Angelfish red extended mouth

[hennaartist]

I've had my prized Superval Angel for a couple years now. I raised if from a quarter sized baby. Yesterday I noticed a little red around his mouth. Today it seems worse and extended, as if he has something in there (but doesn't).

It's a 55 gallon (with UV sterilizer) and my water parameters are all normal (first thing I checked). He is the only angel in the tank, housed with rainbows.

 

[Andy Sager]

Sometimes they get their mouth's stuck. Sounds stupid, I know, but I had the same happen to one of mine recently. I accidently scared him and he knocked into the side glass of the tank and it straightened the whole thing out. It must not have hurt him because he spawned tonight.
That's assuming the mouth is not infected. I can't tell 100% from the picture. If the area surrounding the lips is not red or inflamed, bloody or structurally damaged, I'd leave it be. If the mouth is showing any of these other signs, that would indicate an infection or a wound and should be treated with an antibiotic in a hospital tank.

Hope this helps

 

[hennaartist]

Thank you so much for your response.
It's mouth appears to have a reddish streak on each side, and has gotten a little worse since yesterday. I do not have a hospital tank, but I've dosed my whole tank with melefix a year or so ago without any issue. Would you recommend that?

 

[brennae]

Thank you so much for your response.
It's mouth appears to have a reddish streak on each side, and has gotten a little worse since yesterday. I do not have a hospital tank, but I've dosed my whole tank with melefix a year or so ago without any issue. Would you recommend that?

Usually Melafix isn't recommended by the keepers I would refer to as experts. It has tea tree oil in it and while it may aid as an antiseptic it won't fix the problem. Andy breeds angels so maybe send him a pm this evening. He will know what to do. He's helped me a lot. There are just so many threads in this forum that one can't get to all of them sometimes so a pm would be your best bet.
I'm sorry I'm not more help. I don't know a whole lot about fish disease or angels for that matter.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you so much for your response.
It's mouth appears to have a reddish streak on each side, and has gotten a little worse since yesterday. I do not have a hospital tank, but I've dosed my whole tank with melefix a year or so ago without any issue. Would you recommend that?

Sorry, you need to clarify. Angels have a vein that runs through to the mouth so that may be what you are seeing. But a healthy vein and an infected vein look very different. If the vein looks small and just is red in color, that's okay. If it looks inflamed and nasty ( and the surrounding tissue to the veins looks abnormal, that's an issue. If you look at the mouth region in this pic: http://aquariumtidings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/P.scalare.sunset_blushing.neil916.jpg , you can see the vein running through to the lower jaw. If that area was really red and inflamed, the red would be more pronounced.. Hopefully you can tell the difference.

As for the Melafix, as previously stated, it's really more a preventative than a curative. I've not used the product myself but everything I've heard or read about the product leads me to believe it would not help in this situation.