something is wrong with my lion fish's mouth

[eleyan]

Larry, the photo is a couple of days old, but he still looks the same. Actually, the split in his fin is already healed now (that was another reason I thought he was fighting). The 135 is 72"x18"x25". I have a 30G fuge and tidepool II sump + a small DAS with siveral powerheads. The water quality is good. I've been mixing up the feedings between silver sides, krill and a frozen sea food mix from HEB with silcon and garlic. I need to get the smaller silver sides next time.

[Instar]

It may just be a factor of the frozen foods. Selcon is quite rich in fats. As far as garlic goes, its really a feeding stimulant for finicky fish more than anything else, but I doubt it really hits the lions target stimulation. He would go more for movement and vibration rather than scent. Then think about it...garlic has a smell and taste. Too much of anything is never a good thing, for you or for fish. I would try less additives at least one time and see. If that works, then again. You can always go back to the additives. Trouble is, you can't tell if there is too much of a good thing there or if there are traces of other chemicals that are less valued than the fats. A build up of anything beneficial will reverse the action and act against you. The shrimp and krill can wick up a lot of selcon under the carapace. Can you get a picture more of his belly underside and underside of his mouth?

[eleyan]

Well, A week after my original post, he started eating again. I had to switch to krill and he was able to open his mouth wide enough for that. He was eating great for the past 3 weeks. But a couple of days ago, he came up to eat and went for one of the krill, but it looked like he was not able to open his mouth. He started shaking his head side to side trying to pop his mouth open, but then gave up and went to the corner. I tryied again last night, and the same thing happened. I hope he can pop his mouth open again like last time. Is this normal?

[Instar]

No. If the krill is large and the lion is small, make sure you break the spike off the head of the shrimp first. Normally they do best on live foods such as mollies and guppies. If he is getting stabbed inside his mouth or stung by something and getting a sore, it could affect his jaw snap but, without trying a living guppy to trigger is strike, he may just not be able to eat sometimes because it just doesn't move right for him. Shaking sounds like he is trying to shed something thats floating around in the water and getting stuck on his head or eyes. Do you have any tube anemones of similar in there?