Festae cannot eat

[Big_Kill]

This fish is acting normal and hungry but when i feed him he cannot get the food into his mouth. He tries to suck it in like normal but he cant. Its like he has no sucking or inhaling power. Ive never seen anything like it. He cannot get the pellets off the surface and he tries like hell. I tried shrimp and after some effort he got it into his mouth but then could not chew it. He ended up spitting it out (perhaps on accident) and couldn't get it back. It must be some sort of gill malfunction or something wrong with his mouth or throat? When he first got sick he had some sort of growth coming from the bottom of his gills underneath his throat. He was not interested in food at all for the first few days but now he wants to eat but can't. The fish also looks a little deformed around the throat area where the gills meet the body. I don't know what to do. Any ideas?

[Lisachromis]

Do you have a pic?

I'm wondering if he's got some sort of tumour... but never having seen one in a fish, I'm just guessing.

Hopefully someone knows what's wrong.

[FAIRFIELD]

Just what I would do....Put him in a tank of his own unless he already is. Try some small flakes. He may just have an aggrevation from eating something the wrong way. He may have injured his throat? Have you tried holding him in your hand and looked down the throat to see if their is an obstruction, tear, scar tissue, or swelling in some part? You would have to do this quickly of course, but I wouldn't be afraid to check it. Let us know how you come out with this. Hope all goes well.