[Emily]

Hello,

I wonder if anyone can help me diagnose a problem with my fish. Details of my set up are below. Since last Thursday my largest Koi (see picture - the metallic gold and white fish) has been lying at the bottom of the pond on his side. His gills move a little and sometimes he seems to gulp a lot and will suddenly swim but very erratically, like he's thrashing around, then sink again. My local aquatic centre think it's old age, but tested my water and found it to be in very good condition. I was okay with their conclusion until today when the second biggest Koi also started staying at the bottom of the pond and lying on his side. This second fish has been ill looking for a while - he has white waxy spots on his scales, as (vaguely) see in the attached picture. Now I wonder if this is what is harming them both. Could anyone help with a diagnosis please? I've treated the pond with Tetra medifin today, but think it's probably too late for these two.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.


1) Ph = 7.5
ammonia between 0-0.25
nitrite between 0-0.1
have not done other tests.

2) 1500 litres, Blagdon amphibious P3000 pump + fountain, bottom-up filter, top-down + UV filter.

3) Not sure how long the pond has been set up, but some of the fish were over 12 years old when I bought the house (3 years ago).

4) No new fish since last summer.

5) 4 x large Koi (12inches+), 1 x small Koi, 2 x small lemon goldfish, 1 x large golden orfe, 1 x sarasa comet, 1 x shubunkin.

6) No recent changes to the above.

7) include tap water readings (not sure what this means as I top up with rain water).

[miles41]

I doubt it'll be old age Emily, it looks like they are suffering from something. It would be best to get a scrape done if you can, as this helps in identifying any diseases.

[Emily]

I'm not sure what a scrape is. Could you advise on how to do this please?

[miles41]

I'm no expert I'm afraid, but it basically is what it says, a scrape off the fish themselves, to gather any mucus and then transfer to a slide on a microscope for identification.
You say you have a good aquatic centre nearby, you could speak to them to see if they offer the service as most good koi suppliers tend to.

[Davej]

Hi Emily

Fish and a pond system can have a variety of unwanted parasites, in a similar way to a dog having a few fleas.

Problems come when the fish are a little below par or conditions are right for the parasites to thrive, they can multiply at a fast rate and things can then get out of control.

What we are doing in taking a scrape is to take a small sample of mucus (slime) from the fishes body and then examining it under a microscope.

We can then see what parasites are on the fish and then can treat the pond accordingly, unfortunately there’s no pond treatment that will eradicate all the critters, hence the need for the scrape so that we can then use treatment 1, 2, or 3.

Left unchecked parasites will cause significant problems, so moving promptly is the way to go.

It’s a 10 minute job, nothing more.

Not sure where abouts you are? May be there is someone on here that is local to you?

A good dealer will normally be able to assist you, however speak to them first - don’t turn up with a fish in a bag.

Alternatively a call to your local Koi club they may be able to assist or the BKKS have a network of Health Liaison Officers who are very helpful.

Hope this helps

Dave

[miles41]

Nice one Dave.....better put than me

[Emily]

I'm based in Nottingham.
I'll ask at the local aquatic place to see if they can advise/help me with a scrape, and if not will look out for a local expert.

Thanks for your advice.

[Ray47]

Hi, try and find a Koi club near you if you join they will help you