Poor Bleeding Heart

lludu

Large Fish
Oct 17, 2009
133
0
0
Frederick, MD
#1
I bought some Bleeding heart tetras at my LFS which happens to be "That Fish Place" if you know of it. Normally its a fantastic store with great service and knowledge (people come from different states to shop here). Anyway, I got home to put them into my tank and now (about 3 hours later) I noticed one of my Bleeding Hearts seems to lack a bottom jaw, at least what it appears to be. When i was at the store all the fish seemed healthy, but i guess during handling some how this poor little guy lost his jaw. Now i know typically you dont feed fish you just bought, but i put food into the tank for my other fish that were present. This guy tried to eat some but it looks like he is having a very hard time eating. He saw some food on my rootwood in the tank but couldnt pick it up either.

What do i do? I doubt there is anything i can do to help him at all, but i dont want him to suffer! :(
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#2
Thats terrible...if youre sure its a fresh wound, then i dont see anything else you can do other than just euthenize him. if he doesnt eat he'll starve obviously. giving him back would be pointless in my opinion.
 

lludu

Large Fish
Oct 17, 2009
133
0
0
Frederick, MD
#3
Thats terrible...if youre sure its a fresh wound, then i dont see anything else you can do other than just euthenize him. if he doesnt eat he'll starve obviously. giving him back would be pointless in my opinion.
Unfortunately I think i might have to do this. I'm going to see how he does over the next day or two and figure out from there. I dont know if it is a fresh wound or not but i would hate to see him starve.
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#4
Reason i asked, is that if its not, and its a born deformity, then he must have fed himself to survive to adulthood; the way he is now. therefore he will survive if its just a birth deformity. If its a recent wound then i'd say you have to put him to sleep :(