Pleco mouth fungus......

[Chooka]

Hey Guy's,

My big Gibbi has a bit of a growth around his mouth in a couple of spots. it almost seems like an extension of the texture of the mouth, thought it may have been a Columnaris Infection but all the pic's I have seen don't look like this......
Sorry about the poor pics, what is this and how can I treat it??

Brett

 

[guppy]

Are these hardish nodules with the apparent texture of cauliflower? If so it is probably lyphocystitis, a viral disease with no known treatment except occassionaly surgery. It is very mildy contagious but sometimes after getting large the tumors fall off by themselves.

 

[Chooka]

I have not felt the hardness of them but yes they do have a cauliflower like texture to them, He is eating and acting as he always has but with these growths....

How does this come about if it is indeed lyphocystitis?

Brett

 

[guppy]

It is a virus that can remain inactive for years, no one seems to know just what triggers it.

 

[Chooka]

Is it going to affect his eating and such and what is the outcome for him?

 

[Ianab]

If the growths get too big they may affect it's ability to eat by physically interfering with it's mouth.

But often the growths just drop off after 6-12 months or so and the fish is fine again. It seems to be similar to warts in people, after a while they develop a resistance to them and they drop off.

My big goldspot had one of those growths, it didn't seem to affect it though (it was on the tip of it's snout). It vanished about 6 months ago and hasn't come back, although it left a small scar where it had been. It hasn't infected the other plecs yet.. hopefully it wont.

With luck it wont have any long term affect on him though.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Chooka]

Thanks Ian,

He seems to be acting normal and eating well so hopefully it will just fall off!

Brett

 

[guppy]

As Ian said, these often resolve themselves, sometimes they grow enough to interfere with eating but that is not to common.