I've had 6 tetra fish for a little over a year now. I recently lost one when installing a new filter system. Last night I came home to my roommate worrying about my only male green tetra. She had said he hasn't been eating as of this morning and that it looks like his jaw isn't closing like normal when breathing. I took him to petsmart. They said it looks to be lockjaw. I was told that there is no cure and that it may or may not fix itself. Just to keep an eye on it. I want to help him, but not sure as to how to do so. Any advice?? My husband and I don't want to lose our little fish. Thanks in advance.
Tetra with what looks like Lock-jaw
- Thread starter Alycat1994
- Start date
Welcome aboard
Tbh there is really anything you can do with a fish that small. If it can eat that would be great.
Right now it looks like he isn't because of this .So we're setting up our original 10 gal tank to put him in by himself to keep an eye on him. Hopefully it'll fix itself. My husband and I don't wanna lose the little guy.
And thanks. Just looking for help. I really don't know much about fish. Only ever had betas and goldfish.
Hopefully it will correct itself like you stated. This is a great Forum for learning about any aquarium fish being kept in homes and ponds.
Lock jaw or disloaxated jaw with either get better on it’s own or not. Small tetra wont last long if it’s not eating. If it’s been a few days then consider, or not,what I’ve written below.
One option is get a bucket and add pure clove oil at 0.5ml per gallon of water. Go small doses and monitor the fish for sedation. Look for shallow breathing and no response to stimuli. Then try to move and gently push the jaw back closed. If done properly then place the fish back is same temp fish tank water and will recover. If not successful then I’d consider euthanasia, since not eating. Best of luck.
One option is get a bucket and add pure clove oil at 0.5ml per gallon of water. Go small doses and monitor the fish for sedation. Look for shallow breathing and no response to stimuli. Then try to move and gently push the jaw back closed. If done properly then place the fish back is same temp fish tank water and will recover. If not successful then I’d consider euthanasia, since not eating. Best of luck.
Sometimes a dislocated jaw can be easily pushed back into place with your fingers, I have done this with cichlids. Gently snapping it back in place.
If the jaw however is not moveable, it may be a disease called columnaris(AKA duck lips, AKA flower horn disease), where bacteria infect the jaw, and it atrophies, so is solid and immoveable. If so, it is best to euthanize the fish, and treat the tank with an antibiotic effective against gram negative bacteria, also drop (if bacterial) the water temp into the mid 70s (82'F and above are prime temps the make columnaris virulent).
A photo of the disease below.
That said, many tetras, and other small fish have fairly short life spans, only 2-3 years is not out of the ordinary.
In nature if a small fish makes 1 year, that is quite good
If the jaw however is not moveable, it may be a disease called columnaris(AKA duck lips, AKA flower horn disease), where bacteria infect the jaw, and it atrophies, so is solid and immoveable. If so, it is best to euthanize the fish, and treat the tank with an antibiotic effective against gram negative bacteria, also drop (if bacterial) the water temp into the mid 70s (82'F and above are prime temps the make columnaris virulent).
A photo of the disease below.
That said, many tetras, and other small fish have fairly short life spans, only 2-3 years is not out of the ordinary.
In nature if a small fish makes 1 year, that is quite good