# Do I have a fish fungus or something else?



## EBParks (Dec 22, 2010)

In my main recirculating system of mobile fish exhibit specimens, I have 2 tanks of various sunfish species. In one of them I’ve noticed a white growth along the lips/teeth of the sunfish in that tank only. I’ve treated it with maracyn plus antibiotics, but it seems to be persisting. I have moved them into a quarantine tank now. However before I treat them again I was wondering if this sounds like anything you know of. Is it perhaps a fungus? Any help would diagnosing and treating would be very helpful. Thanks!


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Is it only on one fish, or on several? 

Tell us a bit more what the white growth looks like. Is it flat, does it stick out, does it look fluffy like cotton wool, or like cauliflower? A photo would help. 

Without more information it's not really possible to say what it is. Fungal infections are often caused by bad water quality, injury or stress and can usually be easily treated just with clean water, extra water changes often help. It could be columnaris which is bacterial.
Fish Diease Columnaris | [email protected]

To be honest I'd hold off on the meds until you have a better idea of what the problem is. Medication can be effective but is often hard on fish so if you don't know what you are treating for it tends to just make things worse.

Other information that would help:
Do you test the water for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates? If so tell us the readings.
Were the fish wild collected? If so how long ago?
What size are the tanks and how many fish are in them?
When you say mobile, do you mean you move the fish around to different locations? Give us a brief description on how you do that.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

When I kept sunfish, they really acted like cichlids. And if it is like a discoloration of the lips, more pale beige than white and not involving any eating away of the lips, it could well be Springtime hitting your sunfish, from lip-locking and fighting. 
They always got very territorial at this time of year here, and mouth injuries are common in the cichlid world when males spar. I would expect sunfish to be the same, more or less. 
If you separate the fighters and keep it clean, it usually goes away with time. You have to beware if you see any loss of flesh or if it begins to appear higher up, in the nasal area. Then, it's infected.
In my jurisdiction, I can't buy aquarium antibiotics without a veterinary prescription, so I get by easily without them. The whiteness around the mouth can be the fish equivalent of puffy skin and black eyes on a human who has been fighting. In cichlids, you sometimes see lips torn in half. I usually separate the brawlers and leave them apart, and the healing is really rapid.
It does raise longterm keeping issues though - they won't stop that fighting if you put them back together, although they may not always get injured in it.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I keep a pumpkinseed sunfish but I only have one so I't doesn't get the chance to fight. I tried keeping two together and that didn't work at all.


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