Is this bad for my angelfish?

[lordpet]

Hello

Yesterday I noticed what might be a fuzzy thing on one of the angelfish's mouth. I have two in a 55g, and occasionally they lip lock and wrestle. I don't know if this is an injury or something more serious.

Thanks for help

 

[SushiRoll]

It looks like either an injury from lip locking or a fugal infection but I'm leaning more towards an injury. I've never had to deal with something like that though so I don't know hat to do other than just keep a close eye on it.


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[Delapool]

Third option is cotton mouth (bacterial). It looks definitely above the mouth? For the OP - could it be an injury?

 

[lordpet]

It's on the bottom lip there. What do you do if it's cotton mouth? How will I know? It hasn't spread yet.

Could be an injury too. Don't really know what that is.

cheers
Pete

 

[Andy Sager]

Lip locking can cause injuries like that but, if being kept in a well maintained tank with excellent water quality, it should heal on it's own. If it starts to spread, my preference is a trip to a hospital tank with some antibacterial medication ( Furan 2 is my #1 choice) and it should be back in the main tank in a week. Unfortunately, diseases around the mouth are the most important (IMO) to heal quickly because if the mouth hurts, the fish doesn't eat. If the fish doesn't eat, they get weak. The weaker the fish, the harder it is for them to fight off diseases. The harder it is for them to fight off diseases, the more likely they will succumb to the disease.

Hope this helps.

 

[kristilynn]

fish lip

I have a breeding pair and when they are cleaning an area to lay eggs one of them gets a wht lower lip.

 

[Andy Sager]

I have a breeding pair and when they are cleaning an area to lay eggs one of them gets a wht lower lip.

As I said, this is not abnormal nor necessarily anything that will stop them from breeding. I have had fish have entire lips pulled off then spawn, damaged eye -next day spawn, shredded fins then spawn. As long as they are in clean water, it's not too much of an issue.
This is part of the issue with breeding fish, especially cichlids. Breeding pairs of fish are not necessarily the best looking after a spawn and some of the injuries are permanent. This is why I say, if you want your fish to stay pretty, DO NOT breed them. That's the only way to be almost sure they will stay that way.

 

[lordpet]

Thanks for the responses. The lip has gotten better., so I think it was just an injury. Maybe she hurt it eating all the ghost shrimp. That was an expensive meal.