Sick Koi

[Tula]

If my OPINION, is correct and the fish has Columnaris, the following information taken from Blue Ridge Hatchery, may be helpful. I've recently read several articles on Koiphen ( a site dedicated solely to Koi and has a medical committee ) about good results with Oxolinic Acid. I don't know if it's available to you or not. Sadly, if it is Columnar, as opposed to Ich, the other mentioned treatments will not work and you could be looking at some of your other fish contracting it.

"So what can you use? Look for medications with antibiotics in them. Nitrofurazone, Furazolidone, Tetracycline and Oxolinic Acid have been known to be effective. We have found that Nitrofurazone seems to work the best. Whatever you choose, be sure to follow the recommended dosage and instructions carefully. Overdosing a pond or aquarium can result in complete losses." Blue Ridge Hatcheries

If it were my koi, I'd go to Koiphen.com and ask for help, but only my OPINION. Best of luck.

 

[Usman]

change the med , try some thing else , i think that med is not working or it shud have stoped it atleast , try antibiotic and salt bath too

 

[Ulli]

Not sure where I can get antibiotics. I phoned the stores and nobody carries them. Is it a liquid that you add to the tank? I just noticed though that the coating seems to be falling off since we placed him into the hospital tank. He is a bit more active and doesn't clamp his fins anymore. As far as I can see, he doesn't have any open sores either. Still having some hope.
I really appreciate all your suggestions. The other two big Koi as well as the new little ones seem to be o.k. The 2 large ones are feeding again and also don't clamp their fins anymore. We will continue to put the meds we used before in the pond as well. If it is Columnaris, shouldn't the other Koi show some signs of white coating already? Could it be just a really bad case of Ich or another fungus?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Do not over medicate. Use one form of medication at a time. Over mediation will kill a fish quicker than no medication at all.

 

[Ulli]

Do not over medicate. Use one form of medication at a time. Over mediation will kill a fish quicker than no medication at all.

I don't think we're over medicating. As I mentioned, we placed the very sick looking Koi into a tank and started using the Ich-X with him only. The other Koi are still in the Pond and we are just continuing with the Knock-Out for them. The new little Koi are also still in the Pond and we don't think that they are infected. They are still shy though and hiding, but they were like that right from the beginning. Once in a while they come darting out to feed a little bit and then dart right back into their cave.

 

[Mmathis]

@Tula I totally agree with you about visiting KOIPHEN. While I am somewhat intimidated by their attitudes & philosophies (not bad, just different from ours, here), they do have an excellent koi medical team!

@Meyer Jordan You are so right! Stick to one treatment at a time!

@Ulli Your pond is gorgeous! Yes, I would join up on KOIPHEN ASAP and go to their emergency medical topic. They're going to ask you the same questions that we have, so keep that info handy in your head. They're great about giving relevant diagnostic and treatment plans. Gosh, wish you had a scope! That's the best way to ID a parasite (though, some disease symptoms speak for themselves). And you really need to know WHAT you're treating as antibiotics and other treatments aren't universal.

 

[Tula]

There is another forum pskoi.com which a member of Koiphen started. It has less traffic, however most of the members are very serious koi keepers.

 

[Ulli]

If my OPINION, is correct and the fish has Columnaris, the following information taken from Blue Ridge Hatchery, may be helpful. I've recently read several articles on Koiphen ( a site dedicated solely to Koi and has a medical committee ) about good results with Oxolinic Acid. I don't know if it's available to you or not. Sadly, if it is Columnar, as opposed to Ich, the other mentioned treatments will not work and you could be looking at some of your other fish contracting it.

"So what can you use? Look for medications with antibiotics in them. Nitrofurazone, Furazolidone, Tetracycline and Oxolinic Acid have been known to be effective. We have found that Nitrofurazone seems to work the best. Whatever you choose, be sure to follow the recommended dosage and instructions carefully. Overdosing a pond or aquarium can result in complete losses." Blue Ridge Hatcheries

If it were my koi, I'd go to Koiphen.com and ask for help, but only my OPINION. Best of luck.

O.k., as per your suggestion, I signed up for Koiphen. They felt that it looked like Costia, but of course were not sure by just looking at photos.

 

[Tula]

O.k., as per your suggestion, I signed up for Koiphen. They felt that it looked like Costia, but of course were not sure by just looking at photos.[/QUOTE

Did they tell you how to treat it? Costa can wipe out your pond quickly

 

[Ulli]

Yes, they said the Ich-X and then Prozi.

 

[Tula]

Yes, they said the Ich-X and then Prozi.

I just popped over and saw that. Rich is a good guy and really knows his stuff. The pictures you posted there are much better, poor koi, needs treatment! Keep us posted. BTW, some can be stern there, but they know their stuff.

 

[Ulli]

I just popped over and saw that. Rich is a good guy and really knows his stuff. The pictures you posted there are much better, poor koi, needs treatment! Keep us posted. BTW, some can be stern there, but they know their stuff.

They are the photos from today. The koi looks different again from yesterday.

 

[Ulli]

Unfortunately we lost one of the Koi. Still treating the pond and hopefully the others will survive. One of them doesn't have any slime coat or spots, but is flashing again and mostly just sitting in a corner. Ones in a while he goes crazy and swims in circles very fast and then hides in his cave. I'm worried about him as well. The other one is active and feeding, but has a couple of raised scales. Hopefully just from earlier flashing.

 

[Tula]

I'm so sorry you lost your koi. If it were my pond, I'd treat all the fish, in the pond. Again, so sorry .

 

[Ulli]

That is what we are doing.