Anyone Have Experience With Treating "mouth Fungus"?

[Will91]

Hi all:

This isn't exactly an emergency so I thought I would try posting here.

I have a tetra (I believe head and tail light) that has this persistent bit of what I think is mouth fungus. It is just a little white tuft on his lip. I have him in a little specimen container in my main tank (so I don't have to treat the entire tank). I tried PimaFix for a few days and then switched to Maracyn for four days now. Basically, I change out the container water and add fresh Maracyn daily. The mouth fungus is not going away. One thing I have noted is that the Maracyn powder does not seem to dissolve very well but forms a suspension in the container. This is despite the claim on the box that it is a "fast dissolving powder". I'm thinking of stopping at Petco tomorrow to see what they have by another manufacturer like Jungle Labs. Any advice on what else I might try?

 

[Luketendo]

Yeah I have experience but the fish died so I'm not really useful.

 

[Spooky76]

Hey - yes ive had it with a Neon and a red-eye. I found Waterlife Protozin worked for the Neon, it didnt work for the redeye though. I think though that having them in a small tank stresses them out, which doesnt help their recovery. I treated the whole 125 litres and all the other fish were fine.

if its really small and not stopping it eating start with melafix, it might do the job.

 

[jennybugs]

I'd try Melafix first off. It's natural and won't affect the rest of your fish. Smells lovely too

Keeping the fish isolated like that may not help it in the long run although I understand your concerns for treating a whole tank. I used tea tree oil (melafix) on my bosemani rainbowfish when he had a bit of mouth fluff and it worked a treat and the rest of the tank was unharmed.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Mouth Fungus is so called because it looks like a fungus attack of the mouth. It is actually caused from the bacterium Chondrococcus columnaris. It shows up first as a gray or white line around the lips and later as short tufts sprouting from the mouth like fungus. The toxins produced and the inability to eat will be fatal unless treated at an early stage.

I have always had good luck treating this using generic EM which is the main ingredient in Maracyn. Sometimes the standard dose is insufficient to do the job and I have had to double the dosage.

 

[Will91]

Thanks everyone:

Everything mentioned here makes sense. I'm sure the fish are a bit stressed in my specimen container but I really didn't want to treat my whole tank when only two fish were infected AND risk destroying my beneficial bacteria. I know Maracyn and PimaFix/MelaFix both claim to be safe for BB, I still skeptical.

I'm going to try another source of EM as recommended here. I don't like that the Maracyn powder does not seem to dissolve well and remains mostly as a suspension.

 

[WILDER]

If the fish is in issolation maracyn one and two.
Mouth fiungus is columnaris and soon rots the mouth away if its a bad strain.
http/www.articledepot.co.uk/article-29320.htm

 

[Will91]

Thanks for the great link Wilder.

Can Marcyn and Marcyn 2 be used together? Have you ever experienced problems with Marcyn powder fully dissolving?

 

[WILDER]

Sorry never used maracyn as its not available in the uk.
I know from members living in the states that used the med say it clouds the water so you need plenty of aeration.
Yes you can use maracyn one and two together as its advised with columnaris.
http/article.discusnews.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

 

[WILDER]

Go down to the bacterial part on the information page.
http/www.nunnie.com/ick.html