surface breathing

[Jenny]

What would be a cause of a single fish spending all its time gasping at the surface? It's the smallest fish in the pond and all the others are fine, so I don't think oxygen could be the problem. It's been ongoing for a month.

 

[Smaug]

Sounds like a sick fish,most fish I've seen that were on their way out did that. Catch it and qt it maybe yiu can see if it has any problems. Look for red swollen gills,excess slime, bloated look,bulged eyes. What species is it?

 

[Jenny]

It's a 4" white koi and everything looks fine. I have a picture of it in another forum discussion. It has definitely gotten worse because now he doesn't even go under when I get closer. The other 4" koi he's with was doing it for awhile, but has stopped. Is it possibly genetic?

 

[Smaug]

Every fish I've seen act that way expires. I can't venture a guess what's wrong with it ,I have never been good at diagnosis of fish illness unless it's a parasite. If you think the fish has a good quality of life still then just let it live on.

 

[Jenny]

He died after an hour in QT.

 

[Smaug]

Was it one of your babies yout posted about? Sorry about the loss.

 

[Tula]

Sorry about the loss of your koi.

 

[haver79]

Sorry you lost your fish.

 

[DocD]

I have seen a large Koi do that after being stabbed in the head by a heron. He did finally return to normal. That may have been a possibility. Sorry that it didn't make it.

 

[adavisus]

gill damage at a guess, it had trouble breathing

 

[Jenny]

He looked completely healthy when I pulled him out! No punctures, gill damage, missing scales...nothing. I'm worried it's genetic.