Injured Koi

[Priscilla]

So as Murphy's Law would have it, I was mad at the koi and now one of them, my personal koi (each family member has their own that they get to pick and name). So my guy, a pure white, has what looks like a scrape on his side. I noticed something sort of sticking out, like a few scales out of place and then what could be some markings on his side. I tried to get pictures, but just couldn't.

He seems TOTALLY fine. Swimming, leading the pack, eating. Comes to me when he sees me. Totally normally. BUT something is wrong with his side. There are a few sharpish rocks in the pond, he could have been chased in a rock, or it could be the stinking heron grabbed him and he escaped.

Should I catch him and out him in my 10 gal tank to check him out? Keep him in there till he's better? What if its not a scrape? What if its something else? What if my whole pond is going to get sick?

Thoughts anyone?

How would I survive without you guys????? I've looked at few other forums and they all seem so formal and stuffy. I love the casual feel of this site.

 

[Tula]

I haven't personal experience with an injured koi, but if I did, I'd catch and quarantine him to get a closer look. If would also afford you the chance to get some pictures so others might be able to help diagnose the problem.

 

[Dave 54]

We would need to look at the damage on th side of your koi first to asertain if it needs treatment or not .
Koi can be tough as old boots with one injuy and just shuck it off with others your in danager of the wound becoming infected.
Gently as you can catch him get him behind glass for a photo then lets have a look at what he's done .
We can then work from there.

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

Priscilla how are those photo's coming along , the longer you leave it the more danager of infection setting in which you dot need as it may prove harder to treat your koi if left much longer .
You see once the mucus membrane is breached the koi is no longer protected against any harmful bacteria or parasite and especially when it comes to bacteria which can result in your koi develpoing nasty ulcers which in turn put your koi at risk of permanent disfigurement and even death.
Whilst that protective membrane is intact they are tough as old boots without it .....need I say more .

Dave

 

[Priscilla]

Yes, I know. I haven't done anything about it. Its seems to have healed up and he looks fine.

I honestly don't know how to net him out the pond. I've been trying to net another fish for over two months now. How do you trap fish in a pond with a large surface area??????? They see the net and swim to the middle or the other side, by the time I get over there they are gone again - so I got another net, for two people to try at the same time still no luck. I don't have narrow area. I have even set traps for this other fish and can't get him. Other than draining most of the water out of the pond and getting all the fish into the deep hole, I don't know how to catch him. By doing that I'd risk shocking the other fish by basically adding all new water.

Thank you for following up!!!

Any thoughts on how to catch the fish? I know other people must do it with bigger ponds than I have, so why can't I catch the fish?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[dieselplower]

Dont get discouraged. I have a very hard time catching fish in my 8' x 9' pond as well. If I had to catch one, I would remove all hiding places like pland pots etc and plan on spending a good long time, slowly moving the net into place. Some people are lucky, where thier fish will just come right up to them. My pond fish dont do that.

I just noticed that youre in a warm climate. Can you just get into the middle of the pond, or is it too deep? If you are in the middle, maybe you can reach the fish no matter which side he swims to.

 

[Priscilla]

I've been in the pond. The buggers are fast. They come up to me and eat from my hands, but the minute the net comes out, they are GONE! Me and my 21yo son have been in the pond, using the nets to try to corral them, but we failed. We've left the net in the pond for a few hours, then put a bit of food over the net to catch them ..... nope! They just swim off. They will be happily eating, the net comes out, they are GONE. Smart buggers! I'm not even sure why they know what a net is, as I have NEVER used it to catch a fish, only to scoop dead leaves at the bottom of the pond. Weird right?

I mentioned before, I have a tilapia in the pond, he was my free test fish when I first started up the pond, but he's huge now and harassing my koi/goldfish fish at feeding time (he chases them away from the food), so I'd like to catch him and take him out, we have been working on this for two months.

Don't get me wrong, when I say 'test' fish, I'm attached to him, but he's really greedy and the koi food is expensive. I'm planning to give him to a friend that has an aquaponics set up.

 

[dieselplower]

Out of curiousity, how big is your pond?

