White stuff angelfish mouth

[FroFro]

Please help me diagnose this. This is not my angelfish but my fathers. This white tuft appeared overnight. She isn’t eating but her breathing a coloring are normal. She isn’t hiding but shows no interest when we walk by or offer food. I advised my father to do a partial water change change of 50% and to rinse his sponge filter for the time being. I have an arsenal of medications but I’m not sure if this is fungus or a bacterial infection or just an injury. She has no other tank mates like other angels that she could be attacked by.

Update: I just fed her blood worms by hand and she accepted them, she still isn’t feeding from the surface with her dry food that she normally goes nuts for.

 

[Colin_T]

It could be the start of mouth fungus (Columnaris, which is a bacterial infection even tho it's called mouth fungus) or a fat lip.

The fish also appears to have an infection in the mouth (red area between the mouth and eye).

Has anything new been added to the tank in the last 2 weeks?
How often are water changes and gravel cleans done?
How often is the filter cleaned?
How long has the tank been set up for?
I assume the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH are fine?

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Wipe the glass down.

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

Clean the filter.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence.

Add some salt.

If there's no improvement after a few days with salt, or if it gets worse in the next 24 hours, post more pictures immediately.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt 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, Bettas & 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, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

 

[FroFro]

It could be the start of mouth fungus (Columnaris, which is a bacterial infection even tho it's called mouth fungus) or a fat lip.

The fish also appears to have an infection in the mouth (red area between the mouth and eye).

Has anything new been added to the tank in the last 2 weeks?
How often are water changes and gravel cleans done?
How often is the filter cleaned?
How long has the tank been set up for?
I assume the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH are fine?

------------------
Wipe the glass down.

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

Clean the filter.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence.

Add some salt.

If there's no improvement after a few days with salt, or if it gets worse in the next 24 hours, post more pictures immediately.

------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt 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, Bettas & 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, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

Water parameters are normal. Only change is I’ve been hand feeding her blood worms and fresh water shrimp every other day when I feed my angels. The tweezer I use are blunt and I only use them to drop the food by her mouth. No new tank mates or plants have been added. Water is kept at a stable 80 degrees. Tank has been running for 5 years. She was added/ previous occupants were moved 4 months ago. She shares the tank with a weather loach, four cories, one mystery snail and a baby long fin bn pleco. No sharp substrate or decor. She has a balanced diet of flake/pellet/ frozen thawed/ spirulina to balance out her diet. 50-60% water changes performed weekly. The glass isn’t bad, he has an algae because of increased sunlight.

Salt is sadly not an option because of the corydora. Aeration and a secondary sponge filter to prevent dead zones in water I already recommended. He’s ordered another sponge filter. The hospital tank is currently occupied by new fish and she’s frankly far too large for it. Here is a photo of in comparison to my hand.

 

[Colin_T]

The reason I said to clean the glass is to remove the biofilm from it. A lot of harmful microscopic organisms live in biofilm and wiping the glass down reduces their numbers. Same deal with filter & gravel cleaning and water changes. It's to reduce the number of disease organisms in the tank and water.

Corydoras can handle a bit of salt for a week or two. Just start with 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water and see how they go. If they freak out then do a water change and don't add more but most are fine with it.

Salt also helps kill off minor bacterial and fungal infections and might stop this getting worse.

If you still don't want to use salt, then see how the mouth looks in 24 hours. if it's worse, get a medication to treat fungal and bacterial infections.

 

[FroFro]

The reason I said to clean the glass is to remove the biofilm from it. A lot of harmful microscopic organisms live in biofilm and wiping the glass down reduces their numbers. Same deal with filter & gravel cleaning and water changes. It's to reduce the number of disease organisms in the tank and water.

Corydoras can handle a bit of salt for a week or two. Just start with 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water and see how they go. If they freak out then do a water change and don't add more but most are fine with it.

Salt also helps kill off minor bacterial and fungal infections and might stop this getting worse.

If you still don't want to use salt, then see how the mouth looks in 24 hours. if it's worse, get a medication to treat fungal and bacterial infections.

I’d have to wait till tomorrow to get aquarium salt as it is. I’ll see how she is tomorrow thank you for the help