How long to leave a sick baby koi in salted pond water?

[Laaf]

Of all of my goldfish and baby koi, one koi was acting sick. Staying away from others, keeping its fins tight against it's body. Hanging out at the surface or bottom of the pond. No visible injuries or marks. Just less active and holding still in a "planking" position. I thought it was dying and would not be alive the next time I went out but it keeps surviving. It would come for food but then seem to miss the pieces it was going after.

The pond store suggested I put salt in the water and I was able to move it to my old smaller pond and add salt at 2 pounds per hundred gallons. My old pond is about 300 gallons. It is home to 2 goldfish I have been unable to catch and transfer to the new 3000 gallon pond.

The new pond is about a month old. I transferred a lot of gravel from a bog filter as well as many plants and rocks form the old pond, plus added the bacteria product pond stores sell, as directed. It seems to be off to a healthy start and has a green tinge on all walls. All other fish are acting happy and healthy. The plants are really starting to take off in the bog and in the submerged baskets, and several big frogs have made themselves at home. I have 2 waterfalls and a good sized aerator, and a good sized bog.

The baby koi has indeed perked up in the salted water. It still hides a lot, but it is swimming around with it's fins in normal positions. I see it swimming with the goldfish. It no longer looks like it is dying.

How long do I leave it in the salted water before returning it to the big pond?

Do I need to more carefully transfer it than scoop up with a net and move it back, since little pond is now salted?

Any other comments are welcome.

I have not tested the water parameters because no other fish are sick so I did not think that would be useful.

This pic is before the salt water. It is only about 3-4 inches long.

 

[Laaf]

This is the same fish about 2 weeks earlier when I first got it. That was a super tiny feeder goldfish I got to be sure the pond was fish safe. Luckily it was and all of the feeder babies I got can live here til they die of old age. I felt guilty putting them in knowing there was a chance the water was not fish safe yet. They won the lottery and hopefully will all hide if raccoons visit or a heron finds us.

 

[Laaf]

The koi are smaller than my bigger goldfish

 

[Tula]

I'm sorry your young koi isn't well. I don't have any knowledge of salting a pond, although I've heard if using salt it's best to use it as a medicated dip, rather then salting the hole pond.

Does the koi have red marks on it's underside or is it just the picture.....can't be sure.

 

[Tula]

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[WaterGardener]

Knowing the water parameters is always an important issue for me, particularly with a new pond. I like to know what is going on with the water and what the fish are being exposed to. Just because the fish seem to be fine, doesn't necessarily mean they are.

The most vulnerable fish will show problems first. It may take longer for others to exhibit illnesses if they are living in an unhealthy environment. So actually knowing the water is safe is important to me.

I'm not saying that your pond is unhealthy, but the only way to know for sure is to test the water.

 

[Mgessert]

That’s just what I was thinking. If you don’t test you don’t know.

 

[Laaf]

I don't see any red marks. I didn't pick it up and look closely.

I just salted my little pond.

All other fish are healthy appearing and active

 

[GBBUDD]

salting a freshwater environment is a science a light dose is common in all water but when the concentration is elevated it then becomes either a dip or for a short duration. sorry i do not know the concentrations or time limits.

 

[Lisak1]

I agree with the salt dip advice. We had a koi with hole in the head disease - I didn't make the name up! - and used a twice a day salt dip to encourage healing. It worked. Then a skunk ate him.

I don't remember how much salt we used but we just put some pond water and salt in a large rubbermaid tote with an aerator and put the fish in the tote. Nothing fancy. We must have found a formula somewhere.

 

[Laaf]

I am resisting testing my water. All I have are test strips and you all say they are inaccurate.

 

[WaterGardener]

Any reason you can't get an API freshwater master testing kit? They aren't that expensive. If you can manage it, you should get the KH test, too.

 

[Laaf]

With all of my other fish seeming healthy, I do not believe it is the water. I am watching them closely just in case it is the water or contagious

Our water here is naturally alkaline.

This is a new pond and I have been adding more plants as fast as I can. I did move my old small bog entirely into the new pond so it is well seeded with healthy bacteria.

 

[Mgessert]

I hope the little guy has recovered. Since you don’t know what caused it’s illness, it’s hard to say how long it should be quarantined or if it’s safe to reintroduce it to the big pond.