Kole tang mouth open

[T206]

My kole tang which has been a healthy inhabitant all of a sudden has his mouth open like 99% of the time. He/she is eating but is hiding way more than normal. Anything I can do to help or anything I should do? Tank is a 70 gallon cad lights and this tang is the dominant fish in the aquarium. He/she isn't very big at 3-4 inches and usually is always happy and active.

What is going on?
Is there anything I can do?
Will this get better on its own?

I noticed this fish likes to chase other fish occasionally.

 

[MondoBongo]

kole tangs tend to be susceptible to mouth injuries. i've seen more than one come in to my LFS with varying degrees of broken jaws.

the fact that it's eating is a good sign, but i would assume some kind of aggression. what else is in your tank? especially what else is in there that you've already seen him not getting along with?

 

[T206]

Just minor territorial moves. There is another tang (different type) that I will move to another tank. Are these jaw issues something that can heal if the fish continues to eat?

 

[MondoBongo]

The ones I've seen at the lfs have usually been shipping related injuries and those ones died, but that is likely due to the stress of the whole situation sadly, and they weren't eating.

It may or may not heal entirely, but as long as he is still eating I wouldn't be too concerned.

 

[scooter31707]

I had the same problem, from mines ramming himself mouth first into it's reflection. It's mouth was open and was real white. I continued to feed and didn't treat, but just started adding some Selcon to their food. It eventually went back to normal in a week and a half.