PLS PLS HELP! Why is my koi bleeding?

Question

I notice my koi had some injuries near the mouth and on the body. Naturally I thought its another fish (of diff breed) attacking it. Its the only one of a diff breed fish that I mix with 5 of my koi. So I gave that fish away. A week later, i notice the mouth injuries is gettign worst along with bleeding fins. Please advise. What causes this?? I have light squarish plastic ornaments in the pond too. Though its not sharp edged at all, do you think it causes the injuries? What shd I do? Any medicine. Pls help. It pains me to see him like this. Tentatively I put him in another plc, away from the other koi till he has healed.

Answer 1

It sounds like you may have developed an Aeromonas bacterial infection, as this is common after injury, especially with Koi.

If possible try painting the infected area with Mebromine or Potassium Permanganate (a Methylene Blue bath for 30 minutes at double tank strength would also be useful)

Treat this fish in a hospital tank if possible. Melafix is a mild treatment that is effective for Aeromonas, Triple Sulfa is stronger. Stronger yet would be Nitrofurazone or Nitrofurazone/Kanamycin combination.

Please see this article for more information:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Vibrio_Aeromonas.html

For more up to date aquarium treatment/medication information:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Medication.html

EDIT: Please do NOT use Tetracycline in a case of bleeding or ulcers as this medication lowers red blood cell count, which is the last thing you want to do.

Answer 2

I had this same problem once with one of my smaller koi. He got stuck when we were cleaning the tank with a gravel cleaner. It is a good idea to keep the bleeding koi away from his original tank. Koi tend to be very messy fish and there could be tons of bacteria in the water. To treat your injured koi, add a pinch of "freshwater aquarium salt" to the tank's water. I bought mine from walmart. (Make sure it is the one for freshwater and not for saltwater fish). Do not add anymore aquarium salt after this. This salt will help kill unwanted bacteria, protect and heal the koi's wounds and it is perfectly safe for freshwater fish. He should be alright after a couple days. Once the redness is completely gone, you can put him back in his original tank. Now how the bleeding starting? I do not know. He may have got stuck in your filter for a little while. I also don't know how big your koi and your tank is. My tank is 75 gallons and I have one big koi, and a bunch of small koi. If you tank is too small, your koi may be bumping into things (the walls too) when he is trying to swim. Koi are pond fish because they grow big and need a lot of space to swim. AIso make sure you get and use some ick guard liquid for you tank. Ick is a very bad disease that will spread to the whole tank. If you see your fish swimming a bit weirdly and these mystery injuries happening, you may have ick. We lost a ton of our koi from this. I would advise to you use ick guard liquid because if ick really is the problem, you may lose your fish soon.

Answer 3

Bleeding mouth and fins can certainly be from damage, but can also be the signs of a blood borne infection. A potential source of damage might be predators attempting to catch the fish or of course any rough or sharp objects.

If this bleeding is also seen in the fishes tail or ventrical fins, I would suspect it's the result of an infection and I would suggest removing it from the pond to the smallest container it could be reasonably confortable in and treating with antibiotics. I would recommend Furanase as the best over the counter choice or Cipro from a vet. In a pinch, another reasonable choice would be either tetracycline or amoxicillin. Just treat as the package or the vet suggests.

MM

Answer 4

try a veterinarian you may be surprised..maybe try several.. just call and ask if this vet has any experience with fish.

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