Aquarium Fish Health: dealing with Cotton Mouth
Disease
Nathan Miller
Cotton Mouth disease also know as Mouth Fungus is a disease
your fish can get and it needs to be dealt with quickly. Cotton
Mouth disease is not as common as the while spot disease, but,
it is highly infectious and contagious.
The victim fish shows a whitish fungus round the cheeks and
lips. The lips may become swollen and rot away. Sometimes a
rotten strip of lip attached only at one end will move in and
out of the mouth as the fish breathes.
Fish infected with Mouth Fungus lose their appetite and their
movement become sluggish. If no adequate treatment is given,
the whole frontal part of the head may be eaten away finally
and the fish dies.
Unless the affected fish is of consideration value, it should
be killed before this fatal disease attacks the other
occupants, of the tank. Think about it... is trying to save the
life of one fish worth risking the death of the rest of the fish
in your aquarium?
But if you insist on keeping the fish or in case the infection
has already been passed on to other occupants, the following
treatment is advised:
- Swabbing the mouth of the victim fish with a soft cloth
dipped in strong salt solution. Then you must then keep the
patreat isolated in a bucket or jar containing a strong salt
water.
- Try swabbing the lips with a 5 per cent silver mercury
preparation.
- Make a solution of Terramycin or Aureomycuin by dissolving
50mg per gallon of water, a rapid cure is expected within 48
hours.
You can try all of the above remedies, but the most common
remedy is the popular Methylene blue solution. To perform this
remedy the sick fish should be placed in a jar, bucket or a
treatment tank into which has been added a methylene per blue
to colour the water deep blue.
For more great aquarium related articles and
resources check out
http://aquariums.aquariumspot.com
