Koi Sick - Rock Stuck in His (or Her) Mouth! Please Help!

15 years ago

I took the koi out of the pond and put him in a spare 29 gal tank a little while ago to see what his problem was since he was just laying at the bottom of the pond with his fins down. All the other fish in the pond is just fine.

I was just about to post the message asking for help because I could not find any symptoms for just a swollen red mouth. Until I stumbled upon someone on the web that had a koi with a rock stuck in his mouth since the symptom was the koi could not shut his mouth. Unfortunately with that case the owner did not notice the rock until the koi died.

Once I saw this I ran to the tank to pick up the fish to see if he had something stuck in his mouth and sure enough he had a huge stone in there. I went to the garage and got a pair of needle nosed pliers and luckily was able to gently pull it out with any additional force or stress to the poor fish.

Now with that being done I added melefix to the tank since his mouth is very red and irritated. I noticed him laying on the bottom of the pond a couple of days ago so the stone must have been in his mouth for at least a few days without him being able to eat.

Now my question is what else can I do to ensure full recovery? Did I do the right thing by adding the melefix? Should I put him back in the pond now or wait until he recovers?

Thanks in advance for your help! I have had koi ponds for about 7 years and seem to always battle when they get sick and I really would like this koi to live.

I have posted photos on my website so you can get a better idea of what I am explaining.

Thanks,

Jason

Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of my sick Koi and rock

Comments (3)

bella-orlando
Original Author
15 years ago
Is it the time of year or is this forum dead!

ItÂs a good thing I know a little thing or two about this or my fish would be dead if I relied on the zero responses from this forum.

The good news is that after the redness and swelling went down I moved the koi into the main pond from my sick tank.

He is doing great! He is back to normal!

I usually am in the pool forum but I will check in here to try to help since nobody else is.

Sincerely,
Jason
sleeplessinftwayne
14 years ago
Hey there, Jason. The regular posters on this forum must not have a lot of problems and they are too modest to show off their ponds. I didn't know there was a pool forum.I'm usually on the Aquatic plants and Ponds forum where on occasion we get a bit out of hand. Rowdy I think is the word someone used. So far this spring things have been quiet but I still have hopes.
I certainly was interested in your post. I think I read about a similar case on either Dr. Johnson or one of the other sponsored Vet links when I was just starting to learn about fish and ponds. It made me very conscious of every rock in every flower pot. LOL! I'll take a look at that pool forum. We were discussing a natural bottom pool not too long ago. Sandy
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old_house_j_i_m
14 years ago
Hi Jason, I just had a small koi die yesterday and was looking on here for some commentaries on what it may have been. You may not have gotten a response for your question, but I am logging in the symptoms and the images you posted (really sad looking, im sorry you had to go thru this) in case something like this happens to my fish. I am at the very beginning of koi keeping and usually look for answers to my questions on here, but hopefully, as time goes along, ill have the expertise to assist someone with my knowledge.