What's happened to my angel's top lip????

[Mattzilla]

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

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3287581858_a23156483d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3483/3287581536_3686be6b09_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3364/3286763223_1c1c5267b3_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3185/3287581328_f3934a98c2_o.jpg

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

[Hollowman]

I had a friend who had a similar problem, sometimes they extend their lips and they do sometimes get caught in that position. I think he did take it out and gently eased it or manipulated it back to normal.

hth

[BigDaddyAdo]

Thats bizzare dude. If it doesnt go back to normal i would have a go at putting it right.....gently does it though.

[Mattzilla]

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.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3241/3289900354_16fbd32bb7_o.jpg

We used a wet towel as an operating base with a wet pillow case to lay the fish on and hold.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3587/3289899936_db7178e6c1_o.jpg

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.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/3289081163_9b094e6675_o.jpg

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).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/3289900002_1387b9d33a_o.jpg


I left it in that water for another minute or two until it started to swim a little.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3577/3289081467_88d8617592_o.jpg


I then placed it back into it's tank and gently held it underneath the return spray bar of my canister filter so that fresh water was being forced over it's gills.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3289081605_b6a38c9525_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3414/3289900144_41b2a3bd03_o.jpg

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.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3289900296_5db5a653e2_o.jpg

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.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3422/3289081805_bdddd14320_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3403/3289081247_6e1230b15a_o.jpg

Fingers crossed it's going to be fine but things are looking promising.

thanks again for all the tips!

Cheers
Matt

[TW]

Great work & great pictures, showing us how you did it all. Thanks for doing that, as well as maybe being handy at some stage, it was a very interesting process to see.

[BobbyBruce]

Thanks for sharing that Matt,

The fish looks much happier thanks to your efforts.

Regards,

Bob

[lpiasente]

Excellent work Dr Matt. :D

[Hollowman]

Nice one Matt, the clove oil worked a treat, it's good stuff. I would just keep am eye on it as it might just happen again. At least you know how to correct it.

[Mattzilla]

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

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3663/3404298004_85f13a4220_o.jpg

cheers
matt!

[TW]

Glad things are going so well.

I'd really like to see this as a sticky. Hope I never need the info, but very handy to have it, if I do.

[Hollowman]

Glad things are going so well.

I'd really like to see this as a sticky. Hope I never need the info, but very handy to have it, if I do.

I agree :D

[TW]

Who can we ask, to see if it can be made a sticky?

[Matt15]

I think Jothy is the only active admin here atm. Taksan occasionally posts and I can't recall seeing Merrilyn or Scott for ashort time now.

[ILLUSN]

Sticky it shall be! Great work Matt, must admitt i was crossing my fingers for you when i saw your dose of clove oil, well done!

[TW]

Yeah, it's a sticky now. Thanks Jothy

[Mattzilla]

haha cool thanks guys