Help - ASAP!

[Pysgodyn]

I have a neon tetra who can't shut its mouth! It's swimming (or rather hovering) alone, and doesn't seem to be able to close it's mouth.
What's wrong with it?
What can I do to help?!

(Water stats are next to perfect, temp is 26C, all the other fish are ok)

 

[SPLiSH]

Can you see little fluffy growths on the fishs' lips? How long ago did you last feed them?

 

[glolite]

The only tetra disease I know of is pleistophora, a protozoan parasite which infects the muscle tissues of the fish. The fish's colour fades and grey or white patches may appear under the skin. The fish's body may appear contorted and it can swim abnormally.Can be aquired from eating dead infected fish. There are no effective treatments unfortunately, apparently experimental studies using Toltrazuril have shown promise (A-Z of tropical fish diseases by Burgess Bailey and Exell 1998). According to this good book, you need to isolate the fish ASAP. Watch your other neons and if it is this disease you may have to be prepared to lose more I'm afraid. Hope not and good luck.

 

[Pysgodyn]

Hmmmmmm...no obvious fluffy bits, or white patches. I've seen tetras fade in colour before, but apart from the open mouth, this one doesn't look any different to the others. Infact, it's actually found the rest now, and is swimming alongside. It really is an ugly scene though! I have a tank set up (same water parameters etc...infact, it's the same water - just put it in half an hour ago) ready for whatever needs it. In view of the fact that it's now swimming with the others and exhibits no other odd features other than what seems to be a lock-jaw, do you STILL think I should put him in the hospital tank?

 

[SPLiSH]

I would wait and see how he goes before you take him away from his buddies. Stress might trigger other diseases if the fish is already weak.

See if you can get a look at his mouth and see if he has anything stuck in there, eg. food.

 

[Pysgodyn]

Yeah...that's why I was asking really. Thanks for your answer again. I can't see anything lodged in there - if I had a microscope I could probably see all the way to the tip of his tail!! It's such a big hole for such a little fish!!

 

[SPLiSH]

EDIT: I was going to ask how far open his mouth was, but you've already said so. )

 

[morgan]

I have a Molly that can't shut it's mouth. I think it was born like it. It is growing and can eat OK. It isn't wide open as far as it's mouth would go, it is half open all the time.

 

[WILDER]

I bought some harlequins who coundn't shut there mouths, sadly they died, i don't think there is anything you can do for the fish.

 

[SPLiSH]

Hmm... how long have you had the fish?

 

[Kiarra]

The prognosis for this fish could either be very good, or very bad.

I lost several Betta fry to a type of lockjaw problem similar to this, where they had their mouths wide open and could not shut them. They died in a very short time, because they couldn't eat, and, as they were fry, going very long at all without food really wasn't an option for them, and they starved to death. I never really figured out what caused their problem, and I've had no other recurrences since the first few fish.

However, as evidenced by other posts, there are other people who have fish who can't close their mouth all the way, and they do fine.

The key to survival is being able to eat, really. It's possible your little Neon just damaged the muscles of the mouth, and it will heal and be fine. If the little fish can eat, then the outlook isn't all that bad. It'll either heal, or it won't. If the fish can't eat...then it's probably doomed in the long run. Now, it might not feel like eating for the first few days if it's mouth hurts, but, with an adult Neon, that shouldn't really hurt it any.

 

[Flashfire]

It could be caused by brain damage or a defect in the jaw muscle, which could be early signs of pleistophora... I couldn't find much on this defect but I did once have it on a red eye tetra.