Male Kribensis With Mouth Stuck Open

[TRAGICTRAMP]

1 of my male kribensis appears to have his mouth stuck completely open, he still swims around the tank but without the swagger he used to, he doesnt appear to have eaten in 2 days but is still active, i did have an ammonia spike about a week ago when i moved a cave which i have now taken out,, my water stats are ammonia 0, nitrite 0 nitrate 20ppm, i have read that it could be due to fighting and has possibly dislocated it into the full open position, i took him out into a net to have a closer look but out of water his mouth appeared to close, put him back in and its fully open again,

has anyone had experience of this at all?


cheers

 

[TRAGICTRAMP]

just to add that his excrement is white in appearance and long and stringy, if this helps

 

[Nightfall]

White stringy poop is a sign of internal parasites. If the poop looks slimy at all you could have Hex (Hexamitiasis) on your hands. You need to isolate him from the others, but they could be infected too. Symptoms include white/clear poop with a slimy casing, weight loss, darkening of pigmentation (notably in the eyes) and swimming in circles/erratically. Hex is very much known in African cichlids, and from what you've said it does sound like Hex to me.There are medicated foods that address the issue without need for harsh chemicals, I think one brand is Jungle. Parasites can kill very quickly once they stop eating, so if you can't get ahold of the food or he won't eat it, you'll be forced to treat with meds.The open mouth might be a sign of discomfort. It could be a different parasite, but I believe the treatment is pretty much the same for most internal parasites.

Can you describe the poop? Does it look slimy, or is it just white/clear?

For now, you can help by isolating and turning the temperature up as high as the species can tolerate, about 26C/77F (I'm not a cichlid keeper, I'm going off a fish encyclopedia for temperature so maybe they can tolerate higher temperatures).

 

[TRAGICTRAMP]

hi, just set up my fluval edge 23l as a treatment tank, awaiting for it to reach similar temp to the tank he's in, the poop does look slimy and white rather than translucant, i have only got to hand king british bacterial control so i have dosed the tank up ready for his entrance, the filter might not have any decent bacteria inside it as ive been using it as an additional on my 3rd tank, and it just has sponge/purigen/filter floss. Is it best to add him with the lights off as well?

 

[Nightfall]

I would keep the lights off, yes. Any stressors can impede his recovery.

Unfortunately it's almost certainly Hex from the symptoms you've described. Can you get your hands on the medicated food? You should easily be able to see if he's eating it now that he's in a hospital tank. He might eat now he's not competing with other fish and he's in more shallow water. If he doesn't eat the only course of action is to dose him with anti-parasite medication, but it's very harsh. I hate to say it, but prepare yourself for him possibly not pulling through, as their survival rate does drop considerably when they stop eating. Don't give up, though!

Also, I would probably give the food to the others as well. I am very anti pre-emptive or blind dosing with fish meds, but in this case they others (especially if you have other African cichlids in the same tank he was in) probably do have it. If there's any sign of stringy white poop or skinny-looking fish immediately separate and give them the medicated food.

 

[TRAGICTRAMP]

he is still not eating, I have never seen food with medicine built into it and either way i would imagine he wouldnt eat, i have bought some interpet internal bacteria medicine as the melafix or pimafix appeared mainly for external problems, I also bought some aquarium salt at the same time, is it worth adding the salt as well as the anti bacterial medicine, im going to do a large water change before i add the meds as theirs uneaten food in the tank

 

[Nightfall]

Yes, I would definitely use salt. In fact I would be using that instead of the Melafix or whatever anti-bacterial you're using. It's a preventative, whereas Melafix is a cure for when your fish has a bacterial infection.

If he's not eating definitely dose the water with a medicine that treats internal parasites. However, I think you should definitely order some Jungle or another brand of medicated food for internal parasites online to feed to the other fish.

The problem with Hex is that it's highly contagious and very very common. In most fish species an infected fish will either be unsymptomatic or only have minor symptoms. However, in certain species Hex does a lot of damage and African cichlids are one of those species. Your other fish are probably infected and not symptomatic.

 

[TRAGICTRAMP]

been using salt and intepet ant internal bacteria for 2 and half days, he still has plenty of energy and possibly ate 1 or 2 bloodworms yesterday, i leave food in their for him and then do a water change/remed of about 50%, he's obviously not happy being in a tank on his own when he was paired in the main tank with his misses. I havent seen or know where to get medicated foods?, he hasnt appeared to have lost any weight just the coloration which is understandable being alone.

 

[Flute]

Aside from the symptoms pointing to internal parasites, fish can also dislocate their mouths. On larger species you might have luck in pushing their jaws back into place, this isn't so doable with smaller fish. We had an apistogramma pebas in my dads tank with a dislocated jaw. Unfortunately it meant that he couldn't eat and we lost him. Although obviously I hope this isn't the case for your krib, it is a possibility.

If you do want to treat for internal parasites then I recommend Kusuri Wormer plus, it's a wormer that dissolves in water rather than a medicated food that has to be eaten to be effective.

 

[TRAGICTRAMP]

well i read about possible jaw dislocation so just tried opening his mouth slightly by extending a pair of tweezers slightly, its stayed the the same but when he's out of the water he can close his mouth, obviously in desperation, he has got small marks to the rear of him so it probably happened during a fight, i have got a small synodontis in the tank he was in who gets a bit feisty if anything goes near his cave so possibly they had a spat. Just placed some live shrimp in with him, he grabs then attempts to chew for a short while then spits back out, they are still alive but slightly mangled, he used to do this anyhow but after he would leave just the skeleton.

 

[TRAGICTRAMP]

well that kribensis passed away a few days later, now his younger buddy male has also got issues, last night he was at the top panting with his mouth quite wide open, i tested the water and stats were, ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 20, i did a water change of 50% anyway as their was a large amount of waste in certain dead spots of the tank, he was then immediately better, i have just got home to find him in the same state as last night, gasping at the top, loss of colour etc. I know my waters fine and their are no fish that would be able to damage him - so what is it?

 

[TRAGICTRAMP]

just checked the ph and thats 7.8, i know optimum is upto 7.5 but have read that slightly higher is ok and would only affect the offspring, if i ever get that far!