Urgent need help

[Mat231v6]

When you say you inherited these fish from your aunt, were they in a different pond? Are the pictures you posted of them in your pond, or the pond they were in, before you inherited them?

You posted that their injuries look almost like they've been rubbing up against the rocks. That can be a symptom of a parasite, they itch and hence they rub themselves. Parasites are always present in our pond water, but sometimes conditions make our fish more susceptible and once established, often secondary infections develop...ulcers, redness etc.

Your ammonia level was high, this could have stressed them and made them more susceptible....I don't know, conjecture on my part.

Your fish appear to me, to have bacterial infections. If you have a microscope ( or could borrow one) you could scrape and scope them, to learn if there is a parasite....however, they look like they may need antibiotic injections to survive. I want to stress this is only my opinion, based on what I've read and observed over the years. @Dave54 and @Meyer Jordan are our fish experts.

There is also another website devoted completely to the care of koi and they have excellent information and a koi health care committee.

I would not feed these fish at all. I'll keep an eye on this thread and hope for the best.

The fish i inherited were from another pond. The pictures i posted of the injured fish are in a pre-formed pond to separate them from the rest. how can i correct the ammonia? i have done 100% water changes, even 50% and nothing is working. the only thing i can do is get more pre-formed ponds and separate more fish but as i said for the last few years they have been ok. all i added to my pond was 4 extra fish(weeks ago) which now i am down 5 due to this issue.

Where do i get the injections? how do i do the injections? if you could post or email me the link to the other website i would really appreciate it. At this point if i could find a rescue that would take the really bad fish, i would be willing to give them up to watch them survive rather than die tomorrow (trust me they will die tomorrow like the rest did) . I don't think posting another picture of a dead fish will help but i can if anyone thinks it would help.

I am willing to send a sample of the water/ the stuff on the fish if need be just let me know. I have no clue what to look for under a microscope. i have no clue what is on my fish at this point.

 

[Lisak1]

I am sorry for the trouble you are having. It is definitely frustrating and sad to watch I'm sure.

I am no fish expert, so I don't know what is wrong with your fish. However I would conjecture a guess that adding new fish to an established pond is what started the problem. Either too many fish, infected fish, or both. While the fish may have been fine in your aunt's pond, moving them may have caused stress. Or they may have had a parasite which affected all the fish when they all became stressed over the move/additional fish. That's just my opinion however.

 

[mrsclem]

I know you have tested your pond water and you have a well. Test your tap water for ammonia. I doubt it will show anything but can't rule any thing out. Stop feeding and that will help with the ammonia. I know what you are going thru. I have had ponds for over 20 years and have had situations like yours when fish die and you can't seem to do anything to help. We all learn from these things so hang in there. It does look like a bacterial infection but that can be caused by a lot of different things.

 

[Mat231v6]

I know you have tested your pond water and you have a well. Test your tap water for ammonia. I doubt it will show anything but can't rule any thing out. Stop feeding and that will help with the ammonia. I know what you are going thru. I have had ponds for over 20 years and have had situations like yours when fish die and you can't seem to do anything to help. We all learn from these things so hang in there. It does look like a bacterial infection but that can be caused by a lot of different things.

Good idea! tested water straight from my sink and Ammonia is 0-.25 exactly the same color. maybe alittle lighter but i would say the same.

 

[Dave 54]

Hi you appear to have got yourself in a right old mess here my friend a good friend once said if in doubt do a water change sound advice .
I need to know all your water perameters todays [Monday Aug 24 th] Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate , I easpecially wish to look at a new Ph reading because what I saw on yur last readout was 9.0 very alkiline it needs to be brought down to 7.0 .
First off I need to know the condition of your pond and its filters like when was the last time you cleaned the bottom of your pond , when was the last maintenance of your filters, how often do you do water changes to your pond , how much do you feed your fish daily please can you answer all these questions ? .
There looks to be a bacterial thing going on however the problem is we dont know which i;e gram neg, or gram pos so well have to wing it and get a good anti bacterial treatment.......
The problem being you've used tea tree oil or melafix and oh sh** salt which means we cant treat the pond till this treatment and the salt has been removed , then we need a day or two to settle your fish into clean water before threating with an anti bactial.


