Our Koi seem ill and one has died. He has what looks like huge scales behind the gills and along the top of the back, below the dorsal fin. But the rest of the body has no scales at all. They have quit eating and we have seen them repeatedly scraping the sides of their bodies on the bottom of the pond.
Another thing, we have seen talk that they can tolerate everything from very acid to pretty alkaline. We even had one person tell us that if just one concrete block was in the bottom of the pond, that it would be too alkaline for them. Yet we went a couple of years without hearing that and they did fine even though the pond is made of concrete. So what gives there too? We're in big trouble here. Some of our koi are quite large now and we don't want to lose them.
fish dying....Help!
That scraping behavior you see is called flashing. It usually means the fish have a parasite. A really good pet store should be able to look at some skin scrapings under a microscope and diagnose. If you are near a university, they might be able to do the same.
Do a big water change if you can. 50% would be good. Run out to the pet store and pick up medication very soon. Can't remember the name of the one that worked when my fish had skin flukes. Nitrofura? Furazone? Something similar to those. Medications containing copper are good too (I've used Coppersafe from Mardel), but can be toxic to other (invert mostly) aquatic life and even to fish if overdosed. I try to avoid chemicals in my pond, but this is one time you really need them.
How long has this been going on? The fish with big scales-is that a new development? Some koi have what looks like smooth skin with only a few big scales on them, called mirror scales. I forget the japanese term for this scale pattern. On the other hand, if that fish has gone so far as to actually scrape his scales off, you will probably lose him.
Try adding some salt to the pond. Table salt is fine, kosher or none iodized is good too. Use about one tablespoon per five gallons of pond water. Only add it once-salt stays in the pond once it is in there. Salt will ease the breathing of a stressed fish and help build up damaged slime coats.
Koi are pretty tolerant of pH, but neutral to slightly alkaline is best for color and health. Was your concrete pond brand new when the fish went in? Only NEW concrete leaches bad stuff. Old concrete is pretty safe. If your concrete was new at the time, you got lucky. Also, painting or lining a concrete pond will stop the leaching, but if you haven't had this problem so far you won't have it now.
I hope some of this helps. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Sorry to hear you are having problems. Sounds like you fish have a parasite problem. Here is a site with some good information. http://www.koivet.com/html/glossary/glossary_cat.php?category=Symptoms&name=Symptoms&intro=Symptoms
Woodspirit, how are the fish doing?
The salt seems to have helped a little. They are eating more. I had a heckova time finding the medicine but am going over to Asheville right now to pick up some. 120 miles round-trip. I'll post how they do after we dose the pond.....
I'm glad fish are showing some improvement. Eating is always good. 120 miles! I sure hope they have the medicine when you get there!
Well, I had called ahead and they did. We have already treated them once. We will treat them 3 times. But.....I found the culprit causing this. It appears to be Wal-mart! I had bought a couple of especially appealing fish there. One was a small green koi and he did ok for a week or two and then disappeared. Today we were there buying rock salt for the pond and looked at the fish tank. One large koi clearly had flukes and one had a big lesion on his side.
Someone had mentioned here to NOT buy from Wal-mart but I already had and was tempted again because of the interesting array and cheap prices. Now I'm paying big time. So take warning: buy from a reputable fish supplier or store.
Oh no! I too have had bad experiences with retail chain fish. Sometimes I am still tempted and of course I feel sorry for the fish in those tanks. Now I am always careful to quarentine and medicate any new fish before they go in my pond or display tanks. Koi are usually pretty tough-I hope your fish feel better soon.
Some are doing OK but 3 are still not eating much. We have added the salt and the parasite treatment. I don't know when to do the parasite treatment again. I think it is supposed to be 3 doses.......
What medication are you using? Often, the directions for fish meds recommend 3-5 days of repeated treatments, sometimes with water changes between doses. It is often a fine line between enough chemical to kill the parasite without being too much and killing the fish too. Again, koi are tough fish. I hope they come around for you. I would hate to lose any of mine.
Wood, do you have a good fish/aquarium shop nearby? Perhaps give them a call and see if they'll "babysit" your fish for you? Might cost a bunch but if you really want to save those particular fish .. well .. it's a thought.
Good luck...
I went to the WNC Aquarium which is south of Ashevillle and I bought some fish from them last year with no problems. They sold me Dimilin which is supposed to be good for flukes too. I hope it works. I have salted the pond, too