Problem with "Sunkist"

[Olee]

My wife just noticed that one of her favorite Koi has something wrong with the right side of his/her mouth. It almost looks like it is swollen and some of it is missing?!? I will try to get a pic. Is this some type of parasite or something possibly? All other fish are fine. Water is fine (PH is a bit on the high side 8.2-8.5). We did have a koi that did not make through the winter but it was sick prior to winter (stayed away from others). I am concerned for this guy. Any ideas?

Thanks.
Olee

 

[DrCase]

You do need to get the pic up , there are members that can help .

 

[Olee]

This is making feel sad for this poor guy!

Here is another view.....

 

[koikeepr]

I redirected this into the Illnesses and Diseases section.

Hmmmm.... its kind of hard to tell what's happening here from the photos. Could the fish have bumped into something or been attacked by a predator?

The high Ph doesn't help matters in terms of figuring this out. Why is your Ph so high? have you been doing water changes and adding dechlor?

We need more info. Is the fish eating and lively or is he listless?

 

[DrDave]

I have had Koi, maybe 1 in a thousand that have birth defects that cause the mouth to be small, malformed and almost inoperative. Almost like it is paralyzed. Can this Koi open and close it's mouth?

Can you do a straight on shot so I can see the symetry of the mouth?

 

[koikeepr]

DrD, I think Olee is saying the fish suddenly turned up this way and was fine previously. At least that's how I'm reading it...

I agree a photo from the front might have helped. Of course, catching it again might stress it further.

 

[DrDave]

So are you going to help him?

 

[Olee]

This fish is quite lively and a handful to catch. Eating both food and algae is not an issue.

The PH is high because of the rocks in the pond (so I have read). I have not attempted to lower the PH with anything other than plants. Right now all my Hyacinths are gone and I am awaiting my shipment (here tomorrow or Friday) to provide more shade from the sun. last year the PH was 7.8 - 8.0 which is I was told was OK.

I will try to get a head-on shot tomorrow. These guys are like my children, I really want it to be healthy. Is there anything else I should do before I try for the head-on shot?

Oh, my wife did tell me that he ran into one of the rocks last year, but she said he was fine after that (this was last summer).

Thanks for the assistance.

 

[DrDave]

Do you have any sharp rocks in your pond? When fish get spooked, they sometimes move so suddenly that they can hurt themselves.

One of the koi I recently rescued from a 10 gallon aquarium when crazy for almost a week when placed into an 80 gallon aquarium. It kept running into the walls so hard I thought it would suffer permanent damage. It has settled down now and seems to enjoy seeing me come to feed him. Some day it will be placed into a pond, I hope it adusts without a repeat performance.

If you have a QT tank, you might want to move him there in case you need to treat it with anitbiotics.

 

[Olee]

There are a few pieces of slate rock in there, maybe I should remove them?

 

[DrDave]

Slate generally has sharp edges, that may be a good idea.

 

[Olee]

I put it in there to create a hiding place for them when the pond was new. It hangs over the edge of a deep spot. I will remove all of it tomorrow....

 

[koikeepr]

that could be it. Koi are fast moving fish and can dart around and easily smack into something in the pond. You really should not have anything inside a koi pond for the safety of the fish.