Fish not mad for food

joanne2002 · 20-07-2011, 08:07 PM

Hi ....just joined the forum and have a question........we have had a parasite problem which is now under control but we have the usual secondary bacterial infections on some of the koi. Readings are normal except nitrite which is .25(liquid test ) according to test strips everything else is ok. Have used Ct as advised and then fluke solve. treating fish topically and they are just not over mad on food. Dont want to do water change as fluke solve will stay active for 4 weeks without any significant water changes. Tried some treats...orange...lettuce...not too bad a reaction..any other ideas please would be much appreciated......thanks

Limey · 20-07-2011, 09:12 PM

To get them interested... try a piece of brown bread... BUT... rub some garlic over the bread first.... just rub it with the garlic and see what happens

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It could be the food you are using they just don't fancy? Did they take it freely before?

joanne2002 · 20-07-2011, 09:48 PM

Hi.....yes upto about a week ago...must say i have new food Medikoi health thoght it might help them in their current health situation. Also notice they have been nibbling at the algae on the pond floor as there are some clean areas !! .Will try the bread . Shall i sart adding mediclay to pond weekly as well ?.....Thaanks for the quick reply...jo

joanne2002 · 20-07-2011, 10:25 PM

Just been looking at another forum and someone mentioned their fish used to spit out the food and it was MEDIKOI Health.....ha ha . Right i will now go back to the other food for a few days and see what happens ( i do remember seeing uneaten food in the filter vortex the other day , something i dont recall seeing before ) lets see....

Shevyrabbit · 20-07-2011, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joanne2002

Hi ....just joined the forum and have a question........we have had a parasite problem which is now under control but we have the usual secondary bacterial infections on some of the koi. Readings are normal except nitrite which is .25(liquid test ) according to test strips everything else is ok. Have used Ct as advised and then fluke solve. treating fish topically and they are just not over mad on food. Dont want to do water change as fluke solve will stay active for 4 weeks without any significant water changes. Tried some treats...orange...lettuce...not too bad a reaction..any other ideas please would be much appreciated......thanks

Hi Joanne
Just my input I did the same as you but the only diffrence was I did a water change as my bekko was not looking good laying on the bottom after the third week with the fluke solve so did a water change only 10% but it done the trick and have'nt looked back. So now the first koi to look at is the bekko and he will tell me if there is something not right at the moment he's a bit red as the Amm is just a bit high at 0.25 as I am feeding a lot because there are a lot of koi in the pond over 60 koi of all size's.

Hope this helps
Shevy

Gazfish · 21-07-2011, 12:46 PM

Hi,

If your fish have had some parasite problems and you have been treating them their immune system will not be at its best so they will not be feeling on top of the world and that could be why they are not eating.

If you are treating fish then you need to make sure your water is 100% spot on as otherwise your just making it hard work for yourself. If you are still feeding you will still need to clean your filters and top up with fresh water as otherwise the system will not be functioning as it should.

joanne2002 · 21-07-2011, 06:05 PM

Hi and thanks for the replies. Have been treating topically the 4 with injuries with io-sal . Would a salt bath be a good idea. ? Have just given them their old food today and that seems better ( tried medikoi health for a week and found some in the filter vortex dont normally find hardly any food in there) Cant seem to get nitrite to 0. Clean the filter brushes ,matting but not too often (how often is enough ) in the last chamber we have k1 where there is a lot of air and movement (how often to clean or drain water from there)?.......It is hard as this filter/pond is only 10 months old.
Thanks again .....Jo

Gazfish · 21-07-2011, 07:25 PM

Hi Jo,

How often do you clean it all and what is the set up and how much water do you change?

joanne2002 · 21-07-2011, 10:01 PM

Hi Gazza
Its a votex & 3 chamber kockneykoi long filter. Vortex with a vortex brush around the rim..black knight brushes...jap matt & votex brush laid across the top..Took out( black cut pipe style that came with it) in the last chamber replaced with a air stone and k1. Water comes in through bottom drain through filter and pumped out through UV ( all gravity fed ) Clean vortex out every 2-3 days. Not as often for the chambers as vortex brush keeps a lot of muck out. Not too sure how often to do k1 and do we drain the water out of the bottom as well ?.....thanks....jo

Gazfish · 21-07-2011, 10:30 PM

Hi Jo,

The idea is to try to keep the system as clean as possible and the more you do it the better it will be but if a new pond it’s a take it easy approach on the bio side but keeping the mechanical clean is a must and this will be your vortex and brushes.

If you can keep the vortex and brushes clean this will mean there is less waste going into the bio stages which will help them work much more efficiently which is ideal.

You should be able to open the drains at the bottom to make the waste water come out and depending on how much food you feed and how much waste you get will depend on how often you clean. In the summer you should be doing it al lot more and changing more water as you will be feeding more so need to keep on top of things to keep the toxins nice and low.