Jump to content



- - - - -

Wart like bumps on fish


8 replies to this topic

#1 Whinger

  • Members
  • 3 posts
  • Location:Tamworth, UK

Posted 07 August 2009 - 05:26 PM

Hi all,
A couple of my koi have developed bumps on their heads. The one on the attached photo is the worst affected and also has a few on his body. The bumps are like a translucent white in appearence on this one.
They first appeared at the back end of June and I figured that they were due to spawning, but they have not got any better.
The other affected fish has just got a lumpy head that are the same colour as the fish. They look a little like warts or ulcers.
The other 20 odd fish are all fine.
Does anyone know what they are or if I need to treat them.
Thanks
Whinger

Attached Thumbnails

  • Attached Image: 07-08-09_1807.jpg



#2 koiguy1969

    koi pond ponderer

  • Members
  • 5801 posts
  • Location:Michigan zone 5b

Posted 07 August 2009 - 06:08 PM

looks like cotton fungus in the picture to me...but im no expert
theres definately something fishy about this forum!

#3 DrCase

    Moderator

  • Moderators
  • 3152 posts
  • Location:Arkansas

Posted 08 August 2009 - 12:56 AM

I dont know what it is either..
But he looks like a friendly Koi

#4 koikeepr

  • Members
  • 2817 posts
  • Location:North Carolina

Posted 08 August 2009 - 01:30 PM

That looks like koi pox (carp pox). Does it have the appearance of like candle wax having dripped on the fish? It's kinda hard to tell from your photo.

Essentially, there is no cure for it because the disease is viral. Sometimes they go away for good, and sometimes they will come back every year. It is highly contagious to the other fish especially young fry.

Usually you see it in spring and fall when the weather is still a bit cool, and typically as the temps warm up it sends the virus into a remission of sorts and then it typically comes back again. Warmer waters seem to "cure" it, but it's not really cured. I have heard of koi pox that is the opposite gets cured in colder temps (but that is less common).

Can you give us more of a description of the bumps. They do look flat and waxy in the pic, but the fish is dark colored so it's hard to tell....

#5 DrDave

    Innovator

  • Moderators
  • 6851 posts
  • Location:Escondido, Ca USA

Posted 08 August 2009 - 04:06 PM

You might want to isolate this one and any others that are showing signs before the entire population gets it.
DrDave
“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it”. Albert Einstein
http://drdaveskoi.tripod.com
http://plansbyjorde.tripod.com

#6 koikeepr

  • Members
  • 2817 posts
  • Location:North Carolina

Posted 08 August 2009 - 04:53 PM

If it's koi pox, isolating a fish pretty much does no good because it you've seen the warts, the water and others are already "infected." However, it does not mean that any of the others will show any of the symptoms or maybe only a few will. I mean, you'd basically have to isolate the fish permanently. It will always carry the virus for the rest of its life.

If it is koi pox, you either just live with it knowing that it will likely just come and go as the weather temps change; or you destroy the fish who has it. The virus is already in the environment and can't be removed (you can't, for example, drain the water and scrub the pond to get rid of it). Any new fish you introduce to the pond or any of that herd of fish, will become exposed to the virus as well. Again, it doesn't mean the the other fish will ever show symptoms. Some might, some may not. Short of eliminating that entire herd of fish you own, there is no way of eradicating the virus since they have all been exposed to it.

Also, you must never give away any of the fish in your pond to anyone else EVER. You either have to let them live out their natural lifespan in your pond or destroy them. If any of those fish are introduced into someone else's pond, their fish will be exposed to the virus as well. And, well, that's how virus spread...ongoing exposure.

I have a similar situation in my pond, actually. It's not with koi pox, but with lympocystitis. It's similar in that a fish or two may develop white pimples. Of my entire herd, 3 get affected. It lasts 1-3 months on the fish, and then goes away. They sort of look like pimply teenage boys. It has a slightly different appearance than koi pox, but is a virus nonetheless and has no cure, too. It starts out where you think you have something like ich or maybe a case of impending anchor worm, but then the pimples get slightly larger and mass together kinda like cauliflower (which is why it's also called cauliflower disease).

