Koi swims briefly then lays on bottom

[Jennibonez]

ok I’m freaking out. We just moved 4 of our koi to a new larger pond yesterday. One of them had a rough entry and hit a rock on the way in but seemed fine for the following hours. Then it started to separate itself from the group and lying on the bottom. It will periodically swim in a circle and then lay on the bottom for a bit, then swim in a circle and lay on the bottom again and so on. It ate some yesterday but shows ZERO interest today. I have put pond salt and stress coat in the water along with Melafix because I was worried it could be a parasite or bacterial thing but there has been no change, she has also popped her head out of the water a handfull of times. The water was clear before adding the fish But has become a little murky. I tested the water quality and it’s good. The other fish are doing great so I’m at a loss. I consider myself a beginner in all this, I’ve had them for six years and only had small easily fixed issues but this is out of my league for sure.

 

[Mmathis]

Hi, @Jennibonez, and welcome!

I’m afraid that we don’t have enough information to be of much help — there are too many variables with this picture.

1. How big is your pond (gallons, dimensions)?
2. What kind of filtration do you have?
3. What is the source of your water?
4. What were the results of the water tests (actual numbers, rather than “good”)?
5. Can you see any physical changes with this fish — like a cut, sore, reddened area, damaged fins, etc?

As to what to do, maybe others will contribute better advice, but I would say to keep an eye on her. Be sure your water parameters are good (#4 above). Be sure you have good aeration/water movement. I wouldn’t worry about adding anything to the water unless you have her quarantined in a separate body of water. Fish are individuals, and it could be that there is nothing wrong with her that time and patience won’t heal.

Best wishes! Oh, and post some pics of your pond for us!

 

[Lisak1]

I will second everything @Mmathis said. More information would be helpful.

I am curious though, when you moved a healthy fish to a new pond why your mind immediately went to parasite or bacteria? Not a criticism - just a curiosity. It would be far more likely that the fish was injured on transfer since you saw the rough landing. And as @Mmathis said - adding anything to a whole pond to treat one fish isn't advisable. Isolate and treat the fish with the issue, if you do any treating at all. In most cases though time is the best healer.

Welcome to the GPF! You'll get through this and come out a more knowledgable pond owner on the other side!

 

[j.w]

@Jennibonez Hoping your fish will recover and that it was just a temporary shock from the transfer.

 

[mrsclem]

Let me add a couple of questions. This is a new pond? How long has it been running? Do you have any aeration in the pond? How much salt did you add and do you have some way to check the salt level? Hopefully the fish was just stunned from the drop and will recover but it coming to the surface seems like a different problem.