Blind koi?

[mrsclem]

Our Gin-rin pond completely thawed out today. I had seen several fish under the ice that were not moving. Now that the ice is gone I have a problem with 2 fish. My large female seems to be blind. She was at the surface .and didn't move when I approached. I went to remove her and noticed her gills were still moving so I turned her toward the middle of the pond. She is swimming very slowly and at the surface and keeps swimming into the sides of the pond as well as other fish. Her eyes are clouded over like she has cataracts. I also have one of my smallest koi that seems to have the same problem.
Water test results- ammonia-0
nitrites-0
nitrates-10
ph- 9+
The water is green already. I have restarted one pump and added an air stone. Any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated,

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Our Gin-rin pond completely thawed out today. I had seen several fish under the ice that were not moving. Now that the ice is gone I have a problem with 2 fish. My large female seems to be blind. She was at the surface .and didn't move when I approached. I went to remove her and noticed her gills were still moving so I turned her toward the middle of the pond. She is swimming very slowly and at the surface and keeps swimming into the sides of the pond as well as other fish. Her eyes are clouded over like she has cataracts. I also have one of my smallest koi that seems to have the same problem.
Water test results- ammonia-0
nitrites-0
nitrates-10
ph- 9+
The water is green already. I have restarted one pump and added an air stone. Any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated,

"When you see your koi with cloudy or white corneas you have to wonder if your koi has hurt itself, is being hurt by the environment or is being hurt by something you're doing.
We see cloudy corneas after misapplication of SupaVerm, Formalin, Potassium and any other compound that is caustic in concentrated form. Cloudy corneas can also be caused by bacterial infections. In these cases, antibiotics injections, or medicated koi food can put the brakes on this."

KoiCrisis.com

This condition is known to clear up with proper treatment.

 

[mrsclem]

Thinking this is from the constant freezing and thawing of pond. Water tested fine before bad weather set in . Ph has jumped
from 7.5 to 9+. not sure why. small koi has disappeared but have several others hovering close to surface. majorly freaking out- don't want to lose any fish and don't have anywhere to put fish in quarantine.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Thinking this is from the constant freezing and thawing of pond. Water tested fine before bad weather set in . Ph has jumped
from 7.5 to 9+. not sure why. small koi has disappeared but have several others hovering close to surface. majorly freaking out- don't want to lose any fish and don't have anywhere to put fish in quarantine.

Very, very strange for the pH to naturally rise in a pond. Ph crashes are much more common.
Relate more of what has occurred with the pond during the time period mentioned. Water changes? Water treatments? Debris removal or accumulation? Anything that you can think of, no matter how small.

 

[Dave 54]

Mrschem when you say cloudy eyed can you see anything else that would be the cause of this ;like an excess build up of mucus as the area around the gills and the eyes are susceptable to parasite infection .
Could you tell me if the eyes are protruding like with Pop-eye ?

DAve

 

[mrsclem]

The pond has been frozen over for a while now. I have had a small 100 watt heater in it as well as a pond breather. I did put a 1200watt heater in which was plugged in a few days ago but unplugged 2 days later as it got up against liner. No water changes or anything done with pond in last 3 months except removal of leaves from top of ice. No treatments done. I did not check the gills on the fish. I did notice pink streaks on tail and dorsal fin but assumed it was because she is swimming with her back and tail fin out of the water. I will check the gills tomorrow. The smaller fish that seemed to have the same problem has disappeared into the pond. There seems to be no evidence of pop-eye. Thanks to both of you. Will give updates in am.

 

[mrsclem]

I retested the water this morning and got the same results. I now have 4 fish hovering at the surface and only occasionally slowly swimming. I looked at the gills on the largest fish. They are bright red. I am currently doing a 1/3 water change. Sorry for the poor picture quality. They eyes on the spotted fish are only slightly clouded and it seems to see alright but has a raw looking area on the dorsal area. Is it possible these fish actually got frozen in the ice?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I retested the water this morning and got the same results. I now have 4 fish hovering at the surface and only occasionally slowly swimming. I looked at the gills on the largest fish. They are bright red. I am currently doing a 1/3 water change. Sorry for the poor picture quality. They eyes on the spotted fish are only slightly clouded and it seems to see alright but has a raw looking area on the dorsal area. Is it possible these fish actually got frozen in the ice?

Certainly has the characteristics of a bacterial infection.

 

[mrsclem]

Any ideas why the jump in ph? Both ponds run about 7.5. I haven't checked the other pond yet. I haven't seen any sign of fish since the first freeze. I will pull water and test it today as we are about to have several days of bad weather. The largest fish seems to be more active but is still up top with her dorsal fin out of the water.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

With out having a quarantine tank I'm not sure you can do much other than the water change you are already doing.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you and please keep us posted.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Any ideas why the jump in ph? Both ponds run about 7.5. I haven't checked the other pond yet. I haven't seen any sign of fish since the first freeze. I will pull water and test it today as we are about to have several days of bad weather. The largest fish seems to be more active but is still up top with her dorsal fin out of the water.

The only thing that would cause the pH to rise would be an infusion of Carbonate. This can be caused by a rise in the CO2 levels in the pond. Did you maintain a vent hole in the ice cover all winter? This would also explain the fish being at the water's surface.

 

[addy1]

Sorry to be reading this, mrsclem. I have not seen my fish since october, did see a few swimming around today via the cameras. I am hoping when the pond melts they will be swimming not floating. The pond breathers have been working great.

 

[mrsclem]

The only thing that would cause the pH to rise would be an infusion of Carbonate. This can be caused by a rise in the CO2 levels in the pond. Did you maintain a vent hole in the ice cover all winter? This would also explain the fish being at the water's surface.

I have had a small heater as well as a pond breather running all winter.I know both of my ponds are overstocked as I had no luck selling last year. I just pulled a sample of water from the other pond. It's crystal clear where as the problem pond water is green. I will post results- hoping maybe a bad test kit on ph. Should I do a water change on the other pond as well? Don't expect it to thaw for a week or more. Thanks everyone for your help and comments.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I have had a small heater as well as a pond breather running all winter.I know both of my ponds are overstocked as I had no luck selling last year. I just pulled a sample of water from the other pond. It's crystal clear where as the problem pond water is green. I will post results- hoping maybe a bad test kit on ph. Should I do a water change on the other pond as well? Don't expect it to thaw for a week or more. Thanks everyone for your help and comments.

Is your source water municipal or well? Be careful of water changes. Rapid reduction of the pH will just cause more stress for the fish.

 

[mrsclem]

City water- used dechlor. I was going to do a 50% change but was afraid of the temperature change. I am going to retest in the morning.