Quarantine for new Koi

[Gordo33]

I have an opportunity to get a few baby koi from a pond owner in my area. Any thoughts on quarantining before they go into my pond would be appreciated. If you do recommend a quarantine period does it matter if in doors or outside?
Thanks for your input

 

[Mmathis]

Do you currently have any fish in your pond?

 

[Gordo33]

Yes 3 koi and a boat load of gold fish

 

[WaterGardener]

Do you have enough gallons of water to add more koi?

I am very cautious when adding fish to my pond. I quarantine new fish for 6 months and after a couple of months with no problems, I will put one or two fish from the pond in with the new fish.

That way, I will have an idea if my fish are immune to something that the new fish might be susceptible too, and vice versa. I feel it's a reasonable way to do introduce the 2 groups of fish without risking all the fish in the pond.

If I feel the need, I may do a shotgun treatment for diseases on the new fish, and I usually treat the new fish for flukes since they are so common.

Just my system. I'm probably overly careful but I don't want to risk losing all my established fish.

I quarantine outdoors at this time of the year, in a 150 gallon Rubbermaid water trough with filtration and air stones. I cover it with a framed piece of metal fence mesh to keep out predators and keep the trough in a mostly shaded spot to prevent it from getting too hot.

 

[Gordo33]

Pond is 2800 galloons..wow 6 months that’s a long process. Thanks for your input.

 

[WaterGardener]

I'm extreme with this. Most people don't quarantine for as long.

Recommended gallons per koi on this site is 1,000 gallons for the first koi and 500 for each additional one. For goldfish it's 50 gallons each.

You can get away with fewer gallons when the fish are small, but they can quickly outgrow your system unless you add a LOT more filtration.

 

[Gordo33]

I'm extreme with this. Most people don't quarantine for as long.

Recommended gallons per koi on this site is 1,000 gallons for the first koi and 500 for each additional one. For goldfish it's 50 gallons each.

You can get away with fewer gallons when the fish are small, but they can quickly outgrow your system unless you add a LOT more filtration.

How do you determine if your filtering system is no longer adequate?

 

[WaterGardener]

The water quality will deteriorate. You can't usually see this happening and the water may be perfectly clear, but ammonia levels will rise and fish will start to have problems. Usually that is evident in skin lessions, red streaks, and ulcers. They may also get diseases since they are stressed by the water conditions.

If you are serious about adding more fish, I would encourage you to add more filtration now and not wait until problems show up. By that time it might be too late for those fish.

My pond is overstocked. Not from my choice, but because my fish breed more than rabbits and an unusual number of young have survived over the years. I think that finally they have reached a point at which that increase has almost completely stopped, thank goodness.

My pond is 6000 gallons with filtration in the neighborhood of 25,000+ gallons. I'm a firm believer that there is no such thing as too much filtration and, at least for now, I don't have to worry about having too many fish.

 

[Laaf]

I have just added them. But many do quarantine first.

 

[GBBUDD]

I am adding a dozen fish next week , They are coming from a dealer that is extreme with his quarantine protocol. So i am comfortable with a quick 3 day proform c bath and then a prazzi bath for a couple days for fluke. I will also watch the fish intently and and make sure I see no flashing or odd swimming and no one who has a hard time keeping neutral buoyancy.

How ever coming from an others pond i would fair more on caution similar to @WaterGardener maybe not a six month but you really can't be too careful.