# How long does it take?



## chinook (Oct 20, 2009)

I have treated my tank twice for cotton mouth, the last treatment was about 3 weeks ago. My male bosemani still has a white "mustache" but he is eating fine and seems back to normal. Is this still a sign of cotton mouth? How long will it take to go away? I want to add more fish but not to a sick tank.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

If it's still cottonmouth, then it should be pretty obvious that it is, but if it was, I don't think this fish would be doing very well. Without anything else to go on, I am going to wildly guess that you are seeing the remaining damaged tissue left over from the infection, and that could take well over a month to heal, if it ever does.


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## chinook (Oct 20, 2009)

That's kind of what I was thinking/hoping. It seemed like he had it quite badly, compared to the others and it does look a little better but like I said, still some white stuff there. I will wait for another week or so, but I want to start replacing some of the ones that died last month, I am looking to get some redline torpedo barbs (or what ever LFS is calling them that day) but they are expensive and I don't want to lose them.

Thanks.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Don't even think about it.
Seriously.
Those are expensive because they're endangered but still unrestricted.
They belong only in tanks which are perfect. To put them into a tank with disease problems is absolutely unconscionable. you may have gotten your fish past it, but the cottonmouth germs are still in your tank, waiting to strike, and they will.


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## chinook (Oct 20, 2009)

Ever?!?

What do I do to my tank to get it perfect again? That is the whole reason I set it up, those fish are going to be my center piece. I don't mind waiting a few months but eventually I want these fish.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Fine, then.
In that case, start over. Break it down, flush it out with bleach, the whole works, and don't forget the equipment. I wish I was kidding. The cottonmouth/Myxo bacterias are some seriously hard to eliminate ones, and they will keep coming back again & again until you finally just nuke them. The amount of antibiotics it would take to do the job would wreck your filters, anyway, so save the time & money you'd spend on them.

After that, don't put any other fish in the tank before you get your Redlines. ( you should cycle the tank without fish )
Put them into a QUARANTINE tank for a month, and if they look good, finally put them into the main tank where they should be safe. After that, quarantine any new fish before adding them to the Redline's tank.

Yes, it's a lot of hassle. It's also what really works. Anything else... probably won't


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## chinook (Oct 20, 2009)

That sucks!

I just got a QT tonight, in fact I just plugged it in 5 minutes ago...


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Yay!
Your life as a fishkeeper just got a lot easier.


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