Unidentified redness and swelling on koi?

Question

New koi, brought home and noticed a redness and slight swelling on one gill. Looks like a battlewound or ulcer but I want to make sure that it isn't a parasite or fungas. Want to treat if necessary. Please help

It is only one fish, and he has now been in there 3 days and is vibrant but no reduction of site. It's on the gill but not near the opening. Only way I can describe it is like an ulcer. No visible parasites. And is being started in a 55 gal tank (he's about 5 inches long) before going to my pond with the other koi.

Answer 1

Nice theft of copyright protected material above. Here's the link to what she didn't copy for you.
http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/gill%20disease.htm

It's rare to see battle damage on the actual gill structure of a fish. They usually go to great pains to protect their gills. If this is on the gill cover of operculum then it's another story.

If it looks red around the edges and ulcerated then it's most likely a bacterial infection. It would be rare indeed for a parasite to cause a large red spot on the gill cover of a fish, but it is possible. Fungus infections are generally a secondary infection once the area or the fish is in some other way damaged or sick.

A more detailed description, or much better would be a photo, would be needed to get very far with a diagnosis. If at all possible please provide some additional details about the affected area or post a link to a photo of the area if you can. If you would like to email me a photo you can send that to [e-mail] and I'll send you a link you can add to the question so everyone can see it.

MM

Answer 2

Treatments

*Prevention is better than cure and with good water management practices, most gill disease is avoidable.
* If there is the suspicion of a gill problem, is it just one fish or are several affected? The latter will probably indicate an environmental cause.
*Check the water for ammonia, nitrite pH and when was the last time the system was cleaned? If several fish are affected, the system should be cleaned and a substantial water change made, somewhere between 50 -75%. Such is the seriousness of this type of disease.
*In minor cases simply providing optimum environmental conditions may be enough. (Check out the water quality pages and see if you come up to the five point standard); Optimum conditions are mandatory if gill disease is to be successfully treated.
* Examine the fish for parasites. At this stage a skin scrape from immediately behind the operculum will suffice.
* For individual fish a salt bath on two consecutive days is a good start. It won't exacerbate the problem and will help remove any excess mucus or parasites.
*If the salt treatment fails to work the next stage is probably a gill biopsy to see what is going on. If this shows a parasite problem then these will need to be treated. With regard to treating gill disease, a combination of chloramine-T and benzalkonium as separate treatments in a treatment tank - not the pond - will help resolve gill problems provided that they are not too advanced. See the treatment pages for details.
*Potassium permanganate can be used, but it is often a kill or cure treatment. It will rapidly reduce the parasite and bacterial levels as well as reducing dissolved organics. The draw back is that it will push the really sick fish over the top - mainly I suspect because the permanganate forms a temporary precipitate of manganese dioxide in the gills, affecting fish with severe respiratory problems.
*The outlook for more advanced cases where there is severe hyperplasia and/or bacterial / fungal infection is not good. I have had some success - not a lot - with intensive treatment of chloramine-T and benzalkonium chloride together with antibiotic treatment.

Answer 3

The redness you see is from stress. Often times I bring new koi or have them shipped and this occures. It is actually from the shipping process. Temperatures get way too warm and elevated with the lack of oxygen. this will turn the inside gill plates red and seem swollen. Nothing a lot of cooler water and a fountain or water fall will not cure.

Your Koi should be quarantened anyway prior to placing them into your pond. If you do not see visual parasites, there aren't any it is from the shipment. Many of mine arrive that way. Also, these will occur when the water has been cold and they are left in water (bags or containers when shipped) and is refered to as koi pox, although in a minor form. they will clear when the water gets warmer. It isn't a fungus.

Keep an eye on them (it) you will see the gills get lighter in a matter of a day or two as long as the pond is cycled properly and running. I really hate to say sometimes when buying larger koi, the process of netting them also will catch a gill and damage the fish. I've seen this a hundred times.

Just keep an eye on him. if he isn't bleeding and begins to acclimate, he will be fine.