QUestion about koi fish?

Question

my beloved koi fish looks sick because it's tail is too bent and it has a hard time swimming. It's skin feels different. It's too soft and the jelly feeling is gone. (koi fish really have that jelly stuff on it, but mine is gone). It also has a wound on its side. All in all, I need help.! his scales are falling out one by one and i'm afraid that my other koi fish might catch its sickness!! What do I do? Should I seperate it from the others? or should I just leave alone?? I need major help here. I love that koi :( thanks everyone!

Answer 1

Some thing is seriously irritating the fishes skin if scales are falling out and the slime coat seems to be gone. Before you do anything else I would suggest checking the ammonia and nirtites in the tank and doing a 50% water change. You mention a wound on his side. Does it look like he hurt himself or more like an ulcer? If it looks like a cut or scratch, then you really don;t need to do anything about it. If it looks like an ulcer you will need to treat the tank.

From what you describe I believe you probably have a water quality issue in the tank that a large water change will help correct. This water quality problem has lead to a bacteria infection in the fishes skin. Treat the tank with Furanace or Maracyn for at least 2 weeks after doing that big water change. Be sure to clean the gravel as you change the water and remove the carbon from your filter while you treat the tank or the carbon will remove the medication from the water.

Best of luck!

MM

Answer 2

Hi there,
I know how you feel! I have a Koi who is my sweetheart! I did some research and found this website
http://fins.actwin.com/disease/chart1.php
try and answer the questions and it should help. I buy a brand named Mardel and the medication works pretty good if you use it correctly. But act fast. Go as soon as you can to your local pet shop to get the medication and it is best if you can have a hospital tank set up. Best of Luck !!!

Answer 3

I know how you feel, having some of my koi for many years.

First of all, are there any other fish that are showing the same signs? This is important or will be.

Since we cannot see your fish here are a few he could be suffering you will have to determine if your fish has one or more of these. Also, how old is your Koi?

If your fish are losing scales for no apparent reason (such as breeding) then it is commonly found to be caused from Myxosporidiosis. The only treatment for this is to keep doing water changes and get rid of the parasites. Symptoms: Fish gasping, pale gills loss of scales and or color.

Bent Spine or tail- This can be caused from vitamin C deficiency, as well as injury. If you have any electricity making its way into the water this can cause a bent spine or tail as well.

Fish Tuberculosis- The bacteria Mycobacterium is responsible for this problem. This infection can infect humans, so take precautions when siphoning water from the tank. (do not swallow it) Wash your hands very well when finished. Symptoms: Affected fish may show loss of appetite, become lazy or listless, and lose color. When the disease has progressed the fish may become emaciated and develop bulbous eyes and skin defects such as loss of slime coat. They may also suffer a deformed spine or tail. A lot of the time no outward signs will be seen before several fish die suddenly. Treatment: In the early stages a human anti-TB drug could be used (seek a veterinarian for this). However, once the disease has advanced the medication does not seem to help. Always remove the sick and dying fish. Your other fish will eat on the dead or dying. By removing them you keep from spreading the disease in the aquarium.

Loss of slime coat can be from a number of different things. Mostly stress. However fish will become stressed when parasites or other diseases affect them. The loss of their slime coat allows bacteria and parasites to attack the fish including ich.

Are you treating your pond with potassium? One must be careful when adding potassium as not to over dose.
if you do or have:

Item #1 is dilute the residual PP. If it is still purple, dose massively with Amquel at 2x the recommended label dose. This will instantly terminate the PP treatment and convert the PP to manganese dioxide.

Item #2 is to throw as much aeration into the pond as possible. O2 levels *must* be kept at saturation for the next 5+ days.

Item #3 is to execute a massive waterchange. At 20-25 ppm, there will be a bunch of manganese dioxide (brown muck) in the water which will precipitate onto the gills and suffocate the fish. We want this stuff out of the water ASAP. I'd start at 75% and see what the water looks like.

Item #4 is to dose the refilled pond with 500 ml of 3% H2O2 per 500 gallons of water. This will decolorize the water, let you see the damage, and add badly needed O2 to the water. Redose at 200 ml H2O2 per 500 gals every 12 hours. This is strictly an oxygen-adding thing after the first dose.

Item #5 is to reduce the temperature if possible to 70 degrees. At this temp, the O2 demands of the fish start to drop a little while their immune systems are still functional. I would not hesitate to drop the fish down to 65 if they seem happy. The gills are badly fried, and we are working on an oxygen-budget thingy here.

Item #6 is to stop feeding entirely. No food for at least 2 days. I'm
guessing I'll extend this rule to nearly a week. We don't want ammonia being produced. We want those gills to be *completely* free for O2/CO2 exchange.

Item #7 is to provide cover for the fish. Grab a couple of sheets of
styrofoam and float them on top of th water. Don't underestimate the value of this.

Item #8 is to add salt. I don't want 0.3% initially, but get your customer primed with enough salt to go to 0.3% (or maybe even higher). Get the salt on-premises and ready to roll at the first sign of problems. For the moment, you want to see 0.1% ASAP. This will reduce the osmotic energy expenditure by a fair percentage and assist a bit in O2/CO2 exchange. It also helps to regenerate the slime coat.

It is always a good idea to seperate a sick fish from others especially when you do not know what is wrong.

The wound on it's side could have allowed parasites or bacteria to infect your fish.

I would recomend removing your fish for his own health to an already prepared tank. You don't want more undue stress on him. Treat him for a bacterial infection since this honestly is what I think is the underlying cause and undue stress. Besure to feed him a few oranges to get the vit. c level back up...or vit. c enriched pellets (believe it or not, marine pellets have more than goldfish food. you may want to add a few to his diet. It won't harm them in any way) I woud also toss him a few peas or green beans.

I would be sure to add stress coat to your tank or another stress coat aid. Watch your fish for other signs of infection or parasites like ich. Too many parasites and bacteria attacking your fish at once only makes things worse. As far as his tail or spine, This could have been caused by a number of things as I have said.

Don't forget to add salt to the water as well. Salt in proper doses can inhibit the growth of some bacteria and parasites.

Do you run salt in your outside ponds?

I am not sure this will help and I wish you the best of luck and hope your fish makes a full recovery.

Feel free to im or email me if you need additional help.

Answer 4

That fish is definatly sick. www.koivet.com
www.fishdoc.com
www.goldfishconnection.com
Phishy Pharmacy get the number and order meds.
You most likely need a vet to adminsiter anti-biotic shot to save this fish.
Separate him immediately and seek professional help.
Look for someone in your area. You are gonna have to play a little phone tag.

Answer 5

yes you should quarantine the fish. could be stress and possibly a bacteria infection.