sick koi

17 years ago

Hi Everyone,

We are having a sick koi problem that can't be solved. Here are the specifics:

New pond -3 weeks old

1,350 gallons - city water

Aquascape System with one waterfall and two streams

Ammonia - none

Nitrate - none

pH - 8.0

Pond is mixed with fancy goldfish 4-6" and koi 8-12". All fish are approximately 3 years old. Where transfered from an existing pond and were in good health. This week we noticed five koi - no goldfish - with a heavly slime coat on their bodies only, staying on the bottom and listing to one side. That day we were able to catch one of them and took it to a local fish/pond friend who did scrapings to test for parasites and flukes - nothing. The slime coat had nothing alive in it. Sadly, that koi did not make it. I still have 4 koi left with the same problems. So far we have added salt and have done daily water changes and also added a aerator on the bottom on the pond.

Has anyone ever heard or dealt with this problem? My vet via a phone conversation brought up Spring Veremia? We are desperate for any help.

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Comments (3)

surfhead
17 years ago
excessive slime coat might be costia. How skilled was the person with the microscope? costia is not an easy parasite to catch with a scope and you wouldn't check the slime, but rather mucus from the gills and the anus.

Other things can cause excessive slime coat, but if the fish are isolating themselves, not eating and dying...I suspect costia. I would dose with Proform C right away. Proform C should take care of Costia. If you don't see improvement you may need to look into injectible antibiotics.

If another koi dies, look at its gills...if you see white patches over the gills...definitally Costia.

But we need to talk about something else....12 3y/o old fish in a 1300 gallon aquascapes pond.....REALLY not a good situation!!!! you are WAY overstocked and the aquascapes design has terrible filtration and even worse circulation. They make for really nice water gardens, but not koi ponds and definitally not overstocked koi ponds!!! You will continue to have health problems with these fish in this pond. I would redesign the pond or find a new home for the koi. JMHO
mike_il
17 years ago
I would guess one of two possible problems. The first is that your test kit is wrong and there is ammonia in the pond. Are the fish laying at the bottom with their fins clamped to their body. The second is with our weather going from warm to cold every day that the fish are being affected by that. Yes it could be what was mentioned above but I don't think so. It won't hurt to treat with ProformC. But I would think about have the water tested by another test kit. A lot of pet stores will test the water for free if you bring in a sample. With the PH at 8 even a very small amount of ammonia will affect the fish.
Mike
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dderbyman
17 years ago
Need Some help. 2 of my 8in koi jumped out of my indoor tank (110gal) that I just put them in. The water was tested before placing and it was perfect. I found them both at the same time. Both were put back in and one of them is not looking right. It stays on the bottom of the tank and doesn't eat like the rest. On the back fins, it looks as though there are white gost strings flowing behind it and the sides of it are a fant white almost grey. The koi is black with an orange face. Now 1 of my 4in koi (all white) has white bumps on its top fins that look like growths. This just started. I took them out of my 1600gal pond last week. Any help would be greatful.