Preacox Rainbowfish mouth "stuck" open

Preacox Rainbowfish mouth "stuck" open



I was given this fish several months ago and he has been doing great up until yesterday when I noticed that he was staying at the top of the tank... I wasn't really concerned at first, but now today I see that his mouth is seemingly "stuck" open or just hanging open and he's still staying at the top of the tank. I fed the tank and he wasn't interested in eating yesterday or today. I did a large water change not long before I noticed him acting strange & he seemed to be stressed and swimming a lot when the water was getting lower, so maybe he injured himself? I've tried to look down his throat and haven't seen anything lodged inside.

my water parameters are all good and all of the other fish are behaving normally with no troubles.

 

I had a betta that did the same thing and had the same mouth problem. I'm curious to see if anyone knows what's going on.

 

I had a betta that did the same thing and had the same mouth problem. I'm curious to see if anyone knows what's going on.

did it survive that problem? sadly, my Praecox passed last night. I'm still curious as well to see if anyone knows what could have caused it.

 

Same thing happens to my giant danios when they try to take cichlid pellets. The "jaw" basically becomes dislocated. I've fixed it a few times by removing the fish and resetting the jaw by putting a paper clip in the mouth (sideways, not into the fish) and it pops back into place. Sounds horrific but my danios are still alive and well.

 

How many preacox rainbowfish did you have?

What were you feeding?

What were your exact water parameters?

 

Preacox Rainbowfish mouth "stuck" open

did it survive that problem? sadly, my Praecox passed last night. I'm still curious as well to see if anyone knows what could have caused it.

No, he randomly disappeared one day. We couldn't find him anywhere. We looked everywhere in the tank, the filter, outside the tank and the whole room the tank was in. We turned the place upside down. But he was sick for a long time and nothing I did helped him. So I assumed he died.

I'm sorry about your fishie loss That's sad. I wonder what the issue is.

 

No, he randomly disappeared one day. We couldn't find him anywhere. We looked everywhere in the tank, the filter, outside the tank and the whole room the tank was in. We turned the place upside down. But he was sick for a long time and nothing I did helped him. So I assumed he died.

I'm sorry about your fishie loss That's sad. I wonder what the issue is.

Did you check for any skeletons? I had though I'd 'lost' one of my turquoise rainbowfish, but upon further inspection I fount his skeleton, (which was hard to see) on my filter intake.

 

Did you check for any skeletons? I had though I'd 'lost' one of my turquoise rainbowfish, but upon further inspection I fount his skeleton, (which was hard to see) on my filter intake.

Wow, I never thought of doing that, but I don't think there's anything there. I've done multiple water changes on the tank since there's a new betta in there now. But that's a good suggestion.

 

Don't think I'm trying to downgrade your intelligence. I really did thing I'd lost a fish and after a week of searching I saw the skeleton. It can be very hard to find at times.

 

Preacox Rainbowfish mouth "stuck" open

Don't think I'm trying to downgrade your intelligence. I really did thing I'd lost a fish and after a week of searching I saw the skeleton. It can be very hard to find at times.

Thanks, I'll look better tomorrow when I do all my water changes The tank is quite small though, it's only 2.5 gallons. I'm working on upgrading it when I have the money.

 

Preacox Rainbowfish mouth "stuck" open

Thanks, I'll look better tomorrow when I do all my water changes The tank is quite small though, it's only 2.5 gallons. I'm working on upgrading it when I have the money.

That could have possibly been the problem.

The photo, looks like a well developed rainbow, so the tank could have been just too small for him.

Do you know your parameters?

ETA: your particular rainbow does need at least 20 gallon to thrive within its own species. It could have just been stressed. And in a small tank toxic levels are hard to control.

 

That could have possibly been the problem.

The photo, looks like a well developed rainbow, so the tank could have been just too small for him.

Do you know your parameters?

ETA: your particular rainbow does need at least 20 gallon to thrive within its own species. It could have just been stressed. And in a small tank toxic levels are hard to control.

This isn't my post, but the betta was in a 3.5, then a 10, and then when he was at his sickest point I moved him to the 2.5. Then he disappeared. So I don't think the tank was the issue since he did have a 10 gallon all to himself for quite awhile.