Potential Flukes?

[WesternSpyKolya]

Hello, recently I made a post about the sea goblin and zebra lionfish I got. They had arrived yesterday and I think the trip had taken a toll on the zebra lion (the goblin was fine), he was upside down and his gills were red. The seller said that it was due to a lack of oxygen and when I placed the lion into my tank it started to do well, today it swam more and more but I'm concerned about flukes. Yesterday it seemed to open its mouth much larger and inhale more water like every 3-5 minutes, he doesn't do it today but he did yawn once and seems to be only hanging around the substrate (he doesn't swim much), the goblin ate 2 mollies today but the lion didn't eat any. The goblin is also swimming currently although he isn't breathing heavily and I don't see that the lion is breathing heavily yet could flukes be a problem? Below are the pictures of the zebra lion, the first 3 are taken today while the last was taken yesterday. Forgive the purple marks those are do to my damaged camera. Is there some cloud on his eye or is that how their eye usually is? I kept lionfish in the past but they were the "freshwater lionfish" which was actually a brackish species, so this is my first actual lionfish.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello, recently I made a post about the sea goblin and zebra lionfish I got. They had arrived yesterday and I think the trip had taken a toll on the zebra lion (the goblin was fine), he was upside down and his gills were red. The seller said that it was due to a lack of oxygen and when I placed the lion into my tank it started to do well, today it swam more and more but I'm concerned about flukes. Yesterday it seemed to open its mouth much larger and inhale more water like every 3-5 minutes, he doesn't do it today but he did yawn once and seems to be only hanging around the substrate (he doesn't swim much), the goblin ate 2 mollies today but the lion didn't eat any. The goblin is also swimming currently although he isn't breathing heavily and I don't see that the lion is breathing heavily yet could flukes be a problem? Below are the pictures of the zebra lion, the first 3 are taken today while the last was taken yesterday. Forgive the purple marks those are do to my damaged camera. Is there some cloud on his eye or is that how their eye usually is? I kept lionfish in the past but they were the "freshwater lionfish" which was actually a brackish species, so this is my first actual lionfish.

How did you acclimate and how long?
Often if not done right, ammonia levels can quickly climb and cause some of these symptoms including cloudy eye.
With flukes, you will see heavy breathing. loss of appetite, itching, scratching, darting and hiding. It appears they went right to display in lieu of quarantine and may end up in QT anyways which solidifies the best bet theory - Quarantine.
A video under white light intensity may offer some clues

 

[WesternSpyKolya]

How did you acclimate and how long?
Often if not done right, ammonia levels can quickly climb and cause some of these symptoms including cloudy eye.
With flukes, you will see heavy breathing. loss of appetite, itching, scratching, darting and hiding. It appears they went right to display in lieu of quarantine and may end up in QT anyways which solidifies the best bet theory - Quarantine.
A video under white light intensity may offer some clues

Thank you for the reply.

I had to drop the lion in immediately since the seller told me that it would die if it did not get oxygen, the scorpion was acclimated over 45 minutes. These are the first fish I placed in this tank and I will not be placing any more fish in the future so I felt like quarantine was not necessary, I also do not have another tank that can house the 2. How do I know if a fish is heavy breathing? I'll attach a few videos, Lion never darted but it did seem like it was gasping for air 3-4 times yesterday as it was swimming, another reason I had to place the lion into the display was due to the fact that the lion was upside down when he first arrived and wouldn't turn back up but now it isn't an issue. He does hide but I think that's normal since he was just added yesterday, tank has been running for around 4 months now, is an ammonia spike still possible?

FYI. for information, the tank they had come from had a salinity of 1.029-1.03 and the water was yellow (presumably do to something they were dosing?)

