Hole on the top om kois head

Hello Everyone,
Looking for a little help !! I have have a 1200 gallon pond with 5
koi One of which I have had for approx. 4 yrs . Last summer he
developed a hole on the top of his head . It went away with the cooler
water of last winter . Now the water has warmed up and the hole has
devolped again. H e has always been active always ate . Now as of
last week all my koi have gotten very sluggish will not eat they come
to the top of the pond and just sit . I have increased my timers on
my filter and have tested the water . Ph 7.2 amonia 0 and
nitrate was about a .5 . If anybody knows what can be causing this
please help me out
Thanks
Stevee

Sorry to hear about your problem. Perhaps some of our koi experts can
comment on things. Some of them are away at the moment.

Jim

On Wed, 14 May 2008 18:55:51 EDT, Phyllis and Jim
<> wrote:

>Sorry to hear about your problem. Perhaps some of our koi experts can
>comment on things. Some of them are away at the moment.

I too sympathize with the OP, but Googling (hole in the head disease)
only produced more questions than answers. The people who commented
aren't really sure exactly what causes this, but tend to agree that
improved water quality could prevent it.
My favorite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexamita but everyone
knows Wikipedia can be edited by any user, however it does make more
suggestions for improvement than most other articles.
--
Hal Middle Georgia, Zone 8
http://tinyurl.com/2fxzcb

what do you mean "increased my timers on my filter"? filters and air pumps are
supposed to run 24/7. air pumps are most important at night since this is when green
stuff drags oxygen out of the water.
how clear is the water?
the hole sounds like the water is not good, the slime coat is attacked by parasites
and the bacteria are making a sore.
how much salt do you have in the water? do you have a pond salt test kit?
Ingrid

On Tue, 13 May 2008 17:31:08 EDT, stevee <> wrote:
1200 gallon pond with 5>koi
>developed a hole on the top of his head .
warmed up and the hole has>devolped again.
>last week all my koi have gotten very sluggish will not eat they come
>to the top of the pond and just sit . I have increased my timers on
>my filter and have tested the water . Ph 7.2 amonia 0 and
>nitrate was about a .5 . If anybody knows what can be causing this
>please help me out
> Thanks
> Stevee

On May 15, 11:38 am, dr-s...@wi.rr.com wrote:
> what do you mean "increased my timers on my filter"? filters and air pu
mps are
> supposed to run 24/7. air pumps are most important at night since this
is when green
> stuff drags oxygen out of the water.
> how clear is the water?
> the hole sounds like the water is not good, the slime coat is attacked by
parasites
> and the bacteria are making a sore.
> how much salt do you have in the water? do you have a pond salt test ki
t?
> Ingrid
>
> On Tue, 13 May 2008 17:31:08 EDT, stevee <wndy...@ca.rr.com> wrote:
>
> 1200 gallon pond with 5>koi>developed a hole on the top of his head .
>
> warmed up and the hole has>devolped again.
>
>
>
> >last week all my koi have gotten very sluggish will not eat they come
> >to the top of the pond and just sit . I have increased my timers on
> >my filter and have tested the water . Ph 7.2 amonia 0 and
> >nitrate was about a .5 . If anybody knows what can be causing this
> >please help me out
> > Thanks
> > Stevee- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

No I do not have a salt test kit but will purchase one . yes my
filters are on a timer they cycle on and off during the day and on
at night . The pond water is clear with the exception of some string
algae that i have never had in my pond .

On Thu, 22 May 2008 23:02:37 EDT, stevee <> wrote:

>No I do not have a salt test kit but will purchase one . yes my
>filters are on a timer they cycle on and off during the day and on
>at night . The pond water is clear with the exception of some string
>algae that i have never had in my pond .

By cycling a filter one is not getting the maximum good bacteria production
and may actually be putting sulfuric acid back into the pond when the
filter cycles on. Koi getting a snoot full of that, if they happen to be
sitting by the inlet when the filter comes on, are going to act sick and
not be interested in eating. I highly recommend leaving the filters on
24/7. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Your biological filter should run 24/7/365.