# fish have white puffy lips and mouth



## duke105077 (Feb 27, 2010)

no elaboration from the subject title. thats the problem. i lost my socolofi the other day, and now its moved on to my red zebra. he's got a really puffy, swollen, white lips and mouth. please advise.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

White lips is one thing (perfectly normal). Puffy is another. Are they fuzzy?


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## duke105077 (Feb 27, 2010)

yeah, kinda have a peeling look to them


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Google images of columnaris and see if it looks like what you have.

If yes, I had best success treating with Maracyn and Maracyn2 simultaneously. It is a serious illness and recovery is not guaranteed regardless of treatment.

If it looks different than columnaris, maybe you could describe the differences.


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## duke105077 (Feb 27, 2010)

im gonna say an unsure yes. only because his mouth is the only affected part. nothing on the body or fins. for some reason i cant post a pic as a reply. i can describe his mouth as having a raw, tender, peeling look to them. whats weird is only one fish at a time is getting sick. i did 50% water change two days in a row. if i take him out, is the water still infected? if so, maracyn and maracyn 2 will clear it up? if not whats next?


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## duke105077 (Feb 27, 2010)

how do i upload a pic?[/img]


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

duke105077 said:


> how do i upload a pic?[/img]


Click "Img" then past link behind it then click "Img" again. If you have issues just paste the link and I will do it for you.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Re posting a pic. 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... hp?t=21085

I think columnaris often starts with the lips/mouth. One of the common names for it is cotton-mouth.


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## duke105077 (Feb 27, 2010)

here's the pics. i hope they are good enough


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## duke105077 (Feb 27, 2010)

here's another one


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

When my fish had it, it was on their sides. Hope someone else will chime in, but my best guess is columnaris.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

DJRansome said:


> When my fish had it, it was on their sides. Hope someone else will chime in, but my best guess is columnaris.


Remember....I thought my jewel had it not too long ago. I did a bunch of research and virtually all sources stated that columnaris started out on the mouth and was commonly mistaken for mouth fungus...then it spread. I do know if your fish does have it you need to isolate immediately as it is very contagious. Also....you need to medicate rather quickly because whatever deformations that is causes are permanent...at least in the articles I read.

PS...that does not look good. You need to do some research on columnaris and get the meds right away. You also need to move the infected fish to another tank. The medicines from what I researched can be expensive in combination with each other.


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## duke105077 (Feb 27, 2010)

man that sucks...so if i isolate him, do i still have to treat the water? i did a 50% water change on the 7th and a 30% change last night. will the constant water changes be enough to get rid of it? also, if time goes by and no other fish get sick, how do i really know that the virus is completely out of the tank?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Since it has already affected more than one fish, I'd treat the tank.

If it helps, I had two fish in a divided tank and the other fish never got the disease.

But he was treated when the sick one was treated.


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## duke105077 (Feb 27, 2010)

treat it wth maracyn?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Maracyn and Maracyn both.


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