URGENT: Female Koi Badly Injured During Mating

Joined
Jan 30, 2015
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
I am not very familiar with koi fish but when I went to check on my pond, my female koi was upside down, missing scales and has injured fins. She barely swims but she is still breathing. What can I do to help her? How can I avoid this from happening next time around?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9332.jpeg
    IMG_9332.jpeg
    135.6 KB · Views: 900
Joined
Aug 2, 2013
Messages
3,211
Reaction score
2,192
Location
North East Ohio-Zone 5
Country
United States
Before posting please take a moment to think about what information could really help the other members to help you. If your question is about water quality then this is particularly important! Water quality can have a great impact on fish health. To help us better help you with your fish or water problems please read the following.

The more information you can provide, the easier it will be for any issues to be identified. Therefore please answer these questions as completely as possible:


Water quality
* Ammonia Level (pond)
* Nitrite Level (pond)
* Ammonia Level (tap water)
* Nitrite Level (tap water)
* Ph Level, pond (If possible, KH, GH and chlorine)
* Ph Level, tap water (If possible, KH, GH and chlorine)
* Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops?

Other useful information:
* Water temperature?
* Pond size and how long has it been running?
* What is the name and size of the filter(s)?
* How often do you change the water and how much?
* How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change?
* How many fish in the pond and their type?
* What kind of water additives or conditioners have you used?
* What do you feed your fish and how often?
* Any new fish added to the pond recently?
* Any medications added to the pond?
* List entire medication/treatment history for fish and pond
* Any unusual findings on the fish?
* Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.?


If this is an EMERGENCY and your fish are in immediate danger, we encourage you to post ASAP regardless.

If you do not have a test kit, you may be able to take samples of your pond and tap water to your local fish store for testing (which is often free). Please request numerical results rather than generalizations like "OK", "fine", "safe", "acceptable", etc. However since knowing your water quality is important, we suggest you get your own test kit. A drop kit is both more accurate and much less expensive per test than the test strips.

Photos can also be a big help!
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
6,275
Reaction score
2,817
Location
Plymouth
Hardiness Zone
7a
Country
United Kingdom
I am not very familiar with koi fish but when I went to check on my pond, my female koi was upside down, missing scales and has injured fins. She barely swims but she is still breathing. What can I do to help her? How can I avoid this from happening next time around?
Hi Jorge this koi has not been roughed up breeding its far to early in the season for that to be happening .
But what your koi does have looks to be a bacterial most probably caused by "Aeromonas hydrophila", wich is the most common bacteria found in ponds which isnt normally a problem fot our koi as long as they are in good health .
When our koi become stressed be it though over crowding , temperature fluctations, poor water quality or other factors all which have the effect of stressing out our koi allowing the bacteria present in the pond to become a problem.
The symptoms of "Areomonas Hyrdophila", are as follows a build of of exessive mucus and areas of reddening over the body which we see in your photo .
This reddeing will lead to the lifting of scales and will if not sorted cause ulcers on the koi's body.
Now in some cases this lifting of the scales will spread to all over the body and this is when dropsy can occur, internal problems may also develope along with the external ones.
Popeye can also develope if this is left untreated, this is where they eyes ae pushed outwards from the koi's head.
You should take a swab and send it off to the vets for testing which should also give you the result of which bacterium is causing your problem .
Prior to winter can you tell me if you removed all the dead leaves and detritus from the bottom of your pond , did you also clen your filters at the same time.
The best way to prevent this in future is one buy a book on koi health issues and learn about our hobby in greater depth , run as clean a pond as you possibly can , you wont eliminate the bacteria totally , so it is vitally important you keep your ponds enviroment to the highest standard and ensue that stress levels are kept down to a minimum , by doing this your making it less likely to have an outbreak in the future.
Dependant on where you live is your access to drugs , here in the UK we need to go through a vet but in the US many drugs are available over the counter.
You'll need to treat the pond with a good anti bacterial treatment but refare back to the vets results before choosing which you need if this is not an option then a good off the shelf antibacterial may be added .
You could use Chlormonine T at a minimum dose of 1g = 1,000 ltre (220 gallons Imperial) or Potasium Permaganate at a dose of 1.5g per 1,000 ltre (220 gallons imperial) Acriflavine may be used along side these.

Dave
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
6,275
Reaction score
2,817
Location
Plymouth
Hardiness Zone
7a
Country
United Kingdom
jorg speed is of the essence here you really need to treat this koi before ulcerations occur , when this happens it makes a hell of a mess of your fish.
You also need to identify the cause of this happening and correct things as soon as possible .
If you live in the UK you can buy a product called koiclear gel which is a wonderful product for combatting ulcers its based on a Japanese Ozone based treatment for humans and is basically ozone blended with certyail oils .
I call it the holy grail of ulcer treatment and have used it to treat other peoples koi very successfuly with no damag to scalation at all :-

http://www.absolute-koi.com/prod2087.html

We need to hear that you have at least started the anti bacterial treatment or have at least taken a swab to the vets to Identify just what bacteria you have .

Dave
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
6,275
Reaction score
2,817
Location
Plymouth
Hardiness Zone
7a
Country
United Kingdom
Did this guy just "hit & run"?
Sadly Skydog it does happen from time to time and they dont come back, Its sad when this happens because the time invested researching the OP problem is then lost put into helping The OP.
Where could have been put to better use helping another person with their fishes problems who wants to genuinely learn.
But there you go :(

Dave
 
Joined
Oct 28, 2013
Messages
13,070
Reaction score
13,394
Location
Northern IL
Showcase(s):
1
Where could have been put to better use helping another person with their fishes problems who wants to genuinely learn.
But there you go :(

Dave

Having an archive of questions and answers here is helpful. Another ponder with a similar issue could search and find an answer to a question even if no one is available in "live time" to jump in and answer. You're sending help into the future @Dave 54 like a time traveler!
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
30,782
Messages
508,589
Members
13,042
Latest member
lucaryan

Latest Threads

Top