Koi with ulcers on skin

[Lisak1]

And mine was just a warning to tread carefully and be aware of the difference between that site and this one. Folks here are indeed far more accepting of the different types of ponds that people keep.

While they have gotten a bit more tolerant, they may try to convince you that all your problems are related to rocks in the pond, or bog filtration or too many plants, or... well you get it. Anything that's not a highly filtered koi swimming pool is anathema to them and their pond keeping style. I've seen people over there convinced that they need to pull all the rock and gravel out of their pond while never being told "hey - maybe that pond isn't big enough for all those great big fish".

 

[GBBUDD]

I have to admit they are way ahead of my brief, short experience thus far with Facebook. Some of the suggestions I have seen in solutions to problems in NUMBING. Recently one suggestion for crystal clean water was to have a turn over rate of 6 times an hour. While that may work for them that is a huge amount of energy not necessary with todays filters. Pay now or pay latter spend the money to oversize filtration

 

[Kelly H]

Greetings everyone, I am fairly new to keeping fish and I need some advice on one of little koi who I tried unsuccessfully to introduce to my pond which currently has 1 large koi and 5 fairly large goldfish that have been in it since May of last year. My new koi was a birthday present, and I followed the instructions to carefully acclimatize her to the pond. Unfortunately the water was far too cold and she went into a thermal shock, I quickly fished her out and kept her in the same pond water in a large glass bowl until I was able to borrow a 30 gallon tank from my brother who raises koi for his own pond and no longer needed the tank. I carefully added water (our tap water comes from a reservoire of fresh mountain water) and I added the pumps and a brand new filter, and waited for 24 hrs to ensure the water quality was good - used API test kit for PH 7.6 / Amonia at .25 / and also the API test strips. Everything seemed good and my little koi seemed okay and I put her in the tank. She has been swimming but prefers to sit in one spot and will only swim if you bring a net near her. I noticed that she has what appears to be a red ulcer on her tail (see photo) and her scales seem to be peeling off (photo). I think it may be a bacterial infection due to the pond shock and I am extremely upset and worried. Please, if anyone can suggest or help identify what it is and if I can help her then please please let me know,

 

[WaterGardener]

Ulcers are usually a result of less than perfect water conditions. You need to test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and KH. PLEASE only use the liquid type tests and not strips. Strips are not accurate so they can give false results.

Post the test results here and we can get a better idea of what is going on with your fish. Sounds as though he has been through a lot of stress and that likely contributed to the problem.

In the meantime, you can treat the ulcer topically with iodine and/ or triple antibiotic ointment. You will need to dry the area as much as possible before applying ointment. There is also a powdered version of triple antibiotic called Tri-cide Neo. It can be found online.

 

[Kelly H]

Ulcers are usually a result of less than perfect water conditions. You need to test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and KH. PLEASE only use the liquid type tests and not strips. Strips are not accurate so they can give false results.

Post the test results here and we can get a better idea of what is going on with your fish. Sounds as though he has been through a lot of stress and that likely contributed to the problem.

In the meantime, you can treat the ulcer topically with iodine and/ or triple antibiotic ointment. You will need to dry the area as much as possible before applying ointment. There is also a powdered version of triple antibiotic called Tri-cide Neo. It can be found online.

Thank you for your reply - I did use the Liquid test tube API kits for PH and Amonia that was the reading: PH 7.6 and the liquid Amonia test was .25 the API test strip was just an added precaution. I am going to try your reccomendation for treating thd ulcer with iodine and will visit the pet store to see about buying some sort of water purifier to add to any new water prior to adding to tank. In the meantime I thought maybe I could use bottled spring water to replace 25% of the tank water.

 

[WaterGardener]

Your tap water should be fine. You should test it, too, to be sure it's okay. Normally, the only thing that would need to be added when using tap water is a dechlorinator, if the water has added chlorine.

My attitude is to keep things simple. No need to make it more difficult.

 

[Kelly H]

thank you

 

[GBBUDD]

im sorry the pet stores should be jailed for selling koi to an aquarium hobbyist.

ihave you ever tested your water?
do you use straight tap water for water changes without a dechlorinator?

 

[Kelly H]

im sorry the pet stores should be jailed for selling koi to an aquarium hobbyist.

ihave you ever tested your water?
do you use straight tap water for water changes without a dechlorinator?

I have a pond but it’s too cold for new fish at the moment - the other koi and goldfish have wintered in that pond so they are fine - the new one was less than two inches and went into a 30 gallon tank to wait a few months until the weather warmed up and could go into the pond - my pond is huge - about 20,000 gallons and 3.6 feet deep and this year I invested in a pond heater but didnt really need to use it as we only got snow for two days and I was able to pour buckets of boiling water to ensure the pond always had an open area for gasses to escape and oxygen to get in - now of course the pond is completely back to normal except for the frigid temps.