Baby Cory's missing jaw?

[nuoccam]

Hi guys,
I'm new to this forum, and the subject and photos says 99% of the situation. (I apologize for the blurry photos)

I just finished cleaning my mini tank that contains a few bronze cory babies (ranging 0.75 inches to 1.25 inches), and I noticed one of them was swimming with a red patch.

I took him/her out and put him/her a jar and saw that it was either missing a jaw or the mouth just ripped in two. If you look at the third image, it looks like s/he has an elephant nose~. (can't really explain well~).

S/He was swimming around in the middle of the tank before I put him/her into a small cup~. I have this fear it feels a lot of pain right now.

I was hoping you guys can let me know if S/He will be able to survive through it or not.

Temperature at the moment is around 73F~
Ph is around 7.0
Nitrate and Ammonia is around 0.
(I used 2 test strips, and I know it is not very accurate.)

Thank you for your time!

[FerocactusLatispinus]

It looks as if that whole section of your cory is swelled up; my guess is it may be a disease of some sort or a deformity. I think that if the cory is still eating, he/she'll be doing alright. Clamped fins are another sign to look out for; for the longest time, one of my corys would always have its dorsal fin clamped way down; it would eat, but was not active. Swimming in the middle of the tank, unless they're scoping out a plant or rock or something, is abnormal for corys; I would suggest waiting a little while longer to see if he/she'll eat and/or keep eating. I'm sorry to hear about your cory, but I sincerely hope he/she'll recover and happily join the rest of the group.

[nuoccam]

It looks as if that whole section of your cory is swelled up; my guess is it may be a disease of some sort or a deformity. I think that if the cory is still eating, he/she'll be doing alright. Clamped fins are another sign to look out for; for the longest time, one of my corys would always have its dorsal fin clamped way down; it would eat, but was not active. Swimming in the middle of the tank, unless they're scoping out a plant or rock or something, is abnormal for corys; I would suggest waiting a little while longer to see if he/she'll eat and/or keep eating. I'm sorry to hear about your cory, but I sincerely hope he/she'll recover and happily join the rest of the group.

Thank you for your reply!

I've managed to get a better picture this morning, hopefully this one tells a better story.

His/Her caudal fin was clamped to the point that both tips touched, but not as bad anymore (photo attached of full body).
I did add some first bites by hikari to see if it would snack a bit, but nothing at this moment.
I do know that it is a bad sign when a cory goes up for air, which it has~, but I am assuming it doesn't have enough oxygen or have an airstone to produce any with it.

I did carefully take out a java moss from the tank yesterday.
It is just sad to see how his/her fellow members swim up to visit him/her in the cup from time to time.

[FerocactusLatispinus]

I think the mouth looks normal, but he/she does have a severe growth around the mid-section; it looks almost like a tumor to me; if it is a birth defect, one can really only hope he/she will begin to eat normally; if his/her health deteriorates more rapidly, it may be best that he/she is put down; clove oil is a powerful sedative to fish that won't inflict any pain or discomfort; a few drops in a small container with the fish and its water is all that is needed. I'm not sure what to advise other than to keep on encouraging him/her to eat and continue providing good water quality. I sincerely hope he/she will recover quickly. Hang in there! If his/her fins are starting to become less clamped, that is a good sign.

When corys go up for air, it doesn't necessarily mean they are unhealthy, or even that there's not enough dissolved oxygen; corys (among other catfish) will occasionally swim to the surface and gulp air; they can absorb the oxygen from the gulped air inside their intestinal tract; I would think of it more as a supplement to the dissolved oxygen in the water; one of my C. aeneus will actually "eat" bubbles coming off of the air stone tube, and my C. paleatus will sometimes swim along the surface edges of the tank and gulp air and, in particular, eat any food that might be there; my other three almost never swim to the surface to gulp air and are very active, so I suspect "gulping" is a normal behaviour, as well as a possible indicator of poor health (most commonly the case). If they go up for air very frequently, it means they're stressed for one reason or another (while siphoning detritus off the sand bed each week, my corys will gulp air more frequently).

[nuoccam]

I think the mouth looks normal, but he/she does have a severe growth around the mid-section; it looks almost like a tumor to me; if it is a birth defect, one can really only hope he/she will begin to eat normally; if his/her health deteriorates more rapidly, it may be best that he/she is put down; clove oil is a powerful sedative to fish that won't inflict any pain or discomfort; a few drops in a small container with the fish and its water is all that is needed. I'm not sure what to advise other than to keep on encouraging him/her to eat and continue providing good water quality. I sincerely hope he/she will recover quickly. Hang in there! If his/her fins are starting to become less clamped, that is a good sign.

