Snakeskin gouramis have white mouths

Question
Greetings...I've had 2 snakeskin gouramis for 2 years now. They are each about 8" long.They live with three 1' long ropefish, a 6" raphael cat, & 3 silver dollars about 5" across in a 55 gal. tank. Their mouths have recently turned white and one of them appears to have dropsy. They are active and still interested in eating. What's wrong and how do I treat this? I have a 40 gal tank set up that I can use as a hospital tank if nec. or would it cause too much stress to move them? They eat a variety of frozen food and Spectrum dry food (the ropes eat carnivore pellets). The tank is kept at 80 degrees. Thanks in advance, Julia

Answer
Hi Julia

If they are both active and eating well, then neither of them has Dropsy. Fish that have Dropsy appear bloated, are lethargic, don't eat and have scales that stick out like a pine cone.

The white mouth is called Columnaris, aka mouth fungus. It is caused by poor water quality and an improper diet. It is contagious so your entire tank will need to be treated. Use an antibiotic like Maracyn. Before treating the tank, do a 30% water change and vacuum the gravel. You'll need to add a large airstone to the tank because most fish medications reduce oxygen levels.
Follow the directions on the Maracyn exactly. Remove the carbon from your filter or it will remove the medication from the water. After treatment, which I think is 5 days, do another 30% water change. Replace the carbon cartridge in your filter with a new one.

You're going to have to provide your fish better care if you are going to keep them healthy. I don't blame you here, I think you may have been given some bad advice on what they need.

Gouramis and Silver Dollars both need some greens in their diet. Tetramin Tropical Flakes will provide all of your fish a well balanced diet. Supplement with some algae based flakes or pellets. Algae wafers, and most bottom feeder pellets will suffice for the Ropefish and Raphy Cat. All of your fish including the Ropefish and Raphy Cat can have freeze dried Bloodworms and live or freeze dried Brine Shrimp occasionally.

Water changes are very important. A 25% water change must be done every week. Vacuum the gravel thoroughly to remove excess fish waste and food particles. Change out the carbon in your filter every 2 weeks or at least once a month.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard