Koi disease

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Hi. About two weeks ago I noticed a pink fleshy bump on the top of one of my koi's head (behind it's right eye). It doesn't appear like it's an open wound, just raised and pink. After talking with my pond shop I was told it could be a tumor, bacterial infection or fungal.

I dosed the pond with Pimafix on Friday, May 14th. Pimafix is for fungal, finrot and internal/external bacterial infections. After 7 days, you can dose again if needed. Tonight when I got home from work I noticed that the koi appeared like his orange color was fading (turing cloudy white) on parts of his body center of his head. I took some pics. When i got him out of the water for the pic, I noticed his tail appeared to have finrot too.

I also noticed tonight that one of my other koi now has a pink fleshy bump on his left side so i took a pic of it as well. HIs appears like an open wound.

I am wondering after a few days from dosing the pond with Pimafix if it brought out the problems (fish losing it's color and the other one having a bump appear on it's side). Does adding meds to the pond make the fish appear worse before they get better?

Could anyone identify these problems or give me any other suggestions? I am at a loss as to whether i should dose the pond this Friday which will be 7 days after I dosed it the first time if these problems don't appear to go away.

In the 4 years of having my pond, all of my koi are originals. I have not lost a koi or had any other problems since I started the pond. The two with the problems (disease) have been in the pond for the past 4 years as well. I do add aquarium salt to the pond as well :bowdown:

I threw in a pic of one of my three babies that were born last summer in the pond. I was able to catch the one and get a pic. I also added a pic of how the pond looks.

Thank you and any suggestions or identification of their problems would be greatly appreciated.

Harry
 

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Pimafix (like Melafix) is a witches brew and does nothing. Junk.

In the first pic, the pink spot seems to look like a candle wax dripping--which would indicate carp pox. It is viral and there is no cure. The fish will look and act normally and it never kills the fish. When water starts to warm up after winter, is usually when you see it pop up.

Have you recently added any new fish or plants that could have been carrying the virus? It could have been even last season, and now it is showing up due to warmer weather.

Have you been doing 20% water changes each week? Do a water test and give us your parameter readings, please.

Is the fish in the first photo and the 3rd photo the same fish? It's really hard to tell on the 3rd photo, but does that spot look like the one on the first photo?
 
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Yeah the spot looks like candle wax on his head. The bump appears closed, no oozing or blood. The third pic is of my other koi. I noticed that he had a bump now. His looked like it was going to turn into an open wound. It appeared a little on the oozy when I looked at it. Ill try getting more pics tonight when I get home. I haven't added anything new this year or last except water lettice and hyacinth. I will take a water test too. I change about 25 percent of the water every 2 to 3 weeks. With there being no cure, should I pull the plug on the koi in pics 1 and 2? Just don't want this pox spreading anymore than it has to...ugh.
koikeepr said:
Pimafix (like Melafix) is a witches brew and does nothing. Junk.

In the first pic, the pink spot seems to look like a candle wax dripping--which would indicate carp pox. It is viral and there is no cure. The fish will look and act normally and it never kills the fish. When water starts to warm up after winter, is usually when you see it pop up.

Have you recently added any new fish or plants that could have been carrying the virus? It could have been even last season, and now it is showing up due to warmer weather.

Have you been doing 20% water changes each week? Do a water test and give us your parameter readings, please.

Is the fish in the first photo and the 3rd photo the same fish? It's really hard to tell on the 3rd photo, but does that spot look like the one on the first photo?
 
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ok, if it's candle wax looking it's koi pox (carp pox). No cure. Viral. Fish will live and eat perfectly fine, but will be marred by this wax dripping look. Sometimes, when the temps cool, it might appear to go away, and the next spring when temps warm up, the waxy look returns.

ALL YOUR FISH ARE INFECTED, and ALL the fish in your pond are carriers. The others may never show the waxy candle look, but they are carriers. You should NEVER give any of these fish to anyone, as you will spread the virus. Any new fish you introduce into the pond, will be infected and become a carrier as well.

You can choose to humanely destroy the fish that are visibly affected, but that does not remove the virus from your pond. As I said, all your fish are now infected and carriers. So, unless you destroy the whole herd, clean the pond and start over, your pond is now permanently affected with the virus. Honestly, it is not a death sentence, and really no big deal. Your fish can live long and healthy lives. It does bother some people to see their fish with that waxy look, but if you kinda ignore that fact, the fish can be perfectly fine.

With viruses, sometimes fish succumb to secondary diseases if the water is not kept very clean because their defenses are affected by the carp virus. Tho the koi pox, doesn't kill 'em, something else can. So, it's important to keep a very clean pond. You'll need to change at least 20% every week. 3 weeks is too long to go without a water change in a koi pond, IMHO.

The 3rd photo looked different to me. It looked more like an ulcer, which is why I asked. Typically, ulcers form due to poor water conditions. Do tell us what your water parameters show when you test. I would do an immediate water change.

Grab some pond salt to get the fish to grow a thick slime coat. Use the right amount for your gallonage. I would grab that fish with the ulcer and put on some merchuriochrome (that red stuff applied with the little stick your parents put on your skinned knee as a kid) to prevent further infection.
 
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I emailed the photos to my pond store where i purchased all my koi. Both owners confirmed the carp pox on the one. The other koi had a bacterial infection. i purchased anti-bacterial food and fed the whole pond the medicated food for the past 2 weeks. The bacterial infection cleared up on the other koi's side (red, black and white one). I have no idea how it picked up carp pox. It must have had it since it was born and finally came out after 4 years. I read up on the pox and understand that they are all carriers, no cure, etc. thank you for the replies :D

I guess I'll have a herpes pond now LOL can't bare to kill off my little buddies because of a few bumps.

PS: I added aquarium salt and changed the water. I will be changing 20% of the water more often ((every week) than in the past (every 2-3 weeks). My PH is at 7.0, KH is at 120, GH is at 75, Nitrite is at 0, Nitrate is at 10.

Best,
Harry



koikeepr said:
ok, if it's candle wax looking it's koi pox (carp pox). No cure. Viral. Fish will live and eat perfectly fine, but will be marred by this wax dripping look. Sometimes, when the temps cool, it might appear to go away, and the next spring when temps warm up, the waxy look returns.

ALL YOUR FISH ARE INFECTED, and ALL the fish in your pond are carriers. The others may never show the waxy candle look, but they are carriers. You should NEVER give any of these fish to anyone, as you will spread the virus. Any new fish you introduce into the pond, will be infected and become a carrier as well.

You can choose to humanely destroy the fish that are visibly affected, but that does not remove the virus from your pond. As I said, all your fish are now infected and carriers. So, unless you destroy the whole herd, clean the pond and start over, your pond is now permanently affected with the virus. Honestly, it is not a death sentence, and really no big deal. Your fish can live long and healthy lives. It does bother some people to see their fish with that waxy look, but if you kinda ignore that fact, the fish can be perfectly fine.

With viruses, sometimes fish succumb to secondary diseases if the water is not kept very clean because their defenses are affected by the carp virus. Tho the koi pox, doesn't kill 'em, something else can. So, it's important to keep a very clean pond. You'll need to change at least 20% every week. 3 weeks is too long to go without a water change in a koi pond, IMHO.

The 3rd photo looked different to me. It looked more like an ulcer, which is why I asked. Typically, ulcers form due to poor water conditions. Do tell us what your water parameters show when you test. I would do an immediate water change.

Grab some pond salt to get the fish to grow a thick slime coat. Use the right amount for your gallonage. I would grab that fish with the ulcer and put on some merchuriochrome (that red stuff applied with the little stick your parents put on your skinned knee as a kid) to prevent further infection.
 

DrDave

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Under that pea gravel is a cesspool of nasty stuff. Remove anything covering the bottom and your fish will be healthier.
 
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ok, never thought of that. Thank you.

DrDave said:
Under that pea gravel is a cesspool of nasty stuff. Remove anything covering the bottom and your fish will be healthier.
 

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