Lock jaw

[spence0416]

I have a juvie Midas about 5 inches. His mouth is stuck open. He is active and still tries to eat, but there is some obvious difficulty for him. What can cause this, and should I expect it to go back to normal

 

[Pufferpunk]

Could be a throid problem, usually treated by iodine. Not sure how much though. You could try 1 drop/gal.

 

[Menagerie]

Sorry to hear that Spence, I just lost a lemon yellow cichlid and her brood to lockjaw. From what I could find out about it, there seemed to be no reason and no "cure". If the Midas cannot properly function its mouth, not enough oxygenated water will flow over the gills causing the fish to suffocate. I'm sorry I cannot be of more help, but when I posted "Death of Lemon Yellow Cichlid and Brood due to Lockjaw (?)" last month, no one had any answers.
I wish you the best of luck with your Midas and if you fix the problem, let us know.

 

[spence0416]

Well somehow he was able to "fix" himself. After a day of having his mouth stuck open, he can now open and close although it is slightly awkward when he does (doesn't move in a fluid motion). This is great news for me as he is really becoming a great looking fish, and I'd hate to lose him now.

Anyway is this fairly normal...I've never seen anything like it before.

 

[Menagerie]

I'm glad to hear he corrected himself!

 

[TankGirl]

I have heard of this as a problem in oscars, occurring when they open their mouth too wide. A couple of years ago I read about someone who actually netted the fish and closed the jaw of the fish manually, and the fish returned to normal after that.

 

[Sati]

Wow, I've never heard of this and I certainly haven't seen it. My jaw has locked up a few times because of TMJ and it's scary stuff. I'm glad your fish is better!