my koi's gills are showing some red what do i do?

Question

i noticed 2 of my 5 koi's have some red near thier gill area i've kept close watch on them lately.
i only took my eyes off of them yesterday because i hurted my wrist and didn't want to do anything that day.
are those redness on their gill life threatning?
where do i research more about it?
what do i need to do to cure them ?
please tell me anything you know about this

also i believe the 2 kois that have red in their gill areas are females.
besides from that their behavior seems energetic

Answer 1

In side the gill slits? Gills should always be pink to a redish color. This is healthy. Koi if coming into breeding will turn even more red due to rapid respiration. Are they swimming and eating? Have you noticed breeding behavior?

Chances are if it is inside the gill slits they are fine. If there are red streaks extending to the outside of the fish towards the scales or fins this could be a few things mainly poor water quality. Test your pond water to ensure the ammonia and nitrites are not high. If their breathing is normal, chances are they are going to be breeding soon, if that has not already happened.

Also, keep an eye on the pond temperatures. Warmer water contains less dissolved oxygen. Koi and goldies need lots of dissolved oxygen in the water. Do you have a fountain?

www.koi.com is a good site for koi as well as the North Americian Koi Breeders Association

Answer 2

From how I'm interpreting your question, it's not the gills themselves that are red (their normal color) but the skin somewhere near the gills.

This can be a few things - if the red is "streaky" through the body or fins, this could be caused by ammonia building up in their tank, or it could be a blood-borne bacterial infection called septicemia.

If the red is in "patches", especially if they start with a whitish fuzzy appearance, it can be a bacterial infection of the skin, such as Columnaris or Furunculosis.

I'd start with a 25-50% water change (or test the water for ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate to see if the levels of any of these are elevated).

If the water test are good, or the water change doesn't bring about any improvement with a day, I'd treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic such as Furanace.

The website for freshwater diseases I usually provide a link to isn't working at the moment, so I'll include these for you to read about the conditions I've talked about here.

If you want to try the additional website, the page is www.fishpalace.org - just look for the disease section.

This could also be due to a physical injury if the redness is something new.

Answer 3

I have 12 koi fish and if I were you I would call the vet to come urgently to take a look.

Answer 4

Bacterial gill infection. Its very serious. Get anti-biotic food, Medi-Gold from www.goldfishconnection.com