Dave

 

[Tula]

Editing, as I see @Dave 54 is here....he's the man to help you!!!!

 

[mrsclem]

Good idea! tested water straight from my sink and Ammonia is 0-.25 exactly the same color. maybe alittle lighter but i would say the same.

How old is your test kit?

 

[Mat231v6]

Hi you appear to have got yourself in a right old mess here my friend a good friend once said if in doubt do a water change sound advice .
I need to know all your water perameters todays [Monday Aug 24 th] Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate , I easpecially wish to look at a new Ph reading because what I saw on yur last readout was 9.0 very alkiline it needs to be brought down to 7.0 .
First off I need to know the condition of your pond and its filters like when was the last time you cleaned the bottom of your pond , when was the last maintenance of your filters, how often do you do water changes to your pond , how much do you feed your fish daily please can you answer all these questions ? .
There looks to be a bacterial thing going on however the problem is we dont know which i;e gram neg, or gram pos so well have to wing it and get a good anti bacterial treatment.......
The problem being you've used tea tree oil or melafix and oh sh** salt which means we cant treat the pond till this treatment and the salt has been removed , then we need a day or two to settle your fish into clean water before threating with an anti bactial.


Dave

if you refer back to post one. I did a 100% water change, drained pond down to liner on Thursday (8/20) cleaned all sludge/dirt out, cleaned bio balls and water filters added salt bath. on Friday (8/21) again i did a 100% water change cleaned all rocks, drained pond down to liner, cleaned filters, and bio balls no salt water added.. just medifix

post #10 has today's reading at 10 am. of the pond, plus pictures of water readings. i also added Pimafix today.

fish were being fed twice a day morning and evening. on Friday i was only feeding once a day small amount but have stopped feeding starting today. my pond maintenance is on post #6. pond was opened in May doing a 100% water change cleaning rocks, changed liner and filtration system. if you refer back to post #6
"pond maintenance
50% water changes bi weekly, wash bio ball bags, filter elements (pads) and empty skimmer basket every day. also add easy pro all season pond bacteria bi weekly. with chlorine & heavy metal neutralizer bi weekly with water changes." hope this helps if you need more just ask.

what is a good treatment to use?

any questions ask away, if any information is needed that will help, i am willing to share.

 

[Dave 54]

if you refer back to post one. I did a 100% water change, drained pond down to liner on Thursday (8/20) cleaned all sludge/dirt out, cleaned bio balls and water filters added salt bath. on Friday (8/21) again i did a 100% water change cleaned all rocks, drained pond down to liner, cleaned filters, and bio balls no salt water added.. just medifix

post #10 has today's reading at 10 am. of the pond, plus pictures of water readings. i also added Pimafix today.

fish were being fed twice a day morning and evening. on Friday i was only feeding once a day small amount but have stopped feeding starting today. my pond maintenance is on post #6. pond was opened in May doing a 100% water change cleaning rocks, changed liner and filtration system. if you refer back to post #6
"pond maintenance
50% water changes bi weekly, wash bio ball bags, filter elements (pads) and empty skimmer basket every day. also add easy pro all season pond bacteria bi weekly. with chlorine & heavy metal neutralizer bi weekly with water changes." hope this helps if you need more just ask.

what is a good treatment to use?

any questions ask away, if any information is needed that will help, i am willing to share.

A good off the shelf anti bacterial from one of the leading compamies i;e NtLabs, Tetra, JBL etc
Primafix I dont like as a threatment and salt has no place in the pond your fish are fresh water not Brackish

Dave

 

[Mat231v6]

A good off the shelf anti bacterial from one of the leading compamies i;e NtLabs, Tetra, JBL etc
Primafix I dont like as a threatment and salt has no place in the pond your fish are fresh water not Brackish

Dave

Can i have the exact name of Tetra's bacterial treatment? API is readily available so that is the first stuff i bought. Being on a well, our water hardness is high so salt corrects this but i will stop adding salt water.

