sick kohaku

aceplasterer · 24-12-2005, 11:11 AM

;Dhappy christmas everyone

i have a kohaku that is unwell. eyes are very raised he has quite a large lum on one side the scales are raised to the other side is fine at the back of the tail he has wax type lumps it looks to me like carp pox but im not shore. could some one advise me what i should do or what is the problem thanks phil

extremekoi · 24-12-2005, 01:32 PM

Hi Phil, the waxy lumps on the tail sounds like carp pox, the bulging eyes and raised scales however is not good news and sounds like dropsy. Dropsy, (pinecone disease) is an internal bacterial infection that attacks the kidney and is very difficult to treat, in most cases is fatal.

Antibiotic injection is probably your best hope, but in honesty the prognosis is not good, most of the time the kidney is beyond repair and even with an antibiotic injection the chances of the Koi surviving is 1-5%.

Obviously I cant say that your Koi has Dropsy, but if it has it may be kinder to put it asleep, sorry for the bad news.

Is it possible to post a photo so we can have a closer look ?

brettkoi · 24-12-2005, 05:47 PM

hi,I would agree ,it does sound like dropsy ,salt baths may help but i have never known a fish to survive when its that far gone,but you never know koi can be very hardy,antibiotics are definately his best chance,good luck.sorry to read your letter it is heart breaking to lose a good koi...even the best keepers in the world cant keep koi illnesses at bay ,we must all just do our best to prevent them happening and luckily with sites like these we can help each other learn through unfortunate events like these.I have lost some lovely koi to dropsy in the past after trying everything..sometimes its better to be cruel to be kind and other times not to give up on our koi,hope you make the right choice.

aceplasterer · 24-12-2005, 06:00 PM

Hi thanks for your replies. are my other koi at risk of getting droppsy. i got to say that it must be the worst bacterial disease going. i dont have a digi cam so cant post any pics sorry. regards phil

extremekoi · 24-12-2005, 06:19 PM

Dropsy is not contagious as such, do all the other Koi look ok ? have you checked the water ? was this Koi in your unheated pond or heated quarantine tank ?

aceplasterer · 24-12-2005, 09:16 PM

Hi mark my other koi look fine and are up and eating well. this kohaku is in my unheated pond. i havent checked the water. i need a new test kit any joy. maybe after xmas or new year. as a precaution should i add some salt at 1/2 ounce per gallon my pond holds 2600gals .

extremekoi · 24-12-2005, 11:02 PM

I would Phil, wont do any harm, glad the others look ok, I wouldnt worry too much about it, just keep your eyes on the others.