please in need of help

[liljonatl]

I have been having a hard time getting my pond set up, IT was all good for about 5 months. My wife and I clean the filters everyday, we change the water out 25% every week, and we dont feed the fish much. We have fed them a lil more in the last week getting them used to the koi pearl we ordered. But the issue is we have had 2 fish die a few days ago. We now have one that has a red spot on him. that is what it looks like. I have all my fish in a 40G tank right now which has 4 small koi's no more then the size of 5 inches each. Ive got a 200 dollar external filter on it now. with two oxygen stones in there. I have put a lil bit of salt and T.C. tetracycline in to the tank as well. I have removed 80% of the water from my pond and refilled it since and applied salt to it as well. any help or ideas would be helpful thanxs in advance
Jon
pleas

 

[liljonatl]

I believe it is a nitrate spike but im not to sure. also to note I also have 1 12 inch koi still in the main pond he is way to big to put in the 40G tank i have put him in it for a few hours just so he could get a little of the medication and while i was working on the pond. I have since put him back in to the pond and he seems to be doing ok ive been checking on all them every 30 mins.

 

[koiguy1969]

the red spot appears to be an ulcer ....

 

[liljonatl]

This was the nitrite reading in the pond as well
thanxs koiguy for ur insight

this is a pic of the 4 koi in the tank

 

[pondbuilder13]

It could even be a parisite too but you said you had them in a tank so they may be stressed out and that will eventually after 2 weeks cause them to die...+ they get red marks when they are stressed


~marino~

 

[liljonatl]

I was kinda wondering about a parasite but i put medicine in the tank and pond for parasite's as well. Thats what scares me the most. None of the other fish have spots are anything wrong with. but i put them in the medical tank just in case of that.

 

[koiguy1969]

the ulcer may very well of been caused by a parasite...ulcers are usually a secondary infection..due to the infection of an open wound. these wounds can a product of spawnng, or flashing (which is rubbing against surfaces in the pond to scratch an itch or more likely to remove a parasite.) ulcers are often a sign of poor water quality and can be attributed to bacterial infection more often than not

 

[stroppy]

im not sure what your nitrite reading was ..a little hard to see the colour of the water ... but it should read 0 you say you clean your filters every day, can i ask how your cleaning them and what they are

 

[lauraleellbp]

Did you cycle this pond before adding your fish? You've definitely got a nitrite spike going. Have you checked the ammonia and nitrates also?

Based on that nitrite reading I'd get salt in your pond ASAP- the salt can help with nitrite poisoning, and also a "side benefit" may help that wound heal up if it's parasite or bacterial in nature.

How big is your pond?

You've probably also got some cycling issues in your 40gal holding tank with that bioload and dosing an antibiotic- even if that tank was cycled previously, there's a good chance that the tetracycline killed off the N-bacteria (IDK if tetracycline treats gram-positive or gram-negative bacteria- anyone else know?) I'd check those water parameters too.

You may have lots and lots of big water changes in your future...

 

[liljonatl]

the nitrite read a 5.0 on the chart so i did and 80% water change
the amonia level came out fine.
The pond is 1300 gallons.
I have a 40watt uv filter, and ive got a bage of crushed coral in the barrel at the top of the waterfall to buffer the water, along with some fiter mats at the top as well. I clean out the filter mats with the pond water just pouring some on untill it runs though clear.
Im planning on doing a 60% water change todaye on the pond and a 20 water change on the medical tank.

 

[RSFish1]

One easy thing to overlook as you are doing all of these water changes. Are you using city water? If you are, make sure to dechlorinate it. It's real easy to be concentrating on one battle and lose the war on another front.
You will get some great advice from many people here. They definitely know from experience on how best to help you out and guide you through this.

 

[liljonatl]

yes i am using city water i also know to put in in like rain fall and angle it up right to help remove some of the chlorine. I also put some de chlorinate in every time i refill pond as a precaution

 

[lauraleellbp]

You're more likely to need 80% changes on both again today- you want to maintain under 0.50 ppm nitrites if at all possible. You may need to do big water changes 2x a day on your tank- the smaller the volume of water, the quicker and higher the waste/toxin buildup.

Any idea what's causing the nitrite spike in your pond? Did you recently add a lot of fish?

 

[pondbuilder13]

The thing i am concerned about the most is how red it is cause usually a ulcer would be a little darker that is bright red so he could still have a parasite id get him checked out.

~marino~

 

[liljonatl]

no i have had about 10 fish for some time now. when i do another water change today im going to take another nitrite reading after and see what's up with it. I will post later on tonight and let you guys know what the reading is then.