recent koi purchaser and 1 casuality already

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Hello all:

I recently received my shipment of small 3-4 inch koi in a 10 pack and acclimated them yesterday to the pond as per instructions. They all seemed to have adjusted and this am I found one floating belly up. It had small helminths coming out of its gills, rest seem fine I am hoping to get a replacement.
yellow koi20200920_100948.jpg


Any thoughts or advise or preventatives I can be doing ?
 
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Let's start with the basics - how big is your pond? Is this an established pond or a new pond? Do you have other fish? Do you do water testing?

I assume a "helminth" is a worm? Are you sure they were worms? Did they appear to be alive? That fish appears to have several open wounds on it's side - do you know how that happened?
 

Mmathis

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More information about your pond would be helpful. Also, those look like wounds. Could this have been a predator attack? Or are there sharp surfaces in the pond?
 
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Let's start with the basics - how big is your pond? Is this an established pond or a new pond? Do you have other fish? Do you do water testing?

I assume a "helminth" is a worm? Are you sure they were worms? Did they appear to be alive? That fish appears to have several open wounds on it's side - do you know how that happened?
 
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its about a 1000 gallon freshwater pond. No other fish seem to be affected at this point and there are some other smaller goldfish in it.
I recently have been having racoons show up and been trapping them and relocating them.

I havent tested the water yet as I am so new to this I am not sure what that would involve....
 
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I agree with raccoon injury, and am also very sorry for the loss of one of your new babies. However... 1000 gallons is a rather small pond for 10 koi. You will either need to very carefully manage your water conditions or I would expect that you will need to 'rehome' some of those koi in the future.

Regarding monitoring/testing the water conditions -- Get an API liquid test kit that includes ammonia, nitrites, pH, and nitrates. Also (as a separate kit) get one that measures kh (will also include gh, but that's probably less critical) Depending on the age of your pond, I'd suggest testing regularly - once a week or so - until you make sure conditions are stabilized & you understand the natural fluctuations of your pond (ie - I need to monitor kh after a heavy rainfall in my pond)
 
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My guess is also the raccoon got a good swipe at this one. I'm sorry to see that, but nature is that way sometimes.

I'll second @BKHpondcritters - don't replace that fish and start thinking about maybe finding new homes for a few of the others. You could keep a couple of koi, but even nine is too many for your pond.
 
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My guess is also the raccoon got a good swipe at this one. I'm sorry to see that, but nature is that way sometimes.

I'll second @BKHpondcritters - don't replace that fish and start thinking about maybe finding new homes for a few of the others. You could keep a couple of koi, but even nine is too many for your pond.
I think over time mother nature will take her course, I wont replace my lost one. Thanks for the advice!!!
 
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I agree with raccoon injury, and am also very sorry for the loss of one of your new babies. However... 1000 gallons is a rather small pond for 10 koi. You will either need to very carefully manage your water conditions or I would expect that you will need to 'rehome' some of those koi in the future.

Regarding monitoring/testing the water conditions -- Get an API liquid test kit that includes ammonia, nitrites, pH, and nitrates. Also (as a separate kit) get one that measures kh (will also include gh, but that's probably less critical) Depending on the age of your pond, I'd suggest testing regularly - once a week or so - until you make sure conditions are stabilized & you understand the natural fluctuations of your pond (ie - I need to monitor kh after a heavy rainfall in my pond)
 

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