Lymphocystis doesn't harm the fish at all. They go about their business as if normal. They eat well, swim about like usual, etc. It does not kill the fish that it affects. It looks darned ugly on the fish, however. Once the fish gets the pimples, it does not seem to get them again. It's sort of like the chicken pox, you get it once and that's it. You develop a resistance to it and don't get it again.

I'll apologize for the pic quality as it's hard to chase around a quick moving fish with a 200mm lens that is heavy. Here's a pic of my mutt kohaku with lymphocystitis at its absolute worst stage:

Posted Image

and here is a photo with one of my common goldies with it:

Posted Image

How did my fish get lymphocystitis? And how did your fish get koi pox (if that's what it is)? Being a virus it gets introduced when you add a fish that has been exposed to it. In my case, I purchased some goldfish from a very well known and respected breeder. Within 1 month of putting them in my pond, I began seeing the symptoms in the common goldie and a month later that kohaku koi. I had NEVER had any virus or disease in my pond before the introduction of these fish in all the years I've had the pond, so therefore, I can isolate the problem directly to the introduction of these fish into my pond. My water quality is perfect and my water parameters are ideal, so I knew it wasn't the water. And I hadn't added any new fish to the pond in the year before I got those goldies.

It's just kinda like the lottery, and luck of the draw. You either live with it in your pond and keep good water quality so those fish don't get hit with a secondary infection of some kind or you kill all the fish, get rid of all your filter media, and scrub everything else with bleach. Personally, I just accept what I have and recognize that when I introduce a new fish, it will be exposed. It doesn't stop me from acquiring new fish. I just added two new koi to my pond--a butterfly and a gin rin ogon. Both have not gotten any of the symptoms, but they've been exposed nonetheless.

#7 Whinger

  • Members
  • 3 posts
  • Location:Tamworth, UK

Posted 08 August 2009 - 05:24 PM

Hi all.
Thanks for all the replies.
The spots do look exactly like candle wax.
I had already dismissed this because they first appeared when the weather was getting warmer and all the photos on google images were of small spots like Lymphocystis as shown on Koikeepers pictures.
I recently inherited a more powerful pump from a guy who filled his pond in. I should add he was filling it in because his grand daughter has started exploring his garden and not because of disease. Although thinking about it now, that is a pretty lame excuse, but he did give all his fish away to another koi keeper who seemed pretty chuffed with them.
Back to the point. The pump is the only thing that has been used in another pond and this is the 1st time in 3 years that the pox has shown.

DrCase... they sure are a friendly bunch. The hardest part of taking that photo was getting the others away from the lens, or else all you would have got is a dozen open mouths :D

Whinger

#8 koikeepr

  • Members
  • 2817 posts
  • Location:North Carolina

Posted 08 August 2009 - 11:35 PM

Ok, whether it's lymphoc or pox it's viral and there is no getting rid of it. As I said, you just live with it and there's no meds to give your fish or nothing to cure it. Believe it or not, the virus could have been carried in the pump that was used in the other pond. You can only assume that the fellow who inherited the fish also has a case of the pox likely. Since you are saying you never had this illness prior to inheriting the pump and you haven't introduced any new fish, then that's likely where the virus hitched a ride potentially in the pump.

Typically, as you read, common pox goes away in warm water, but I have heard of a cold water variety that is the opposite. Unless you're showing your fish or selling them, it really isn't a problem. Just enjoy your friendly. happy fish. It's sort of like getting rid of a marvelous dog bcause it has three legs. Yes, the dog isn't perfect by breed standards, but if he's happy and energetic and enjoying life, you just keep him and love him all the same.

Enjoy your fish!

#9 DrDave

    Innovator

  • Moderators
  • 6851 posts
  • Location:Escondido, Ca USA

Posted 09 August 2009 - 02:40 AM

This is not good news. I am so sorry if this true. Most of us share plants with other ponders. This is something, that if indeed you have this virus, you will have to remember if a friend wants any plantlife from your pond.

I am so carefull around mine that when people come over to get plants, I use my containers to scoop water into thier containers so as not to introduce anything into mine.

I wish you luck with this. If I were you, would get this checked out with a microscope and an expert to evaluate the specimens.
DrDave
“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it”. Albert Einstein
http://drdaveskoi.tripod.com
http://plansbyjorde.tripod.com