HELP! Swollen lips/mouth!

weichen14

Exodon
MFK Member
Jul 2, 2013
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Hi, my texas cichlid's lips/mouth is swollen. He runs the tank so I doubt it was lip locking. It was fine yesterday until tonight. It was hiding most of the time tonight; I didn't think about because it does that sometimes but when he didn't come out for food, I knew something was wrong. Please tell me what he has if it's an infection. :cry:
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the animal guy

Arapaima
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Aug 23, 2009
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that's duck lips. There r thick chunky puss inside his flesh at the mouth n snout area that will buld up n spread fast.

unplug heater, Metro bath asap! Or Say bye in a few days

clean water is a must.
 

weichen14

Exodon
MFK Member
Jul 2, 2013
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NYC
that's duck lips. There r thick chunky puss inside his flesh at the mouth n snout area that will buld up n spread fast.

unplug heater, Metro bath asap! Or Say bye in a few days

clean water is a must.
Thanks. I just put him in a bucket for now and added some aquarium salt. I will have to wait till tomorrow to get the medication. Whats the ideal water temperature?
 

the animal guy

Arapaima
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Aug 23, 2009
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Thanks. I just put him in a bucket for now and added some aquarium salt. I will have to wait till tomorrow to get the medication. Whats the ideal water temperature?
that's a big mistake if you wait another day with him in the bucket. Big mistake. Get Metro asap! This DL thing you can not wait 1 day too late
 

JasonsPlecosCichlids

Goliath Tigerfish
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Jan 23, 2010
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Take him out, put him in a quarantine tank. Do not use a heater, the water needs to be cold, high 60's or so. I had this issue with my Amph, it cleared up in about 2 weeks, actually I think about a week but I gave it another week. One thing I noticed is, once the water temps went back up, he got it again. I'm thinking this fish will always have it. I keep my tanks around 76 degrees now and it went away for the second time. I also used salt and filtration, no other meds. But yes if no action is taken, he will die soon.

That white spot of his face will most likely explode soon and it will start to eat his face a little. Once it goes away, if you are that lucky, he will be left with a hole in his face but it should grow back. My Dempsey had this and my Amp species. Both are still living but I did lose a few other when I didn't know how to possibly cure.

I also did 50% water changes every single day, it's easy when they are in a small tank. Remember to add salt back.
 

notho2000

Silver Tier VIP
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Aug 16, 2010
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I have had several fish come down with "ducklips"over the years. I've saved only about 25% of the affected fish. It's important to act as soon as you notice it, drop the temp to <75 F, and used kanamycin and metronidazole together. But there are no guarantees that the fish will bounce back. The odd time it seems to progress slowly, most of the time like a shot. And if not treated, your fish will die. Case in point, I had a beautiful pair of Caquetaia spectabilis. One day, I noticed that the male wasn't coming out for his usual "to the font of the line" feeding. I searched and spotted him at the back behind a large chunk of driftwood. His lips protruded slightly and he couldn't close his mouth - ducklips, a manifestation of columnaris flexobacter. I caught it early. I isolated him in a 10G tank with water in the mid 70s, added kanamycin and metro. He lasted a day. On the second day in isolation, he was dead. His mouth and jaws had literally erupted. The disease is horrific.
 

weichen14

Exodon
MFK Member
Jul 2, 2013
49
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21
NYC
Thanks for all the info. I'm getting the medication today as last night was late. Hopefully he'll put through.
 
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