# Black skirt tetra with mass on mouth



## heatchristine16 (Nov 8, 2015)

One of my moms black skirt tetras has a weird white/opaque mass on its mouth. It almost looks like a rock. I have never seen anything like it before. 

1. Size of tank? 10g

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia?
b. Nitrite?
c. Nitrate?
d. pH, KH and GH?
e. Test kit?
No idea 
3. Temperature? 78

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? Freshwater 

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? At least 5 years

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?
Tetras 5 black skirts 
7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? Yes

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? Fake
b. Sand, gravel, bare-bottom? Gravel
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? Large ship decor hollow and little statue of a snail and frog 

9. a. Filtration? Tetra whisper 2-10 internal power filter
b. Heater? Yes

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? 8 hours a day floressant lights 
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? Indirect sunlight as long as it is daytime

11. a. Water change schedule? 25% every 2 weeks 
b. Volume of water changed? 25%
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? Tap water
d. Water conditioner used? Api stress coat
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? Twice a month

12. Foods? Tetramin tropical flakes 
How often are they fed? Once a day

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms? Mass on mouth 
b. Appearance of poop?
c. Appearance of gills?

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? No
b. What meds were used? None

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.


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## Bridget01 (Jan 19, 2011)

This is exactly the problem my fish has. My answers to the questions are pretty much the same, except my tank is 30 gallons.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Bridget, in 30+ years of freshwater fish keeping and literally hundreds of different aquariums, I have never seen this. That being said, if this was my fish I would respond with a daily water change of about 10 gallons per day for the next 5-7 days. I would remove the infected fish and would not treat the tank with any medication.

I'm not saying this is the correct course of action as I can't diagnose the problem. But I can tell you this is how I would respond with my level of experience. The goal, in my opinion, should be to prevent this from spreading.


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## Bridget01 (Jan 19, 2011)

Thanks. He is still swimming around. I will do what you suggest.


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