Oh No! Fish bumps.

[JBtheExplorer]

The good news is that my pond has thawed.

The bad news is that at least one fish has bumps. What could it be and what can I do?

No water tests or anything as it's just thawed today. i hope to get the pump running tomorrow.

 

[Tula]

It appears to be carp pox. It's caused by a virus, I don't think it has a treatment and goes " away" ( or dormant ) during warmer weather. Perhaps others will chime in.

Exciting to get your pond up and running !

 

[JBtheExplorer]

It appears to be carp pox. It's caused by a virus, I don't think it has a treatment and goes " away" ( or dormant ) during warmer weather. Perhaps others will chime in.

Exciting to get your pond up and running !

Will wait to see what others say. If this is carp pox, will this become a bigger issue and spread among the rest of my fish?

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Crap. Just scooped out two dead frogs, too. This was apparently not a good winter for my pond. I have seen three alive frogs, though.

 

[RobAmy]

I agree it looks like Carp Pox, let nature get warmer and they should be okay. Sorry on the frogs, it happens. You will be up and running and back to normal in no time.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Oh no... more bad news.

I found another fish that looks like it has Dropsy (based on a quick google search).

What should I do?!


There's also a missing fish, and with everything else going on, I don't have high hopes for finding it alive/healthy.

 

[MitchM]

Rob's right about the carp pox, warmer water will take care of that.
The suspected dropsy is more concerning. It could mean organ failure of the fish.
I would start by testing your water and posting the results back here.
If you don't already have test kits, test for temperature, ammonia, nitrate, KH, GH and PH (note the time of the PH reading)
If you have been feeding the fish, make sure you are not using expired or spoiled food.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Rob's right about the carp pox, warmer water will take care of that.
The suspected dropsy is more concerning. It could mean organ failure of the fish.
I would start by testing your water and posting the results back here.
If you don't already have test kits, test for temperature, ammonia, nitrate, KH, GH and PH (note the time of the PH reading)
If you have been feeding the fish, make sure you are not using expired or spoiled food.

I plan to test soon. I should have done it today as I was starting it up for the season, but didn't realize the new issue until I was just about done and leaving. Now that I've got the water flowing and bog hooked back up, I'd expect water quality to improve. Weather may not cooperate for tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to do it early next week. I read that dropsy is more than likely fatal, but it does not spread to other fish. Is this true?

 

[MitchM]

Dropsy is not contagious but if you have poor water quality, the other fish could be at risk of bacterial infection.

 

[addy1]

darn JB good luck with your fish. It has been a hard winter for a lot of folks.

 

[j.w]

Sure hope you can get whatever these things are under control. Sad to see, but sounds like the pox will go away. Maybe w/some of the testing it will help you figure out what's going on w/the dropsy and if there is a treatment for it.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Now, I just found that both of my hoses are leaking.
The waterfall hose is no big deal, already replaced, but the bog hose is likely going to require me to remove my entire waterfall. If so, I may move the waterfall so I won't have to take it apart again. SO many issues this year...

 

[LarryM]

I had the same concern in reverse. Towards the end of fall going into winter my yellow ogon koi started getting milkish colored white bumps. A couple others started getting the same thing, although not quite as severe. Now that spring arrived the koi are active again and the bumps have all disappeared. In fact, my koi have never looked better. I'm not what those bumps were, but I'm glad they're gone.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

the bog hose is likely going to require me to remove my entire waterfall.

Still TBD if I have to remove my waterfall. I started pulling some of the rocks and I found the access point right behind the waterfall so I might be able to unhook the hose and pull it out and get a new one in, unless the waterfall has settled too much. For now, there's still enough water going to the bog to keep it flowing, and the leak (caused by a vole) just sends the water right back into the pond, so I tied a plastic bag around the hole just to keep it from shooting out, and I'll have to deal with it when we get some better weather. It was raining lightly most of this morning so I wasn't in the mood to do too much.

For now, I'm hoping the bog can start improving the water quality. It's already improved the clarity. I still need to test it. I have yet to find my missing fish, though I did move a few pots around today in search of it. I'm sure I would've seen it by now if it were alive, since every other fish has been swimming around. It may be tucked into a fold near the bottom, or in my mess of waterlily roots. Hard to say. At least the fish were all swimming around and active today. Even saw a few frogs. Seeing the good helps settle the stress of the bad.

 

[Tula]

Our waterfall has settled We put a level on it last summer to confirm......actually I think that side of the pond has settled too, as the water lowers. It bugs me, but I really don't want to take it all apart.