Seem to have never ending issues sorry for the long post

[bkidder]

so for a long time i raised tropical fish and had little to no issues so when we bought a house with a back yard koi pond i was excited. now i'm having one issue after another.which sort of makes me nut. when i took over this pond it had a 250 gal pump going to a spill way clogged with crap. you couldn't see the shallow end bottom or the fish. the entire pond looked more like a mud pond.
i added proper filtration[ skimmer with 4500 GPM pump to spillway located at the opposite end of the pond and a separate UV with a 2500 GPM pump]. now you can see the fish anywhere in the pond and the water stays clear. i do 30% water changes every two to three weeks and clean the pond out every spring.
for fish i have 4 koi - 3 are large one small one and 8 comets.
last year we had ich probably from bringing in a new fish from what i'm told.after that some sort of infection [red fins] we dealt with both. seemed to be ok as i put them down for the winter. then this spring one of the butterfly still had red fin we moved him to the upper pond isolated and treated he died. so now after my spring clean two koi seem to have a whitish film on 50% of their body almost looks like ich the red butterfly has a small white puffy spot, and white dots on his fins, the blue koi just looks whitish and dull.not sure about the yellow koi its hard to see anything on her with the yellow coloring. but she appears to have a couple of bruises on her could be nothing not sure. all koi seem to have a few missing scales. also all are active and eating the blue one maybe not as much as the others. all the comets are fine.
great way to join a forum with all these issues sorry but i need help.

water - PH 7.8 - nitrate 0 - ammonia - 0 -TDS- 68

 

[bkidder]

just an update i was outside with my daughter to look at the red koi again and both agree no white spots just a very light milky white coating on the red koi maybe 50% of his body along with missing scales
thanks sorry for any confusion all fish are eating well

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! So sorry that you’re having problems. Many times health issues with fish are due to poor water quality. What confuses people is that crystal clear water doesn’t necessarily mean “healthy water,” and pea soup water doesn’t necessarily mean “bad water.”

How big is your pond (gallons)? Do you have test results for any other water parameter (nitrite, KH...)?

 

[GBBUDD]

bk.. let's start with some picturez

 

[poconojoe]

Welcome and sorry to hear about your troubles.

Some things that come up a lot and certainly from people who keep aquariums is the need to strive for perfectly clear sanitized water by doing water changes and constantly cleaning everything out. No disrespect, but ponds are a little different.

I rarely, if at all do water changes. I let nature do it for me when it rains.

I never, ever do a complete clean-out. There's lots of beneficial bacteria coating everything that I'd rather not disturb. Plus I don't want to shock my fish when it comes to adding water that might have different parameters, such as Ph, temperature, etc.
I don't know if you are using treated central water that is chlorinated, but I'm sure (from your aquarium experience), you're aware you need to dechlorinize it.

In my experience with ponding, it seems the less you do, the better. And patience is a big factor too. Things don't happen overnight.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum!

Post some pictures when you can. How many gallons is your pond?

 

[bkidder]

Hello and welcome! So sorry that you’re having problems. Many times health issues with fish are due to poor water quality. What confuses people is that crystal clear water doesn’t necessarily mean “healthy water,” and pea soup water doesn’t necessarily mean “bad water.”

How big is your pond (gallons)? Do you have test results for any other water parameter (nitrite, KH...)?

my pond is about 2200 gal yes i've nitrite -0 all levels that would suggest to much waste break down are at 0 - i agree with your water analogy

 

[bkidder]

Welcome and sorry to hear about your troubles.

Some things that come up a lot and certainly from people who keep aquariums is the need to strive for perfectly clear sanitized water by doing water changes and constantly cleaning everything out. No disrespect, but ponds are a little different.

I rarely, if at all do water changes. I let nature do it for me when it rains.

I never, ever do a complete clean-out. There's lots of beneficial bacteria coating everything that I'd rather not disturb. Plus I don't want to shock my fish when it comes to adding water that might have different parameters, such as Ph, temperature, etc.
I don't know if you are using treated central water that is chlorinated, but I'm sure (from your aquarium experience), you're aware you need to dechlorinize it.

In my experience with ponding, it seems the less you do, the better. And patience is a big factor too. Things don't happen overnight.

thanks i dechlorinize before adding water and during a full clean i put all the fish in my small upper pond[about 130 gal] for a few days while i clean. also i don't clean any filter during this time to keep as much beneficial bacteria as possible but that is a concern of mine. theres no real way to measure good bacteria levels so they could be fairly low after a full water change. i also slowly circulate the new water in the main pond through the smaller pond to help avoid stress from temp or PH .
after watching them for a while i thing velvet coating on there scales would be a better description
i have a few pics ill post

 

[bkidder]

bk.. let's start with some picturez

on the way

 

[bkidder]

thanks i dechlorinize before adding water and during a full clean i put all the fish in my small upper pond[about 130 gal] for a few days while i clean. also i don't clean any filter during this time to keep as much beneficial bacteria as possible but that is a concern of mine. theres no real way to measure good bacteria levels so they could be fairly low after a full water change. i also slowly circulate the new water in the main pond through the smaller pond to help avoid stress from temp or PH .
after watching them for a while i thing velvet coating on there scales would be a better description
i have a few pics ill post

also your right tropical fish require perfect water with minimal changes. i would never do a 100% water change with them. 25% every two weeks. to keep beneficial bacteria levels up. i only do 100% change now because of a guy that owns a pond supply company said it should be done once a year

 

[bkidder]

heres one

 

[JamieB]

I'm thinking the white coating sounds like a fungal infection. Once others pitch in their advice, you should have a better idea. Treatment will involve removing the fish, so set up a large tote, clean trash can, or similar clean water holding device big enough for your fish. Add airation, some form of non charcoal filtration, and measure out water from the pond to full it. You want to know how many gallons you use. Then add the treatment, a general one I recommend is Melafix, which contains teatree oil, which can cause fish to jump if they have open wounds from parasites or missing scales. But let others who know more advise you on what would be better. Than you need to follow the treatment plan, as well as figure out how to treat your pond for the cause of the problem.

 

[bkidder]

good advice that's what i came up with last year late fall seemed to work but now i'm wondering if it just slowed down the issue and its still there. one thing I've read is most fungal treatments don't work well or at all in colder water it think below 60 [not 100 percent sure] which was the case up here in last year. good news for me i can isolate any sick fish in a smaller decorative pond next to my main pond for any treatment. it will be good to see if all agree id like to get to treatments soon. i also have a bottle of wipe out which I've been reluctant use it kills all the good and bad not sure i want to use it. thanks

 

[bkidder]

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im having issues getting pics to the site try this not sure if it will work

 

[bkidder]

heres the blue one