When corys go up for air, it doesn't necessarily mean they are unhealthy, or even that there's not enough dissolved oxygen; corys (among other catfish) will occasionally swim to the surface and gulp air; they can absorb the oxygen from the gulped air inside their intestinal tract; I would think of it more as a supplement to the dissolved oxygen in the water; one of my C. aeneus will actually "eat" bubbles coming off of the air stone tube, and my C. paleatus will sometimes swim along the surface edges of the tank and gulp air and, in particular, eat any food that might be there; my other three almost never swim to the surface to gulp air and are very active, so I suspect "gulping" is a normal behaviour, as well as a possible indicator of poor health (most commonly the case). If they go up for air very frequently, it means they're stressed for one reason or another (while siphoning detritus off the sand bed each week, my corys will gulp air more frequently).

From the picture I just uploaded (the cory is not like that anymore), it looks like its missing a piece of its jaw, or just from birth defect. She(I believe)was only like that fro a short period, until I changed her water and decided to put in her with her brothers and sisters. Ever since then, shes been surprisingly very active and eating (since shes been alive for awhile). Here and there, she has to put the extra effort to get some air, but other than that... She seems healthy.

Thank you for the better understanding about the corys going up for air.

[FerocactusLatispinus]

Her recovering and rapidly-returning health is wonderful to hear! That's terrific that she's eating and is back in the shoal with her siblings; her going up for air not as frequently is also a very good sign! I can see now how her lower jaw is missing; that's an unfortunate birth defect, but that matters little if she is happily eating and active as I hear!

I quite agree that she's a female, now that I've observed all of the photos; my Bronze Cory, Greeny, also looks rather stocky when compared to Pinky, the male.

It's is excellent to hear of her recovery! I truly believe it is a miracle. I hope you continue have great success in caring for all your fishes!

[antec]

wow, never saw that before. . . could it be a result of inbreeding. . . maybe?

[nuoccam]

Her recovering and rapidly-returning health is wonderful to hear! That's terrific that she's eating and is back in the shoal with her siblings; her going up for air not as frequently is also a very good sign! I can see now how her lower jaw is missing; that's an unfortunate birth defect, but that matters little if she is happily eating and active as I hear!

I quite agree that she's a female, now that I've observed all of the photos; my Bronze Cory, Greeny, also looks rather stocky when compared to Pinky, the male.

It's is excellent to hear of her recovery! I truly believe it is a miracle. I hope you continue have great success in caring for all your fishes!

Thank you for your help! Hopefully when I put her into my main tank, my ghost shrimp won't attack her... Ha.

wow, never saw that before. . . could it be a result of inbreeding. . . maybe?

I hope so because if I happen to have done that to her, I would hate myself for hurting the poor little cory.

[FerocactusLatispinus]

Thank you for your help! Hopefully when I put her into my main tank, my ghost shrimp won't attack her... Ha.

I have one ghost shrimp too, and I've seen mine pester my albino C. aeneus and other corys only a couple of times (they don't seem to mind it terribly); I hope it is just cleaning the catfish, not picking off it's slime coat! Keep moving corys, that's the trick!

[antec]

if you are breeding these corys and just in case this jawless cory was the result of inbreeding, then I would advise you to take him out of the breeding group. you don't want his corrupt genetics being passed on to the next generation. when I breed my fish, I will notice corrupt genes (not to the extent of a missing body part) here and there but I take that fish out of the group and place them in a community tank to live its life.

[nuoccam]

Thank you for your help! Hopefully when I put her into my main tank, my ghost shrimp won't attack her... Ha.

I have one ghost shrimp too, and I've seen mine pester my albino C. aeneus and other corys only a couple of times (they don't seem to mind it terribly); I hope it is just cleaning the catfish, not picking off it's slime coat! Keep moving corys, that's the trick!

I've seen my ghost shrimps (not all at once) pick at the mother as she preps her eggs between her pelvic fin, but run away when I put my hand against the glass~

if you are breeding these corys and just in case this jawless cory was the result of inbreeding, then I would advise you to take him out of the breeding group. you don't want his corrupt genetics being passed on to the next generation. when I breed my fish, I will notice corrupt genes (not to the extent of a missing body part) here and there but I take that fish out of the group and place them in a community tank to live its life.

Well, I doubt she'd breed anytime soon since shes only about 3 +/- months old. Plus, I prefer not to breed at this moment since I do not have the time/space for anymore frys. I actually never intended to breed since all I have for display is a 10 gallon tank, which has been overcrowded with other fish. Shes swimming happily (I hope) in a 3 gallon tank (a spare) with 6 others. But Thank you for your concern!