 

[WesternSpyKolya]

The video

 

[vetteguy53081]

The video

Breathing heavy will be labored and in video appears to be normal. As for salinity, its beyond me why they would have had it so high as for these specimens, 1.024 - 1.025 is ideal.
Tere is a bit of shimmer in the tank and I would cut or reduce this as they are adjusting to tank. If they have not yet eaten, you can try some ghost shrimp which should entice them to do so.
As for spikes, while possible should be diminished at 4 months but do test to assure this with reliable test kit
How are you testing water ?

 

[WesternSpyKolya]

Sera Ammonia test kit, calcium test kit from ELOS, aquaforest magnesium test kit, I had a salifert phosphate test kit but I ran out so I need to get a new one. Using a refractometer for salinity. I have stony corals such as cynarina, blastomusso and a frogspawn which are all doing very well. For food, the Goblin ate 2 mollies today, but the lion didn't I think he's still acclimating, he was less shy today, also the goblin scorpion is swimming up and down (he was completely still for the entire day but he started to swim at night) is this normal behavior? Vetteguy thank you so much for the help, lastly could you have a look at the breathing of the goblin fish as well if it is labored or not? Also the lion does this "yawn" thing where it opens its mouth very large and then closes it, is that normal or could that be flukes? Below is a video of the goblin fish and a more clear video of the lionfish since he swam up to the glass.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello, recently I made a post about the sea goblin and zebra lionfish I got. They had arrived yesterday and I think the trip had taken a toll on the zebra lion (the goblin was fine), he was upside down and his gills were red. The seller said that it was due to a lack of oxygen and when I placed the lion into my tank it started to do well, today it swam more and more but I'm concerned about flukes. Yesterday it seemed to open its mouth much larger and inhale more water like every 3-5 minutes, he doesn't do it today but he did yawn once and seems to be only hanging around the substrate (he doesn't swim much), the goblin ate 2 mollies today but the lion didn't eat any. The goblin is also swimming currently although he isn't breathing heavily and I don't see that the lion is breathing heavily yet could flukes be a problem? Below are the pictures of the zebra lion, the first 3 are taken today while the last was taken yesterday. Forgive the purple marks those are do to my damaged camera. Is there some cloud on his eye or is that how their eye usually is? I kept lionfish in the past but they were the "freshwater lionfish" which was actually a brackish species, so this is my first actual lionfish.

Flukes wouldn’t be my first diagnosis here - shipppng damage seems more likely, then protozoan gill disease and then flukes. Fish with flukes carry the disease for weeks, and don’t stop eating til near the end.

 

[WesternSpyKolya]

Flukes wouldn’t be my first diagnosis here - shipppng damage seems more likely, then protozoan gill disease and then flukes. Fish with flukes carry the disease for weeks, and don’t stop eating til near the end.

Thank you for your response Jay, I was worried because of the shimmer he had in his eye and I presume that's due to how his eyes refract light, the other thing that worried me was that the goblin scorpion started to swim when it was night-time but I guess it's normal behavior (perhaps for digestion since he ate 2 mollies today?).

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you for your response Jay, I was worried because of the shimmer he had in his eye and I presume that's due to how his eyes refract light, the other thing that worried me was that the goblin scorpion started to swim when it was night-time but I guess it's normal behavior (perhaps for digestion since he ate 2 mollies today?).

Sorry, I should have been clearer, the fish could well have flukes, just that I don’t think that is what’s causing the rapid breathing and not eating……

 

[WesternSpyKolya]

Sorry, I should have been clearer, the fish could well have flukes, just that I don’t think that is what’s causing the rapid breathing and not eating……

Do you think the fish currently has rapid breathing?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Do you think the fish currently has rapid breathing?

In the last video, it is breathing a bit fast, but not in the previous one, so IDK.....

 

[WesternSpyKolya]

In the last video, it is breathing a bit fast, but not in the previous one, so IDK.....

Could it be because I shined a light onto it? It appeared to be a little scared and raised it's dorsal fins. Today the "shimmer" on his eyes haven't gotten any worse and when you look at his eyes directly it goes away I think that was do to light. Thank you for the help Jay.