# Weird mouth fungus attacking tank...again!!!



## catdawg426 (Mar 21, 2011)

Alright, IDK what this stuff is. I've decided I got this "stuff" with bloat 4 months back. The bloat killed some, but I've also noticed some white stuff on their mouth. I spent some serious $$$ treating the whole 50 gallon tank with maracyn plus, assuming it was cottonmouth, and nothnig improved. The fish that had it died from bloat. Now i've noticed i've got an electric yellow who's got it. GRRRRR! His mouth is almost detached, when he eats you can see it go up and down...it's pretty gross! Any idea as to what this is, I'll get some pics up tomorrow.
Thanks,
-Ian


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Pictures will help. 
It sounds like a bacterial disease. And yes, it does sound like Mouth Fungus, Columnaris, which as you already likely know is a bacterial disease. Can't be sure but that would be my guess with the info presented so far.

I would lower the temp to 76'-77' and do a partial water change of 30%. You can add salt, sodium chloride at the rate of 1 tablespoon per five gallons. This may slow the bacteria's spread by preventing it from attaching to the fish's skin. Increasing water movement will also help.

What are the conditions in your tank? Water parameters? Aggression between fish? Water changing schedule? Fish are more susceptible to disease and illness when there is ongoing stress of some kind.

Robin


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## catdawg426 (Mar 21, 2011)

alrighty, i have some paraemeters but I have to go so I'll get some pictures when i get back home.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: traceable (low because water level was low a couple days ago so I added a couple buckets)
gh: 125
kh: 7
temp was 80 degrees, lowering it.
Ph: 8.2

I do 20 percent water changes every week. I had to get rid of some fish, so my stock is low and there is some aggression. That is why I have some aceis in quarantine right now.
This specific yellow lab is picked on because he is a subdominant male, so that explains why he has stress, but when the tank is fully stocked he gets along fine, so I'm hoping he can hang on.
Thanks for your help, i'll get pics up later.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Just a couple additional thoughts: 
Your nitrate may in fact be low but adding water would not lower it. Neither would water evaporating from the tank. So I wonder if your nitrate test kit is reading correctly. You should have some sort of a nitrate reading even though you don't have a lot of fish in there right now.

The yellow lab may have been lip-lock fighting and this is why his lip is partially detached and he now has some kind of infection there. Could still be Columnaris. I would increase the water changes to 30-40% two or three times a week for the next several weeks using a good quality dechlorinator and you may want to remove him to a hospital tank and treat with an antibiotic. It will make it easier for him to heal and it will be cheaper than treating the entire tank.

Robin


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## catdawg426 (Mar 21, 2011)

When I tested, nitrate was darker than 0 but a little lighter than 1. I would say it was at 3.

I've got some acei in my qt/hospital tank, so I can't remove him which makes things a little more complicated. I plan on releasing the acei in 1 week.

Also, will kosher salt work?

All I have is a small amount of sulfathiazole, which is supposed to help columnaris if that is what it is, so what I want to do is put him in a 1 gal specimen tank and treat him in there. But right now I have some pseudotropheus elongtus fry in it, which are ready to sell. I can't find anyone locally to buy them so I'm stuck with my first aquabid auction....grrrr...

I'm uploading some pics on photobucket right now, so maybe you can see what you think it is.
Thanks a ton,
-Ian


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## catdawg426 (Mar 21, 2011)

it's hard to tell in pictures, but the whole mouth is whiteish, and when he chews it goes up and down.









also, nitrates are 5 today


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## Anthraxx8500 (Feb 11, 2011)

top or bottom jaw.. its hard to tell the problem from the picture.


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## catdawg426 (Mar 21, 2011)

the stuff is on both, but when he chews it's the top jaw that looks almost detached


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

The picture doesn't add much but no matter, your description is enough. It may be that the fish was lip-lock fighting and the mouth got torn during the fight and then the infection got in there, or the infection came first and ate into the mouth causing it to become detached. More than likely it was the fight that ripped the mouth first and then the infection, but either way you should treat ASAP. Treat him in whatever extra tank you can put together.

Let us know how it goes. 
Robin


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## catdawg426 (Mar 21, 2011)

so...
I've noticed another lab got it too, so I'm just treating the whole tank. I've treated with one dose of sulfathiazole tuesday and I have 1 dose left for tomorrow. After that, I plan on going to petsmart and buying triple-sulfa and just treat with that because I doubt they have sulfathiazole and triple-sulfa has a bunch in it. Thanks,
-Ian


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## catdawg426 (Mar 21, 2011)

sorry it's taken me so long to post again!!!
he's doing awesome, after 5 treatments of sulfathiazole it was all gone! he's now in my hospital tank, his mouth is still a bit torn so I'll let him recover. From here on out i'm using sulfa over maracyn, it worked much better.
thanks for your help!
-Ian


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