Lump/ulcer On Mouth

[fishoz]

my boyfriends mum has recently been given 6 black widow tetras by her brother who was selling his tank. she knew i had some (even though mine just hide) so she said she'd take his (don't ask..)

anyway, i noticed one of the tetras had a small redish lump on his bottom lip when she got them, and since then it has got bigger. it looks kind of black now, although one side is whitey red. it's hard to describe. apart from this he is acting fine, in fact he is the liveliest of the lot. any suggestions on what it could be and how it could be cured?

i have no idea on her water parametres, all i know is she checks the ph and alters it, i know she should check everything else too but i feel rude telling my nearly mother in law what to do

she also has 3 mollys (one is a sailfin) and her tank is something like 50 litres

thanks

 

[WILDER]

She needs to get her water tested to rule out bad water quality.
Also why does she alter ph and does she use ph adjusters, as they more trouble than there worth.
Also black widow tetra's shouldn't be kept in anything less that a 15 gallon tanks.

Ulcer are pink or red with a circling of dead white skin around the edges.
If she dosn't have liquid tests kits of her own ask her to take a sample of her tank water to the lfs, and ask them to write the readings down for her.

Wounds that are white on the edges and red in the center are most typically Aeromonas. Those that are red on the edges and white in the center are generally Columnaris. Both are gram negative bacteria. The best treatment for this is any sulfa antibiotic with trimetheprim. This can be put in the water and mixed with food -- if you can find Romet B use it.

 

[fishoz]

yeah she uses a powder which looks really inaccurate, ill advise her to take water sample to local fish shop. or i can get boyfriend to ask!

its actually more black than anything, but one side of it has white/red on it. i will try to get a picture when i go there next.

 

[WILDER]

If no signs of flicking and rubbing I would take the bacterial route.