# Fish with upper jaw gone



## BeccaBx3 (Sep 21, 2011)

Ok so I bought some new blue danios. and one of them is thinner and has its upper jaw missing. It seems to eat fine and swim ok but the others seem to pick on it. what do I do ? is it a disease or something? I thought i saw another post similar to this but cant find it.


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## Big Dog (May 17, 2010)

Is there other fish in the aquarium?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Well big dog she states the other fish are picking on him.


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## BeccaBx3 (Sep 21, 2011)

I just noticed their gills are a bit red too...


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## vreugy (May 1, 2013)

Red gills..........change water now. What are your water parameters??? Sounds like your ammonia is out of control. I hope you have an liquid test kit...API is the best I know. 

As to the upper jaw missing, is there any cottony looking stuff around it? Did you quarantine? Wish I could help you more, but I am just not versed enough about these things. 

have a blessed day

I am fighting wasting disease right now.


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## BeccaBx3 (Sep 21, 2011)

Just did a pwc on sunday. have the api master. amm nitrite and nitrate are all zero. ph is 7.5 temp 82 ish. good flow. good filter. no fuzz at all. some minor fin issues. wondering if they came from a bad batch to the pet store and are healing now with my good water.


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## vreugy (May 1, 2013)

With all 0's your tank is not cycled. Red gills are a good sign of ammonia poisoning. Did you shake the dickens out of the test bottles? I know the #2 bottle of the nitrate needs to be shaken good, and then shaken twice as long. Other than an uncycled tank, I don't know what to say. Maybe someone more versed in these things will chime in.

have a blessed day


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

Danios and other mass produced fish sometimes have what appears to be red gills, however it's actually something called "gill flare"...sort of a deformity...and it allows you to see the vascularity of their gills. I've seen it a lot in hybrid clownfish too. That said, it's not uncommon for danios to have a deformed oral cavity...sometimes they can live with the malady, sometimes not. Also, it's normal and healthy for congenitally defective animals to be killed by members of their own species, AKA: Natural Selection. Not to suggest that your danios defect is congenital for certain...it could be a result of poor husbandry/nutrition while in utero, amongst other things. It could also be a post trauma issue but unlikely given the location.

I'm not sure what you mean by "minor fin issues", but IMO there isn't such a thing. Frayed fins equates to bacterial issues which could easily infest the gills of a highly stressed danios causing them to swell and bleed. You may want to Google _Fin Rot _ and _Tetracycline _ and make a decision as to whether or not your tank warrants medicinal intervention. If so, be sure to learn how antibiotics will affect your Nitrogen Cycle and why it's important to remove carbon. And FYI: The multi-purpose medications that advertise "Won't Harm Cycle" may work well, but they absolutely will harm your cycle. I'd also caution you to shy away from Melafix. It likely won't hurt anything,(although some will argue that), however I don't believe Melafix is ever an appropriate intervention for an acute infection of any type.

Acute gill redness is usually caused by ammonia or nitrite poisoning, however that doesn't seem to be the case considering your water parameters. Just know that despite the redness fading, the damage from those poisonings is often permanent which lowers the fishes ability to exchange oxygen. The damaged soft tissues are also more vulnerable to infection which then puts the entire community at risk.


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## BeccaBx3 (Sep 21, 2011)

VREUGY: my tank is cycled.. and has been for a while now. I do water changes because my water gets brown from the drift wood in it. It is cycled and has had no changes in nitrate nitrite for a month.. had a small spike in ammonia (.25) right after i had been dealing with ich. it is gone now. 

GOBY: Good to know about danios. Other than the red gills the other two seem to be doing great. Swimming all over the place. The minor fin issues are some nipping from before i bought them. seems to be healing. One had a bit of a fuzz spot on one and i treated with anti fungal and it is almost gone. The one with most of his face missing seems to be hiding more due to being pestered and his face is no longer looking inflamed. he looks like healing but he might not make it. not sure though. do you think the face parts will grow back or will he be stuck like that for the remainder of his life?


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

the tannins are actually beneficial to your fish. It is believed that they have antibiotic properties, and makes things a little more natural feeling for your fish. Just something to think about.
The mouth won't ever grow back. You might want to watch it for a little while. If it is getting pestered and having a hard time living, I would probably euthanize it. Surviving and thriving are two totally different things.


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## BeccaBx3 (Sep 21, 2011)

The little guy passed last night in my breeder.. i put him there to give hime some peace.. poor thing. I will take him back and get some credit. About how many danios would be good for a school? at least five? cause I have only 2 now and they pick on eachother...


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