Please help! My 9" Oranda Goldfish developed some white round specks around his mouth. It almost looks like little teeth. I use Melafix since 3 days because I assume it might be cottonmouth disease but it did not improve yet. Heidi
Picture? Tank parameters? We need lots more info to even have a chance to help out. And even then it is extremely hard to diagnose over the internet. Have you looked through pictures to see what it most looks like?
Picture? Tank parameters? We need lots more info to even have a chance to help out. And even then it is extremely hard to diagnose over the internet. Have you looked through pictures to see what it most looks like?
Yeah I think columnaris is a pretty good guess here. Melafix won't help, it just isn't strong enough. It can provide some healing but not curing. Do you see any of these other symptoms?
A general lack of appetite
White spots around the mouth, fins and scales
Dry skin
A thick and overdeveloped slime coat
A white growth around the mouth
Fins becoming raggedy looking at the edges
Grey or white lines developing around the mouth, which eventually produce short tufts
White growths that look like cotton wool
Lots of water changes and a decrease in temperature can buy you some time while you figure out your attack strategy which needs to start asap. Remember if it is columnaris it is a gram-negative bacteria (not a fungus) and needs gram-negative antibiotics. Here is a decent guide to get you started. http://www.myaquariumclub.com/columnaris-and-what-i-have-learned...-1689.html
Salt seems an iffy treatment for columnaris but when dealing with goldfish I always like salt treatments. Just my 2 cents.