water is cloudy. It sucks for the fish but he wanted to get rid of that tank anyways. Now we have no excuse.

Just a side question, if the Lion dies in the tank will it wipe everything out?

I read that they don't excrete their venom upon death, but I don't know for sure. I actually hesitated when I found out he was alive and debated on putting him in the refugium or sump since I kind of want to get rid of him. But between still being in mid-dream and my patio door almost having a Ron-shaped cutout in the middle of it, I decided to go for the easiest option.

 

I hope today you are buying a lid or making one yourself. I had a Lion fish I rescued die on me and it didn't wipe out the tank.

 

flying poison fish..

my cat would have eaten it and croaked.. and my dog would proceed to eat the dead cat.. and so forth

glad to hear its still kickin!

 

How about a leash? Or one of those electric dog collars for fish. hehe
Funny story.

 

Glad he's still doin ok, and ROFL at the buddy running into the door

 

If a lion dies in your tank, it won't harm the rest of tank, given it isn't left in there and starts to decay and causes an ammonia spike. A lion's venom is a protein and not a true toxin. True be told, I had a lionfish that had its spines chewed off by my stingray. I don't know how it happened, but it did. But do get a glass canopy on your tank though. Besides stressing the fish, you may step on it, and we know what would happen there. ouch!

 

he did it for teh lols

 

If you don't want to get a glass lid, go with some 1cm eggcrate

 

hope it makes it. test the water and make sure all is good there and get a cover. i had a clown jump out of my tank and he landed on the filter grate in the back of the biocube. i just happened to glance at the tank and notice that he was missing. after getting him back into the tank he laid on the bottom for a day or so breathing really heavily, but he soon made a full recovery. all the best.