what to do in terms of medicine

**Catgirl78** · 04-10-2011, 04:08 PM

Hi all! If you may remember, I've been treating my 9 neon tetras for mouth fungus. I started with Jungle Tank Buddies "Fungus" tabs. I did 2 courses with them before deciding to go and get Maracyn Plus in liquid form. That medicine did what the tabs did not do. I should mention that I totally messed up the first course of Maracyn because I didn't know light renders it ineffective. So I did 2 more courses with no light on. Maracyn has done wonders.

My question is... I just finished the 2nd course (not counting the one with light on) and 3 of the tetras still have disfigurements. One is still white. Two has black coloring to the "fungus." I'm not sure what I should do with those 3. One actually looks like his mouth is fused together, but he's still eating - just can't see him open his mouth. The 6 look great. Should I cull the 3 or try a different medicine? If I should try a different medicine, should I keep all 9 in the QT tank? They seemed to do better as a group instead of split up at first (only 4 had mouth fungus at first and then 3 more got it so I treated them all).

Thanks for ANY thoughts and suggestions!!

**dbosman** · 04-10-2011, 06:43 PM

Mouth fungus is usually bacterial.
Find an antibiotic and follow the directions. You might want to use two antibiotics. One for gram negative and one for gram positive. Or a combo product. I can't tell you what as it depends on what your local fish shop carries.

**Strider199** · 04-10-2011, 07:24 PM

Catgirl I know it's tough but your question on culling is the way I would handle it. You've treated them and most have recovered from your post. Now it's time to weigh the treatment route as your doing. You cant save them all. It's a tough choice. Tetras like to be in a large group so treating a few seperately may stress them out more. The choice is your to make but dont feel too bad about taking a few loses to save the majority. I know I have had to make that choice. I've had to put a couple down to ensure the majority led full lives.

**Catgirl78** · 04-10-2011, 09:20 PM

On further inspection, I saw that the one with a "fused mouth" actually has the fungus growth on the upper lip that is hanging down a little so you can't see him opening his mouth unless you see him from the side. I noticed a 4th still has fungus on its body - it's hard to know when you have seen them all when you have 9 swimming and hiding behind the decorations.

I can't take pictures - very sorry about that. My camera broke 3 months ago and I have yet to replace it.

At this time, I am wondering if it'd be best to cull the 4 and move the 5 back to the main tank and then go get a few more neons and QT them. If so, should I break down the QT tank totally and start over? I do not have a spare filter from the main tank to put on the QT tank, though. I do have Stability and I'm willing to do daily water changes. I did the same when I moved those fish into QT and didn't lose any of them, even with them being sick.