 

[jmajid]

i understand how hard it is to catch fish...
some of our older fish are used to my skimmer net and dont mind us wandering around in THEIR pond
but the new koi are very fast and very skittish... so they will not be easy to catch if we ever have to... knock on wood.
so i completely understand your hesitation on not shocking the fish or over stressing them...

 

[Priscilla]

Its about 2200/2300 gall. But the deepest end is 3 feet. The shallow side is about 18 inches. So there big surface area. Its sort of a circle (but uneven).

We don't have winter here, so no concerns about ice. Its fairly shady, so the water doesn't get too hot.

Here's a picture. I'm still working out how to cover the liner of pond, as I didn't build in shelf areas.

 

[Dave 54]

Priscilla they are known to learn to avoid the net believe me when I say this Carp are very crafty fish indeed you ask any carp fisherman , so koi their tame cousins have all this knowledge onboard
When we go to our koi show we plan ahead leave the net in the water overnight then two whole hours before the show we start the catching , the trick is to very gently bring them up towards the surface guiding them with the net, you never touch them.
We then guide them into our bowl and scoop them up with our sock net and bag them up the same goes for when we anethatize them, we put a measured amount of water into the bowl from the pond not too much that you cant lift the bowl from the pond only when they are in the bowl by the side of the pond do we add the anethetic.
Once they are under you start to work cleaning up the wound then treating the wound finally we spray the area with propolis and put the koi back into the water gently holding it until it comes around when you feel the muscles start to move you release it.
So the trick is keep everything as stress free as you can for them
Looking at your pond I dont think its as many gallons as you are thinking

Dave

 

[Priscilla]

I don't know how many gall. My husband used some sort of pond calculator. The liner is 20x20 and we used every inch of it, and probably could have done with more so we could have built shelves to help hide the liner. Maybe its not 2200 g, I don't know really know. I do know its a huge pond when trying to catch a fish! Lol!

I'll try to scoop the koi, although I don't have all the things you're talking about.

You must be a very serious koi keeper.

 

[Dave 54]

I don't know how many gall. My husband used some sort of pond calculator. The liner is 20x20 and we used every inch of it, and probably could have done with more so we could have built shelves to help hide the liner. Maybe its not 2200 g, I don't know really know. I do know its a huge pond when trying to catch a fish! Lol!

I'll try to scoop the koi, although I don't have all the things you're talking about.

You must be a very serious koi keeper.

Now thats a bit of a Problem Priscilla you see you have to know the exact volume of water so that you can safely treat any pond outbreak you may have.
When we first filled our own pond we ran the water through a water meter which gave us the exact gallonage that we have to work with .
I have a big problem with dyscalcula ( a form of mathemetical dyslexia) so I have to know exactly how much to treat I do this by asking the Dealership to work it all out for me but other than that I'm fine with things
PS you could make a sock net out of a pair of trousers cutting off one leg sewing the top of one leg around a net then leaving about 2ft cutting the bottom, off , to use you catch up the koi face first holding the bottom open end then when you want to put it into a bag or bowl you simple put the open end in the bag and let go , the koi will slide down it into the bag

Dave

 

[Priscilla]

I don't have a water meter - never really thought we would need such a thing. I seriously dove into thinking dig a hole and its good to go. Learning on the fly! I've read so many people have their ponds for 11/12 years and no problems. I'm hoping for the same, and hopefully by then I will have expanded it and will then KNOW to use a water meter when re-filling. Cross your fingers for me!

 

[Dave 54]

Here are the type nets you really need ;-

The sock net as I explained

http://www.koigarden.com/Koi-Sock-Net-Koi-Nets-And-Pans-sc-119.html

The net you guide the koi to the sufrace with which has a telescopic handle :-


http://www.koigarden.com/Koi-Nets-And-Pans/30-in-Koi-Net-p-118.html

Both are very easy to use and with a little practice you'll be as good as we are with the larger net which has a long poll so you dont have to get in the pondand get you feet wet
You can even scoop the koi out of this net with the sock net
Hope this helps you Piscilla however they do have a big price tag I'm affraid

Dave