help, I am losing my koi!

[Meyer Jordan]

Read these two (2) links.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fin_rot

http://www.aboutfishonline.com/articles/finrot.html

There may have been major differences in some water quality parameters (temp, pH, GH etc.) between the pond and the tank when you transferred the fish. This may be what initially triggered the stress and opened the fish up to infection.
Follow the advice in the two (2) above links. It should stop the fin rot.
Good luck!

 

[stonecreek1]

Ok great thank you. I just did think of one thing. If I have some type of parasite. We bought the pump in from the main pond about 3 weeks ago and put it in here. Wonder if I could have brought something with me??? Anything safe as a general precaution to use or do???

 

[Meyer Jordan]

People tend to forget that pathogens and parasites are ubiquitous to most all aquatic environments. The vast majority of them are opportunistic and only manifest as a problem when the fish's immune system is compromised. This is why I have focused on what may have caused the stress in your fish.
More than likely whatever is the source of infection (fungal or bacterial) was brought in with the fish in their slime coat. Additional pathogens may also have been brought in with the pump. These would have shown up anyway as fish feces is the source of many pathogens, much like human feces.
Besides treating the infection, providing a stable environment for the fish will eliminate any stress triggers.

 

[stonecreek1]

May just be what you are saying because of the stess they went thru cycling the tank with them in there. The ammonia and nitrite were well above normal and if something has added to it the. This could be the cause. What would you recommend for them to have the strongest immune system the water temp to be? I am feeding a very high quality feed with wheat germ and I know my water quality has been spot on since the initial cycle. I keep their waste to a minimum. And I do think I may have been over feeding and have cut back.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Ideally, Goldfish prefer a water temperature of 68 - 72F whereas Koi prefer 72 - 76F. I would not focus too heavily on a certain temperature but rather insuring that the water temperature will be relatively stable with no abrupt swings or changes. The fish will adapt to any water temperature within their tolerance range (0 - 95F)

 

[MitchM]

The fish in post #14 look quite under nourished.

 

[stonecreek1]

I went from feeding four times a day to two. I would do four small feedings. Many are so small I soak the food and then mash it up for them. There seems to still be some left on the bottom so I didn't want to increase the amount. I do feed an expensive feed.

 

[mrsclem]

how many fry do you have in the tank and how old are they?

 

[Ra'mona]

Hi there, my heart is with you concerning losing your koi.

Columnaris & Dimilin

Last spring I lost about 20-25 of my butterfly koi I had for many years. I had ordered in a few new fish from online. I did not Q those fish. (my BAD) My ponds were also not in pristine condition either. I had been having severe algae problems for 2-3 years. I live in Florida, near DFSprings, lots of sunshine. I did not have a water test kit either. Nor filtration

I was a novice who just loves fish, in particular butterfly koi. Although I was not a complete novice, I had bred indoor fish decades ago and now only have outdoor fish/koi ponds .

I got help someplace online with my koi problem, they said to treat with Prazi, which I did. That helped for a few days, then same problem all over again. I finally did find someone local to help me, treated all my koi with salt The salt helped, but my beautiful koi just kept dying. I did complete water changes, and lots of partial water changes. I did buy a PH test kit, my water was okay.

At first my koi would become listess or lethargic. Then a spot here or there, looked almost at first like a bruise/no fungus look at first. Then progressively looked like fungus of some sort/whitish patchy spots. Then fins and tails would start decaying. In one photo below my Bekko had lost half her beautiful tail due to the erosion of fin/tail. Could not tell if I had a fungus or tailrot, both or what. But whatever it was, was very fast acting... taking big -12-15" koi out in a matter of a few days. Fish also developed a thick mucus coating over a few days. The salt helped this, but did not fix the real problem. Then like you, I would just find them dead or dying

I will post photos lower of the symptoms. Still makes me sad about how many of my fish I lost. AND very depressing

BUT I learned a lot. Koi must have "good" clean water, preferably moving water. I did not have any filtration either, of which I have added large DIY exterior bio-filters to both of my fish pools. And move the volume of water at least twice an hour or more. After I made these changes, the new fish I bought after this ordeal have been fat and sassy. Have lots of new babies even after ALL this dilemma. Thank god nature does bounce back on the rebound!

The local koi fellow came to my salvation.... when I told him I had researched and researched online and the disease looked to me like Columnaris. He ordered in a product (DIMILIN) which knocked this disease down in 2-3 days. WHAT a blesssing! The product we used is called Dimilin. I do believe what I had was Columnaris. What a nightmare

I did treat my ponds with two doses of DIMILIN. First dose, them 3-4 days later a second dose.

I sincerely hope my post and ordeal I went through helps someone else save their pretty fishies!


!

 

[adavisus]

The debris in the bottom of the tub seems to be a source of fungus... sweeping it is stirring the spores up.

