neon with 'filter face'?

[tomherndon]

I haven't tested parameters yet, I'll give it a shot after I get my toddler to bed. The problem seems physical, one of my neons has a distorted jaw, bulging eyes and some discoloration along the lateral line between the anal fin and the caudal. The jaw seems to have the lower pinched and set below the rest of the head - like his 'lips' are pursed and he's whistling?

The only thing I can think of is that he may have swam too close to the filter intake - aquaclear 50gal with the stock nib - and gotten caught in it. I don't see a structural element he could have gotten wedged in.

The rest of his tankmates seem to be fine/normal/doing okay. He's part of a shoal of 8 with a pair of H rasporas and a pair of cories.

I tried to get a shot of him, but my camera fails to produce a useful image. I may trap him next to the glass with a net later.

Anyone with experience with suddenly deformed neons?

He may have been this way a day or three. I've been in and out a lot and as a member of large shoal, he's easy to not notice unless you're camped out watching them for a while.

 

[rich311k]

Sounds like he injured himself in some way. Watch him hopefully he will heal. If his jaw is broken watch to see if he can eat.

 

[Zagz]

In addition, keep an eye on your parameters and do necessary water changes. If it is an injury, pristine water conditions will help the most to heal him.

 

[bs6749]

I'd cull the fish. If it is a disease there's no point in keeping the $2 fish in the same tank with other (hopefully) healthy fish. If it got injured it most likely wont' survive if it's mouth is messed up and it can't eat.

 

[tomherndon]

A couple of days later and he's still fine. I still haven't gotten around to testing the parameters. He still has the discolorations, but no one else is showing any similar coloring or signs of illness. I have to believe the discoloring is in response to/during the injury, not an illness (knock on wood). A neat side note is his newly found symbiosis/parasitism. He can't break down large flakes on his own, so he's trolling around tank mates as they eat and picks of the smaller shards as they shred flakes. I'm going to keep an eye on him for a while longer before making the final decision. If he can continue to scrounge up a fair amount of food - watching his girth, etc and the changes on his side don't get worse or clear up? I see no reason to icebath him. If anything does change, I'll go ahead and bust out the cubes.

 

[Alaris]

Check your parameters and do your pwcs. Keeping the water clean will help him heal.