I have had these fish for about six years now. My prior system was just a pump with no filters what-so-ever and the fish lived like that for 5 years no issues. its strange but this year i added filtration and now this.clearly something is wrong with a bacteria killing my fish. i just dont know how to treat this bacteria treatment. i bought the first bacteria treatment i could get my hands on. any recommendations would be really helpful. a lot of people keep telling me to use medicate food because chemicals just treat water not fish. i have done this but now i have stopped feeding them. how long should i stop feeding them 2-3 days?

 

[Dave 54]

Theres a treatment called acrflavine you can use on its own or used in conjunction with malachite and formalin however until you find a way to lower your Ph some from the 9.0 it currently is at because Formalin becomes toxic at Ph levels over 8.5 .

http://www.absolute-koi.com/subcat510.html

With your pond set up as it was before Mat you were basically skating on very thin ice eventually you would have lost your fish but what I think is happenening here mat is your no allowing your pond to cycle in that keep messing with your water so much.
First with the massive water changes then with your Primafix and salt you need to let the nitrite cycle take its course so that the water becomes safe for your fish.
What you have effectively done is blocked the way for a more effective treatment .you need to treat your fish with chemicals the medicated food is to get antibiotics directly into your fish you still have to treat the water where the bacteria was living in .
Did I tell you to buy a number of books Mat or was that someone else ?
You need to study our hobby somewhat to understand it , its not a simple matter of plonking a few fish in water, like air is to man water is to fish , if our air was mixed with CO2 in great quanities then we would die, if I locked you in a room tapeing up all the windows vents and doors eventually you will die we'll its the same with fish except we are manipulating its enviroment , get it wrong as you are and they will die plain an simple .

Dave

 

[Mat231v6]

Lost another fish yesterday. i really need to find a treatment on Amazon so i can get it overnight, the one you recommended will take days with customs... that's if the US will allow it...


water test shows ammonia .50, phosphate .25-.50, ph 7.5, nitrite 0, i have stopped feeding fish and have been cleaning filters daily. so should i be doing another 50% or 100% water change?

 

[Tula]

Try posting your question on koiphen. They are a dedicated koi form and have an emergency health section and koi health committee. I'm very sorry you're having such problems. I wish I could help you, but am afraid to advise you, since you performed some other treatments and I know some don't interact well with others. Best of luck.

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/forum.php

 

[cas]

cleaning filters and bio balls every day or two... have left alone in the past for a week but since issue has started i have been cleaning daily.

Sorry you are still having problems.
I know you want a treatment for your fish, but it is not helping them when the ammonia reading is > 0.
The idea of a bio falls box is to let the good bacteria get established in it so that the bacteria can take the ammonia that is created by your fish and process it to nitrite, then to nitrate (see information on the nitrogen cycle posted in other threads). You should not be cleaning the filters and bio balls that are in the bio falls box. You are rinsing away the good bacteria.

 

[MitchM]

Ammonia poisoning is irreversible.
There is not a lot that can be done to immediately reduce ammonia levels.
You can suspend a bag of zeolite in the pond water to adsorb the excess ammonia, but the main problem is too many fish in too small of a pond.
If you want to remove excess ammonia from your pond as quickly as possible, there can be no salt in the water.

To calculate the amount of zeolite needed, follow the following formula with your supplied readings:
Your ammonia readng= 0.5 ppm
Your water volume = 1250 litres

0.5 ppm ammonia /1.5 = 0.3
0.3 X water volume of 1250 litres
1250 X 0.3 = 375 grams.
Suspend 375 grams of zeolite in your pond to adsorb the excess ammonia in your pond.

Then wait. No feeding.
That's all you can really do.
Your biological filter needs to catch up to the extra load that the additional fish have provided.
Do not add any more fish.

The formula came from http://theaquariumwiki.com/Zeolite

Best of luck.