I read a very old thread similar to this but I would like a few more details on how to do the correction procedure for "lockjaw".
Here is the back ground
Her mouth has been stuck open for about 4 weeks (never closes). At first, her behavior, eating habits, appearance was the exact same. Then about 2 week ago, her gills puffed out and appear to be somewhat stuck that way. She stopped swimming to the top of the tank for feeding time and stayed at the bottom of the tank under her hammer head coral. She tried to get the food but had trouble swimming so I basically put the food right by or into her mouth and she ate it. She hasn't been eating as much - she looks like she wants to get it but has difficulty. For the past 4 days she has been lying around on a mushroom on a rock sometimes with her head down more in a upside down vertical fashion still eats a very little bit, mouth still stuck open, gills still puffed out, and acts much more lethargic. No other problems ie spots- inside the mouth appears normal too.
She is in a 34 gallon red sea max with her mate, green wrasse, lawnmower blenny, snails. All other fish are healthy. The tank has been set up in our home for over 1 year with no new additions and before that it was set up for around 3 years from the person we bought it from with no new additions. Regular water changes done on tank every 2 weeks. All water parameters have been and are normal.
I have researched this for many many nights. I have talked to several different fish store people and showed them a movie of her, however they didn't really know what to do. I mentioned "lockjaw" (where locking the bone called the urohyal into the cleithra) to them after reading your explanation and they really didn't know what to do about it. I have gotten many diagrams of fish bones and googled how to anesthetize fish. However, there is a lot of different dosages that I am finding and most are for koi which are a lot bigger and FW. I also can not find the exact procedure so I am a bit unsure as to how much pressure to apply and exactly how far back to place the depressor into the mouth. Form the diagrams it appears I would need to place it back to the gill level which seems pretty far back.
So my questions are on how you do the percedure to correct the locked up bones.
1. How much dosage per gallon do I need to use of MS-222 for a clownfish that is about 2-2.5in?
2. Do I wait for the fish to turn over to know that it is time to take her out of the MS-222 - or is a lighter anesthesia ok?
3. How far back do I place the depressor?
4. How hard do I push it down?
5. Will her mouth close once I have done it correctly so I know that I have?
I am very worried about her and want her to get well. I was hoping this would resolve on it's own as I have read others have but this has not and she seems to be slowly getting worse. Please help my little clownfish. I believe I can save her if I know how to do this procedure properly.
The pics are from 9/16 when her gills puffed out and she started to stay only by her hammerhead coral. 1st pic is of her gills puffed out.
Here is the back ground
Her mouth has been stuck open for about 4 weeks (never closes). At first, her behavior, eating habits, appearance was the exact same. Then about 2 week ago, her gills puffed out and appear to be somewhat stuck that way. She stopped swimming to the top of the tank for feeding time and stayed at the bottom of the tank under her hammer head coral. She tried to get the food but had trouble swimming so I basically put the food right by or into her mouth and she ate it. She hasn't been eating as much - she looks like she wants to get it but has difficulty. For the past 4 days she has been lying around on a mushroom on a rock sometimes with her head down more in a upside down vertical fashion still eats a very little bit, mouth still stuck open, gills still puffed out, and acts much more lethargic. No other problems ie spots- inside the mouth appears normal too.
She is in a 34 gallon red sea max with her mate, green wrasse, lawnmower blenny, snails. All other fish are healthy. The tank has been set up in our home for over 1 year with no new additions and before that it was set up for around 3 years from the person we bought it from with no new additions. Regular water changes done on tank every 2 weeks. All water parameters have been and are normal.
I have researched this for many many nights. I have talked to several different fish store people and showed them a movie of her, however they didn't really know what to do. I mentioned "lockjaw" (where locking the bone called the urohyal into the cleithra) to them after reading your explanation and they really didn't know what to do about it. I have gotten many diagrams of fish bones and googled how to anesthetize fish. However, there is a lot of different dosages that I am finding and most are for koi which are a lot bigger and FW. I also can not find the exact procedure so I am a bit unsure as to how much pressure to apply and exactly how far back to place the depressor into the mouth. Form the diagrams it appears I would need to place it back to the gill level which seems pretty far back.
So my questions are on how you do the percedure to correct the locked up bones.
1. How much dosage per gallon do I need to use of MS-222 for a clownfish that is about 2-2.5in?
2. Do I wait for the fish to turn over to know that it is time to take her out of the MS-222 - or is a lighter anesthesia ok?
3. How far back do I place the depressor?
4. How hard do I push it down?
5. Will her mouth close once I have done it correctly so I know that I have?
I am very worried about her and want her to get well. I was hoping this would resolve on it's own as I have read others have but this has not and she seems to be slowly getting worse. Please help my little clownfish. I believe I can save her if I know how to do this procedure properly.
The pics are from 9/16 when her gills puffed out and she started to stay only by her hammerhead coral. 1st pic is of her gills puffed out.
