Mouth bacteria?

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August Vukosovich

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Hello. I'm new to the forums and had some problems with my fish behavior last night which Byron helped me out with. A water change and they were better. Now a new problem! I noticed one of my female guppies has a whittish color on her lips. I looked at pictures and it looks like cotton mouth in very early stages. Her tail fin is also clamped and she appears distressed. What can I do to save her and keep other fish from getting this please? I do have a snail in the tank. My water parameters are all good. I have guppies in the tank.

Thanks!
 
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 2 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.

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If the white mouth gets worse rapidly (in 24 hours) and the fish stops eating, then you will need anti-biotics. But try salt first.
 
Ok thank you. I do have some aquarium salt on hand. One last thing. I found four baby guppies on top of all what's going on lol. They are in the breeder tank. I keep them there for about 5 days then move them into my 3
5 gallon. Will salt be a problem for guppy fry one day old? And thank you for your help.
 
Can you possibly get a pic of the fish with cotton mouth?
 
I tried to upload the photo but it's too big. I know there is a way to make it smaller but I have two new babies and the husband is not with me today so I don't have much time on my hands. She is worse today. The mouth bacteria is bigger for sure. I think I see it on my elephant ear guppy now too so it's already passing to others.
 
Got it lol.
 

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I’d get the sick fish out of the tank and in a QT tank. Start treating with an Kanaplex and Furan-2 if you can get them. They are both antibiotics. I suspect that is columnaris. It’s highly contagious and can be fatal. I lost an entire tank of female betta’s to it. If it hasn’t gone internally, you may be able to save them. Is the spot fuzzy? Please keep us posted. Good luck.
 
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I already have three tanks set up and don't have a hospital tank. Which i will get next time I buy fish in a few months. I bought this fish yesterday and didn't notice the problem. Should i take her back to the fish store and tell them to take her back? Also, I dont think it's culmanaris as it's been 24 hours and it's still only on her mouth. However, I'm not an expert lol. Also, if I take her back, she had already been in the water with my other fish so do i still need to treat the tank? Or just some aquarium salt with lots of water changes? Thank you all very much for your help by the way. You all are awesome on this forum.
 
If you don’t think it’s columnaris contine on with what you’re doing and see how it goes. The entire tank has been exposed so treat the tank. As far as returning her, that has to be your call. She has already contaminated the tank so you could just treat her along with others. That’s Good why it’s so important to quarantine new fish you purchase. I have 3 in QT right now that I bought yesterday. They will remain in there for at least 2 weeks. You can use a cheap plastic storage bin as a QT tank. Just drill holes in the top and add a small heater/filter. The bins are cheap. Below is a pic of the one I have set up right now. Good luck and please keep us posted.
 

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