# Congo Tetras white mouth...



## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Hi guys, for a long time i've noticed my congos to have a white mouth on the inside but its not fuzzy or anything (not all but many) and many look like their mouth have eroded a little like the skin being gone...but I cant tell if it could be from smashing into rocks or glass or something else. None of the other fish show this symptom.

The congos (school of 18) are always fighting and chasing each other and many show signs of wanting to breed. As far as their overall health, they have great appetite and their colors seem fine to me. Thing is i dont remember them being this way a few years ago when their group size was only 12 or 13 and when they were smaller in size.

I've tried treating for a week with melafix, pimafix and even both with little change. Forgot to mention, the tank is a 120 gallon with an Eheim 2217 and a 2260 filter on it. Temperature is 76F. There are some live plants as well. The only water parameter that might be a little off is the PH which is on the low side - around 6.2.

So what do you guys think? Could it just be from bumping into stuff? Any help or suggestions welcome.

I've provided a video that might hopefully give a clue. Any suggestions welcome

PS you have to right click on the link and save it to your computer...for some reason it fails when trying to stream.
http://powerthings.com/pics/congo.wmv


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Does it look like the skin is rubbed off or does it look like cotton on the mouth. Hard to tell in the video. If you could get a close up pic would help more.


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Hi there.

It looks more like the skin has been rubbed off. There is no fuzziness or cotton like appearance to the white areas. 

PS. I'll try and take a pic but they move so fast.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

What else is in there with them its possible something is chasing them and they are banging into stuff unless they are fighting I really dont know to much about them.I had one silver dollar who freaked at anything his mouth was always raw.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Hi since I have the flu today I did a little research for you. apparently they do better in planted tanks with mild mannered fish. They can scare very easy hence the more fish the more they run around all willy nilly. Anything loud will scare them. No bright lights , they like very low light . No rocks in the tank. They like softer water ph around 6.0 This is what I learned from a feww people that keep them. Hope this helps Pat


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

I have a pair of Kribensis, a school of clown loach and some black tetra. I've watched them for long periods of time and I dont ever see any trouble from other fish or aggression from other fish. I do see them fighting amongst each other quite often so I'm not sure if tetra might bite each other on teh mouth more not... only thing I can think of is they are bumping into things. They are definitly fighting more than a few years ago. Maybe they have fully matured and are fighting over the few females in the tank?


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Hi guys, the link I posted wasnt working as streaming for some reason but if you right click on it and save it,it will play back fine.


Thanks for all the help


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

If they are fighting among themselves you might have to cut down the males.


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Noooooo... LOL the males look so colourful. Maybe I can get them a larger tank. I've been thinking of a 180 or 220. Maybe adding another couple females?



pat3612 said:


> If they are fighting among themselves you might have to cut down the males.


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Thanks for doing some research for me friend 

Ok you know what I will do. I will pull the rocks but I will leave the driftwood and the roots. Hmmm I wonder how I can add plants without bright lights. Well the tank right now is not extremely bright but its nto dim either.

Maybe I can use some kind of lighting that is more of spot light so maybe the front half can be bright and the rear be dim. I can put some small live plants towards the front maybe?



pat3612 said:


> Hi since I have the flu today I did a little research for you. apparently they do better in planted tanks with mild mannered fish. They can scare very easy hence the more fish the more they run around all willy nilly. Anything loud will scare them. No bright lights , they like very low light . No rocks in the tank. They like softer water ph around 6.0 This is what I learned from a feww people that keep them. Hope this helps Pat


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

The video I posted (the link) now works if you right click and save it first before you play it. You can see what I mean about fighting. They seem very active and healthy otherwise except for the white part on the mouth of some of them.



pat3612 said:


> If they are fighting among themselves you might have to cut down the males.


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Hi guys, I have some pictures which would hopefully be better than the video I tried to post. I also have a shot of the tank to show their surroundings like rocks, driftwood..etc. I'm hoping that it looks like just scrapes against stuff and not some disease.

I've labeled the three in worst condition as fish A, B and C. Mind you that all the fish behave normal and happy so I dont think its some kind of infection but maybe I'm wrong.


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