Help - something wrong with Texas lips/mouth

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SaltyPlum

SaltyPlum

Candiru
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2015
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So it's been 2 days now with my Texas male pouting his lips and hanging around the surface of the tank like in the pics below.

Have no idea why he is doing this. He has just recently spawned with the female and the eggs have now hatched. The female seems fine and caring for the eggs. I also have a bunch of juvenile red devils in the tank below running of the same water system which also seem fine.

Can someone please explain why he is doing this and what I should do if it is an early sign of infection?

IMG_20210920_193425906_HDR.jpg

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Looks like the mouth is dislocated. Can try pushing on the mouth to put it back in place.
 
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tlindsey said:
I hope the jaw is dislocated as stated because it looks like Duck Lip disease .
Click to expand...
I've never seen or heard of duck lip disease and now I'm really panicking. What do I do? Im baffled as to how he could have gotten this so quickly noting he just spawned and the female is perfectly fine.
 
Looks like Duck lips to me. The lips are displaying a grayish - white covering consistent with the oral bacterial infection.
Duck Lips isn't easy to treat & is often
fatal.
Manually applying peroxide to the mouth via a Q Tip & antibiotics are suggested on line treatments.
I had one Mbuna survive the disease w/o meds, but the damage was permanent.
 
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tlindsey said:
I hope the jaw is dislocated as stated because it looks like Duck Lip disease .
Click to expand...
Agree with this,
If it's duck lips (columnaris) its bacterial, and often fatal, and is most virulent st warm temps.
and can remain in a unsterilized tank(and anything the water touched for years)
It can remain inert in a tiny smudge of dirt.
1632138923309.png
It often infects these northern type cichlids quickly when kept too warm (82'F +)
The northern Mexican cichlid (Mayaheros beanii above, arrived with the infection) and succumbed during a summer heatwave (even though the tank was unheated)
 
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If the jaw is simply dislocated, as kno4te said, the jaw should be easy to snap back in place with thumb and forefinger.
If it is solid and immoveable I suspect duck lips.
If so, the jaw may be totally atrophied by the infection
If it hasn't gone too far, it can be treated by using a antibiotic effective against gram negative bacteria.
 
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