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Hi, I have an older Redeye Tetra that has most of it's top jaw missing. The fish was fine up untill a week ago and now most of the jaw is missing. What could cause this and what should I do now...thanks.

I don't post in here much, but I've had a tank hit with this before.

Your tetra has Columnaris (Flexibacter Columnaris) which is a bacterial infection. This is what is causing the mouth rot. If it's progressed that fast and far within a week, no point in treating your fish. Should you save it somehow, there is irreversable damage to the jaw and it may not be able to eat, and will slowly starve. Best to put it down without further delay.

You can put your fish to sleep with clove oil, then behead or freeze once it's asleep. Or skip all that, and behead your fish quickly with a sharp knife.

Poor water quality, diet, handling can bring this about to a weakened fish, old age may be what made the fish weak and disease e. Or introducing a new fish possibly carrying but not suffering from the disease.

To follow hospital post procedure, please test and post your water parameters, if you don't have a test kit, take a tankwater sample to your local fish store and ask to test for you... Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph, Gh, Kh. If a water quality issue brought this on, these tests will help you find what went wrong. Out of curiosity, what is your tank temp ?

I'd also 'quarantine' your entire tank at this point, no fish in, none transferred to other tanks for a period of 2 months, put nothing from this tank into another tank such as a net, without sterilyzing it first in a bleach dip.. Add some aquarium salt to the water and step up on the water changes, do partial gravel vacs each time... And keep a hawks eye on the other fish... If they are all healthy, they may not get sick, and may not require any treatment.. This disease takes many forms.. The worst form and your tank would have been wiped already, so there is hope for your remaining fish.. Feed them healthy foods at this time. One thing I wouldn't hesitate to add is some aquarium salt. 1 tspn per 10 gallons, pre-dissolve it in a large glass of hot water, stir till dissolved. Let it cool down to about room temp, then pour in your tank.

The common thought is this bacteria exists in all aquariums already, it just needs an adverse condition or weakened fish to manifest itself in disease.

I am hoping your remaining fish will be ok and sorry to hear about your sick fish.

Should any other fish show signs (most likely a whitish body/mouth fungus or paling of colors) get sick then you'll have to have a strong antibiotic med on hand already to treat the entire tank without delay. Tetracycline is what I used, but found it quite harsh on some fish as well as the biofilter.. But it is a harsh disease requiring a strong effective med that treats gram negative disease. There's a good chance there's a better med to use in this case, if so someone will suggest it shortly.

Best of luck and regards,
DaFish

The Amazon Nut...

Thanks for the info.

the tank is about alomost 80 degrees. Been that was ever since we got Ick and tried to keep that under contol.

80F is fine.

How long ago was the ick ? The ick parasites could have easily damaged the fish, paving the way for a worse secondary infection.

Please check back into this post.. There are others alot more highly qualified when it comes to these things and their input can make a difference, so don't take my word as final in other words.... But I do strongly feel your fish has irreversible damage. Also post back as to how the other fish are... Any strange behavior ? Clamped fins ? Itching on tank objects ? Any whitish color, loss of color ? Erratic swimming ? Check the gills, rapid gilling ? Abnormal gill color ?

Glad to be of help and best of luck,
DaFish

The Amazon Nut...

Hi there,
it is possible that the fish have columnaris,
or it may be an extremely advanced case of mouth rot, which could very well have been brought on by the ick itself, causing the fishes immune system to be weakened.
I would treat with tetracycline, or maracyn 2 (minocycline), or dose with both Melafix and Pimafix.
At this stage, I would say the fish should be treated with a heavier med than the mela-pima-fix treatment though.
Good Luck.
Quarantining the fish at this point would be a good idea, in case of Columnaris, which can spread rapidly and decimate a whole tank in a very short period of time.

Dafishman has suggested salt - but a word of caution here, if you have cory catfish, loaches, or plecos, I would highly recommend NOT using salt. You dont want many fish dead because of treatment for one.
If you quarantine the fish to its own tank/bowl, then I would definetly go ahead and add a little salt. But beware if you have scaleless fish or cory cats.


Last edited by So_Very_Sneaky at 28-Dec-2005 19:22

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Excellent advice Sneaky,

I'm a little rusty in here as you can tell.
Good points on especially the salt and how it can affect cories & scaleless fish.. I definately don't want to give incorrect advise. (and exactly why I said don't take my word as final)

Question: Have you seen mouthrot progress so quickly within a week and isn't that also caused by flexibacter ? Trying to learn here..

2nd question: If almost the whole upper or lower jaw already gone, would that individual fish be worth treating whether the cause be columnaris OR mouthrot ? I have never heard of a fishes face (cartilege and bony structure) regenerating itself, have you ? If so, let's isolate and try to save the fish by all means..

I see a 'healed' fish slowly starving to death and being unable to defend itself.

Thanks in advance for additional advice and thoughts here.





The Amazon Nut...

Dafishman does have a strong point.
If the fish seems unlikely to be able to eat properly
and regain quality of life, it is probably better
to euthanize rather than treat.


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Thanks for all the info.

However, when I cam home shortly after positng, the fish had already died. The Ick was a long time ago, which is why we keep the tank at near 80 degrees wich has ketp the Ick from returning. The other fish all seem o.k. at this point. Haven't seen any discoloration or other problems.

We do have 4 Cory catfish, so I'll spare them the salt.
...thanks for all your help.

Sorry to hear about your fish, on the other hand, I'm glad to hear your other fish seem well. Still, keep a close eye on them.

Good time to do a 25-30%% water change and shallow vac the entire substrate (just a surface skim) while doing so.
Regards,
DaFish

The Amazon Nut...