Would suggest you transfer the fish to another tub for fungal meds, and clean out and nuke their regular tub with a light dose of clorox

If you look at the underside of the rocks and they have a black whiffy tone, that is probably the bad stuff you brought in, the bacteria and fungus which thrive in aneirobic conditions

Leave them outside for the weather to disinfect them

 

[stonecreek1]

Thank you all. I am sad. I feel just awful that I am as I feel torturing my babies. Had I known that it would be 50-70 thru December in Ohio I would never had put all this into bringing them in. I followed the link that was posted on here a few days ago. I added the melafix and permfix and measured closely and the first day 12 more died. And yesterday I lost 8. I just this noting thought somehow those chemicals were making it worse so I did a 75% water change this morning. Just this evening two more were gone. They are definitely getting a white thickening at the base before the tail and the some up on the top fun. Then the whole tail disappears. I have only about 100 if that babies in there now and it is a 300 gallon tank. I have ample filtration and water movement and two additional air pads. I just am beside myself. There are no fish vet anywhere around here. I look and look under the microscope and can't find anything. Not that I know anything about it but I have looked at parasite info all over online. I am just sad and sick about it. I just thought if there was a way to cool the water and warm up the pond enough and put them outside. But don't even know if that is possible and afraid to transfer something to the pond! Just absolutely at a complete and total loss at what to do.

 

[stonecreek1]

Hi there, my heart is with you concerning losing your koi.

Columnaris & Dimilin

Last spring I lost about 20-25 of my butterfly koi I had for many years. I had ordered in a few new fish from online. I did not Q those fish. (my BAD) My ponds were also not in pristine condition either. I had been having severe algae problems for 2-3 years. I live in Florida, near DFSprings, lots of sunshine. I did not have a water test kit either. Nor filtration

I was a novice who just loves fish, in particular butterfly koi. Although I was not a complete novice, I had bred indoor fish decades ago and now only have outdoor fish/koi ponds .

I got help someplace online with my koi problem, they said to treat with Prazi, which I did. That helped for a few days, then same problem all over again. I finally did find someone local to help me, treated all my koi with salt The salt helped, but my beautiful koi just kept dying. I did complete water changes, and lots of partial water changes. I did buy a PH test kit, my water was okay.

At first my koi would become listess or lethargic. Then a spot here or there, looked almost at first like a bruise/no fungus look at first. Then progressively looked like fungus of some sort/whitish patchy spots. Then fins and tails would start decaying. In one photo below my Bekko had lost half her beautiful tail due to the erosion of fin/tail. Could not tell if I had a fungus or tailrot, both or what. But whatever it was, was very fast acting... taking big -12-15" koi out in a matter of a few days. Fish also developed a thick mucus coating over a few days. The salt helped this, but did not fix the real problem. Then like you, I would just find them dead or dying

I will post photos lower of the symptoms. Still makes me sad about how many of my fish I lost. AND very depressing

BUT I learned a lot. Koi must have "good" clean water, preferably moving water. I did not have any filtration either, of which I have added large DIY exterior bio-filters to both of my fish pools. And move the volume of water at least twice an hour or more. After I made these changes, the new fish I bought after this ordeal have been fat and sassy. Have lots of new babies even after ALL this dilemma. Thank god nature does bounce back on the rebound!

The local koi fellow came to my salvation.... when I told him I had researched and researched online and the disease looked to me like Columnaris. He ordered in a product (DIMILIN) which knocked this disease down in 2-3 days. WHAT a blesssing! The product we used is called Dimilin. I do believe what I had was Columnaris. What a nightmare

I did treat my ponds with two doses of DIMILIN. First dose, them 3-4 days later a second dose.

I sincerely hope my post and ordeal I went through helps someone else save their pretty fishies!


!View attachment 88187 View attachment 88188 View attachment 88191 View attachment 88192

Your photos do have many similarities to what mine are going thru.

 

[stonecreek1]

how many fry do you have in the tank and how old are they?

They were born September and October this year and there is about 100 in a 300 gallon tank

 

[stonecreek1]

So reading Ra'mona's post and looking at the pics I started to research Columnaris. I really think that is exactly what is going on. I don't know if the stress may have been caused possibly by the 20+ Tobies that I witness biting and eating at all the small ones. They starred terrorizing the little guys? I know I had initially had stress and bad conditions going thru the cycle that may have lowered their immune systems. It makes sense to me. Because I am almost obsessed with checking the perimeters almost daily!! And all is well.
So help. There is a lot of talk of using PP. I have it. I have read up on it and feel more comfortable about using it. How should I go about it??? Dose the tank?

 

[Ra'mona]

The debris in the bottom of the tub seems to be a source of fungus... sweeping it is stirring the spores up.

Would suggest you transfer the fish to another tub for fungal meds, and clean out and nuke their regular tub with a light dose of clorox

If you look at the underside of the rocks and they have a black whiffy tone, that is probably the bad stuff you brought in, the bacteria and fungus which thrive in aneirobic conditions

Leave them outside for the weather to disinfect them