Hi, all.
I have a question about a spot that I am seeing in a group of fish that are currently in quarantine. I have a group of ten red phantom tetras, ten otocinclus, and ten white cloud mountain minnows. The quarantine tank was already cycled for this bioload at the beginning of the quarantine period. Shortly after beginning the quarantine, one of the red phantoms showed a white raised spot on its lower lip. It looks like a slightly larger than usual ick spot, but it is not ick. There are NO OTHER SPOTS anywhere on any of the fish. About a week later, another red phantom showed a similar spot on its lower lip. Today (the fish have been in quarantine for about a week and a half), one of the minnows has a spot on his lower lip.
The spots do not go away, but they do seem to grow and shrink. A previous group of red phantom tetras had one individual that showed a white spot on its lower lip like this. That fish was removed into a separate tank and treated with Melafix, which did nothing. His white spot also grew and shrank. Eventually, his lower jaw appeared very deformed (it had not been deformed originally), and he died after about two months. He may have died at that time due to severe ick. This ick was contracted from another fish from a subsequent quarantine cycle that had to be removed from the larger quarantine tank into the smaller hospital tank with the red phantom.
I have heard of and have researched "cotton-mouth," but these lesions do not appear fluffy or cotton-like. I cannot emphasize enough that this is not ick. The spots only appear on the lower lips of the fish and do not fall off ever, though they do become smaller and then larger again.
Other than remove these fish from the general quarantine and never by red phantoms from this particular store again, what should I do for the infected fish? Can anyone identify this problem?
Thanks, all.
I have a question about a spot that I am seeing in a group of fish that are currently in quarantine. I have a group of ten red phantom tetras, ten otocinclus, and ten white cloud mountain minnows. The quarantine tank was already cycled for this bioload at the beginning of the quarantine period. Shortly after beginning the quarantine, one of the red phantoms showed a white raised spot on its lower lip. It looks like a slightly larger than usual ick spot, but it is not ick. There are NO OTHER SPOTS anywhere on any of the fish. About a week later, another red phantom showed a similar spot on its lower lip. Today (the fish have been in quarantine for about a week and a half), one of the minnows has a spot on his lower lip.
The spots do not go away, but they do seem to grow and shrink. A previous group of red phantom tetras had one individual that showed a white spot on its lower lip like this. That fish was removed into a separate tank and treated with Melafix, which did nothing. His white spot also grew and shrank. Eventually, his lower jaw appeared very deformed (it had not been deformed originally), and he died after about two months. He may have died at that time due to severe ick. This ick was contracted from another fish from a subsequent quarantine cycle that had to be removed from the larger quarantine tank into the smaller hospital tank with the red phantom.
I have heard of and have researched "cotton-mouth," but these lesions do not appear fluffy or cotton-like. I cannot emphasize enough that this is not ick. The spots only appear on the lower lips of the fish and do not fall off ever, though they do become smaller and then larger again.
Other than remove these fish from the general quarantine and never by red phantoms from this particular store again, what should I do for the infected fish? Can anyone identify this problem?
Thanks, all.
