White on Cory’s Mouth

My Cory has white on his mouth, had them for around 3 weeks now and I’ll worry something is wrong with him. Does someone know what I can do

AceTecho said:

My Cory has white on his mouth, had them for around 3 weeks now and I’ll worry something is wrong with him. Does someone know what I can doView attachment 156846

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Is it just me or do I also see a sort of growth on the front of his mouth? What are your water params? How long as the tank been set up?

Rocky998 said:

Is it just me or do I also see a sort of growth on the front of his mouth? What are your water params? How long as the tank been set up?

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The tank was set up for around two months, I was gone for a week and a algae bloom happen that I couldn’t fix till I got back. The water is back to regular parameters and doesn’t have issues anymore. What can I do?

AceTecho said:

The tank was set up for around two months, I was gone for a week and a algae bloom happen that I couldn’t fix till I got back. The water is back to regular parameters and doesn’t have issues anymore. What can I do?

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I would actually need real numbers for the params... And you said they "went back to normal parmeters"... How long ago were they not normal and what was wrong with the water? I think I may know what the issue is... Corydoras like sand or another type of soft substrate because they feed off the bottom. This means that their mouths and barbels will be in contact with the substrate a lot of the time. The rocks may be rubbing his mouth and causing irritation... I could very well be wrong so do wait for others more experienced but at a first glance that's what I would suspect...

Sorry to say but the substrate is unsuitable for Corys and is probably one of the reasons for the issue you're facing.

Hi and welcome to the forum

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before you add it to the tank.

Monitor the fish and if the white part gets worse, post more pictures asap.

Post some pictures of the other fish too if you can.

Colin_T said:

Hi and welcome to the forum

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before you add it to the tank.

Monitor the fish and if the white part gets worse, post more pictures asap.

Post some pictures of the other fish too if you can.

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Oh my god Colin... ... You're ok! Thank God... We were all sooo worried! Dont leave us again with a worrying post like that! Members were going nuts! Including myself... Anyways... Im so glad you are ok... How are you though? I know you are alive now but how are you mentally and physically?

Colin_T said:

Hi and welcome to the forum

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before you add it to the tank.

Monitor the fish and if the white part gets worse, post more pictures asap.

Post some pictures of the other fish too if you can.

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Do you know if I should medicate the Cory’s or should I see if they get better on there own?

Do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate and see how it looks in 24 hours. If it doesn't get better then maybe look into medications. However, it depends on what is wrong. It could be excess mucous, fungus, or columnaris. The excess mucous can normally be treated with big daily water changes and gravel cleans. Fungus can be treated with salt or anti-fungal remedies. Columnaris is a nasty bacterial infection that needsd anti-biotics. However, columnaris normally spreads rapidly, which is why you should do daily water changes and monitor over the next few days. If it doesn't spread and gets better after the water changes, then it is not coumnaris. If it gets worse in 24 hours, then it probably is columnaris.

Do the big water change as @Colin_T indicates then watch and post your water parameters. Do daily changes at 25% and wait a couple of says at least to see if that helps. I'll defer to the vast experience of our gurus here, but everyone will tell you that whenever possible, and specially when the cause or disease is not fully identified, the last thing you want to do is start throwing meds in your tank.

DoubleDutch said:

Sorry to say but the substrate is unsuiyable for Corys and is ptobably one of the reasons for the issue you're facing.

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This should be pinned in the cory section as a minimum/mandatory requirement. Having done the change personally when I started just a couple of months ago, I see them now and can't imagine these fish thriving in any other substrate, it's not just convenience or "being nice" to them, it's a basic requirement of their physiology to be able to dig and sift thru soft sand.