White Growth On Fins And Mouth

[hugh333]

Hi, iv got fish with white growths on their mouth and fins. the fish seem fine and are eating ok, but iv had one die. They have had this for about 6 months now, and i can't seem to get rid of it. does anyone know what it could be? iv added an image. Thank you.

 

[lrhodes]

may be ich?

 

[star4]

It looks fungal to me, guessing as its mouth & fins it could be nipping wounds that have got a fungal infection. I am guessing that its not constantly in the same place for the last 6 months.  Do a small daily water change for a couple of weeks see if there is any improvement. If the additional water changes make a difference you may need to increase your normal weekly water change amount, eg if you normally do 20% up it to 30 or 40%
 
With it going on so long adding an antifungal medication would work on what is there now, but it would come back again..

 

[GetItSahn]

It looks fungal to me, guessing as its mouth & fins it could be nipping wounds that have got a fungal infection. I am guessing that its not constantly in the same place for the last 6 months.  Do a small daily water change for a couple of weeks see if there is any improvement. If the additional water changes make a difference you may need to increase your normal weekly water change amount, eg if you normally do 20% up it to 30 or 40%
 
With it going on so long adding an antifungal medication would work on what is there now, but it would come back again..

agree, definitely looks fungal to me. There are several medicines that work great on mouth fungus

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Columnaris. Its bacterial. It will kill fish. It needs an antibiobitic. There are several strains.
 

 
Mouth Fungus
   Symptoms: White cottony patches around the mouth.   
 
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. This bacteria is often accompanied by a second infection of an Aeromonas bacteria.

Penicillin at 10,000 units per liter is a very effective treatment. Treat with a second dose in two days. Or use chloromycetin, 10 to 20 mg per liter, with a second dose in two days. Other antibiotics can also be effective. Kanacyn (kanamycin) will treat both bacteria at once. Maracyn (erythromycin) is effective against C. columnaris, and using Maracyn 2 (minocycline) in conjuntion with it will treat the Aeromonas bacteria as well.

from http/animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#MouthFungus

 

[star4]

Columnaris, from my experience will kill pretty quick if not treated immediately, for these fish having this condition 6 months and only one death made me think fungal.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Sigh.........
 

 
There are significant differences in the virulence between different strains of F. columnare (Rucker et al. 1953; Bullock et al. 1986; Decostere et al. 1998b).

from http/etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11112004-113024/unrestricted/Farmer_thesis.pdf
 
But there is a lot more involved. A given strain may be highly virulent to one species and much less so to another.

 
However, at least two of the four strains found to be less virulent in channel catfish were isolated from cyprinids with clinical signs of columnaris disease. Also, the highly virulent strains of catfish origin from group A (12/99) and group C (AL-94-203) were of the less virulent type when tested in golden shiners, suggesting that virulence might be somewhat associated with fish species of origin.

from http/www.researchgate.net/publication/6859523_Morphological_and_genetic_characteristics_of_Flavobacterium_columnare_isolates_correlations_with_virulence_in_fish/file/e0b49519cb8831c81b.pdf
 
I think there about 49 identified strains of F columnare so far. Most can kill certain fish very very fast. Some do not.
 

 
However, in natural populations, the fitness advantage that the virulent strains achieve from rapid killing, growth and emission from dead hosts is likely to be much smaller. The lower density of natural populations goes hand-in-hand with a reduced contact rate. Under such conditions, long-living infected hosts (chronic infections) may be favoured.

from http/rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/277/1681/593.full
 
Based on all  of the above, the fact its an aquarium not a high density fish farm and the fact that different strains have different degrees of virulence and that different fish react differently to the same strain, it seems clear to me that columnaris does not have to kill fast and that it can persist for some time in certain situations.
 
I would treat the fish with appropriate antibiotics.

 

[GetItSahn]

Sigh.........
 

 
There are significant differences in the virulence between different strains of F. columnare (Rucker et al. 1953; Bullock et al. 1986; Decostere et al. 1998b).

from http/etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11112004-113024/unrestricted/Farmer_thesis.pdf
 
But there is a lot more involved. A given strain may be highly virulent to one species and much less so to another.

 
However, at least two of the four strains found to be less virulent in channel catfish were isolated from cyprinids with clinical signs of columnaris disease. Also, the highly virulent strains of catfish origin from group A (12/99) and group C (AL-94-203) were of the less virulent type when tested in golden shiners, suggesting that virulence might be somewhat associated with fish species of origin.

from http/www.researchgate.net/publication/6859523_Morphological_and_genetic_characteristics_of_Flavobacterium_columnare_isolates_correlations_with_virulence_in_fish/file/e0b49519cb8831c81b.pdf
 
I think there about 49 identified strains of F columnare so far. Most can kill certain fish very very fast. Some do not.
 

 
However, in natural populations, the fitness advantage that the virulent strains achieve from rapid killing, growth and emission from dead hosts is likely to be much smaller. The lower density of natural populations goes hand-in-hand with a reduced contact rate. Under such conditions, long-living infected hosts (chronic infections) may be favoured.

from http/rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/277/1681/593.full
 
Based on all  of the above, the fact its an aquarium not a high density fish farm and the fact that different strains have different degrees of virulence and that different fish react differently to the same strain, it seems clear to me that columnaris does not have to kill fast and that it can persist for some time in certain situations.
 
I would treat the fish with appropriate antibiotics.


If you are correct and it is Columnaris then there's no need for antibiotics. I would recommend salt over medicine (if the fish can handle it of course)