Mattzilla Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Came home today to find one of me angels' top lip stuck out.... you know when a fish stretches it's lips out to feed or yawn or justr stretch.. well it's top lip looks like it's stuck out there!!! I don't think it's been fighting becuase there's only some other juvie angels in there and it's the biggest of the tank. here are some pictures... it might not look like much but it's affecting the fish's feeding ability has anyone experienced anything like this before? any idea on how to fix it??? part of me just wants to pull the fish out and push it's lip back in!!! not sure if that will help though it's bottom lip is fin and it's not showing any signs of destress apart from having a lot of trouble eating. any help would be appreciated thanks matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_g_hunter Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Possibly a bit of gravel stuck in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattzilla Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Possibly a bit of gravel stuck in there? almost positive there's nothing in there someone suggested it might be dislocated.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilli Powder Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 It looks like it's dislodged. This happens espically with calvus and comps and I can only put it down to a genetic weakness in the cartilage. If you want to fix it, be really gentle, and pull the lip forward with your fingers and then with another finger placed on the to of the lip/nose, let it retract itself. The reason for the finger being ontop of the lip/nose is to prevent it from dislodging again upon retraction. Hope this helps. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petshopdude Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 i have had this happen on my calvus, however it normally pops its self back in might have happen locking jaws with another angel in the tank?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattzilla Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 ok after posting this on a dozen forums and getting heaps of replies (thanks) i put it down to the top lip being dislocated. My better half did some research and we decided that taking the fish out and gently pushing the lip back in was the best option. Some people suggested that this would be painful for the fish so we used clove oil (5 drops per 4ltrs) in tank water as an anasthetic for the 'operation'. This also helped stop the fish from thrashing around during the procedure. It took about 3 mins in the clove oil water for the anasthetic to kick in enough. The fish tipped over onto it's side and it's gill movement slowed. We used a wet towel as an operating base with a wet pillow case to lay the fish on and hold. It said online somewhere that pillow cases where soft and gentle when holding fish. I layed the fish on the pillow case and folded the pillow case over to hold the fish in position. Initially i used a cotton bud to attempt to gently push down on the extended lip. That didn't work so i then used my finger and gently pushed the end of the lip and it instantly went back into place. i felt a slight click when it went back. Success!!!!!! I then placed the fish into a bucket of fresh tank water next to an airstone and held it upright until it started to hold itself upright (within about a minute). I left it in that water for another minute or two until it started to swim a little. I then placed it back into it's tank and gently held it underneath the return spray bar of my canisetr filter so that fresh water was being forced over it's gills. within about one minute it began to struggle free and it swam around a bit. it was still groggy for a few minutes but appeared to be pretty much back to normal within five minutes. The lip now looks like it's back where it should be, although it does appear a little swolen still. I'm not surprised by that and will watch it closely over the coming weeks. Fingers crossed it's going to be fine but things are looking promising. thanks again for all the tips! Cheers Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellow Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 matt can you let me know how your angel goes as i actually think its not a dislocated jaw but something else. the bad news is that what i think it is is usually fatal so can you let me know if the fish recovers please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klw Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 awww what a good story that was.thats so cute going to all that for your little fish,id do the same no doubt.i remember goingto a lot of trouble to rescue an adult male electric yellow who was stuck in the top of an ornament and slowly dying a crushing death.after many failed attempts to get him out,we used a drill to get him out ad the worse thing was i couldnt see which part he was in!!so he was released with no drill holes but ended up dying that night.he had been missing for 3 days!!!anyway.enough of my rant,hope your angel is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattzilla Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 yellow all seems fine today. the lip is back to normal and the fish is eating and swimming as normal don't think it's going to die but i'll keep you posted thanks matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellow Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 luckily it looks as though it wasnt what i thought it was then cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Great series of pictures I'm glad it all worked out fine. Jason, what did you think the problem was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_g_hunter Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I agree the pics are sensational what did you use to get those photos? i cant even get close to that good. And yeah im curious? Yellow - what were you suspecting the problem was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellow Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Yellow - what were you suspecting the problem was? oh just a disease ive seen once or twice; it affects americans- that is ive only seen it in americans- and it starts with similar symptoms and usually ends up killing the fish. in this instance it wasnt it though but i asked matt last night to tell me if it continued because i thought it mightve been. other then that i cant tell you much. all i know is that ive only seen it in americans and though its generally not contagious, it is fatal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo2232 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Good work Matt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattzilla Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 Good work Matt! just a quick update the angel fish is completely fine and it hasn't dislocated it's jaw since. he (named Kathryn...long story) layed low for a while and i made sure it had a nice easy going tank to recover in i recently added what i thought to be a female koi marbel veil tail and wooshka! within a week thay have spawned. they actually spawned just today!!!! here is an updated pic of him and his new girlfriend cheers matt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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