Oh no! white growth on neon tetra's mouth

Just noticed this today. The neon tetra is one of 7. It's the only one with this growth on his lip. Any idea what this is and how it could be treated?

 

Hello,
This appears to cotton mouth, a strain of columnaris, I've battled with this disease a lot in past years. I'm not sure where you live but coming from Australia I've found no way to cure it, it only spreads among the fish and is fatal eventually although it takes a while. If you look underneath this post you'll see an article I made on how to treat this disease with medications available in the UK and USA.

 

I see no “cotton” or “wool” like indications. Looks like an injury to me. Columnaris would be low on my list of culprits. Change an extra bit of water for the next few days.

 

I see no “cotton” or “wool” like indications. Looks like an injury to me. Columnaris would be low on my list of culprits. Change an extra bit of water for the next few days.

What I've found is that it doesn't take on a cotton like texture with these smaller fish. I mean you could be right, it may be an injury but I'd be surprised, its very odd looking for it just to be an injury.

How long have you had these fish NeonTetraMX?

 

I've had them since they were tiny, before they had developed the red coloration. About a year now. I recently migrated everything from a 10 gallon to a 29 gallon but with all the same filter media and plants. Water parameters have been stable. Fish behaving normally.. feeding, schooling etc. I can't see the white thing without my glasses so it could have been there for a while without my noticing it.

 

Over the years there have been hunderds of threads like this.

Besides the Columnaris strain in Neons we suspect there to be a speciesspecific viral issue. A sort of lymphocystis which also is caused by an Iridovirus.

No scientofic proof but in allmost all cases these mouthulcers seem not (very) lethal, untreatable / incurable and almost only appearing in neons.

 

Over the years there have been hunderds of threads like this.

Besides the Columnaris strain in Neons we suspect there to be a speciesspecific viral issue. A sort of lymphocystis which also is caused by an Iridovirus.

No scientofic proof but in allmost all cases these mouthulcers seem not (very) lethal, untreatable / incurable and almost only appearing in neons.

Thanks for the info. What do you suggest as a course of action?

 

Nothing else than clean water and a variated diet I am afraid.

 

Thanks all. I will update this thread if there's anything to report.

 

I think my fish is getting better! I made some high-garlic fish food from fresh ingredients, and I swear that the cyst on his mouth has halved in size in just a few days.

 

Cyst reducing in size... still visible but on the mend.

 

Well done !!! Great news