What's wrong?

[rad236]

Hi. I have a pond with two koi fish and two goldfish. One of my koi is looking very sick. He's very lethargic, laying on his side in the corner of the pond. When he does swim, it's usually lopsided and spastic. He also seems to have trouble closing his mouth. He doesn't have any markings on him. I isolated him and moved him to an indoor tank temporarily. I'm thinking it could have been a downed branch in the pond during Irene that hit him. All the water levels are fine and no other fish seem sick. I've attached a youtube video of his behavior. Please help.

Thanks.



Here are some photos:

 

[koiguy1969]

I've been blessed with never having had any medical problems...but...I would put a teaspoon of 'non iodized' salt in the tank with him....give it a day...no feeding... post what happens..salt is often a good and efective treatment. even if it turns out to be just a first treatment. and salting shouldnt hurt even if it doesnt help a whole lot.

 

[rad236]

Ok. Thank you. Does sea salt without iodide work, or should I buy special tank salt?

 

[j.w]

Any salt w/o iodide will be what you want to use.

 

[baeya]

here is some info on salt for Koi.

Type of Salt to use. Non iodized, kosher, ice cream and sea salt are ok. Solar rock salt from a common hardware store is great. Be sure to read labels looking for 95.5% pure salt. Verify that the label does NOT list YPS or Yellow Prussiate of soda.

 

[rad236]

I found some in my kitchen that is pure sea salt without iodide. I put a teaspoon in. I'll wait and see if the problem fixes itself. Like I said, It's been going on ever since hurricane Irene, so a fallen branch may have hit him and caused this strange behavior.

 

[j.w]

If he was hit by something he could have a head injury and there would be nothing you could do for him unless he heals on his own.

 

[rad236]

If he was hit by something he could have a head injury and there would be nothing you could do for him unless he heals on his own.

I don't see anything wrong with his head. The images show a scratch on his side, though.

 

[rad236]

What he's doing now, and has been doing for the past few hours, is swimming backwards slowly and then speeding forwards and banging against the side of the tank. He swims sideways backwards, but regularly forwards. I wonder if his jaw is out of alignment and he's trying to fix it, and the sideways swimming is a completely different affliction having to do with the scratch on the side of him.

 

[baeya]

Could be possible. Have you been reading a lot on the net about that? I read several articles...

 

[koiguy1969]

if you can see inside his gill plate ..see if its tanny brown to drark brown.. some of his symptoms indicate possible nitrite poisoning...the discolored gill mermbranes are a sign of it.

 

[rad236]

@koiguy I test the pond levels regularly. Both the nitrites and nitrates are at zero. The Ph is at around 6.5. Carbonate and general hardness are at zero. The temperature hovers at around 70°F. Also, I don't want to hurt him. He's only around five inches.

@baeya I've been reading up on it quite a bit. I read that the jaw problems usually solve themselves if there isn't a rock in his mouth (and I didn't see one). Any suggestions for treatments for possible infections? I just don't want to hurt him if that isn't what it is. He may also be extremely stressed from the rapid changes in weather recently here in eastern Massachusetts. Any ideas on how to relieve physiological stress in koi?

 

[koiguy1969]

6.5 ph is quite low.....low ph contributes to inflamatory conditions...i would put a pinch of baking soda in every few hours untill the ph is up to 7.5 .

 

[rad236]

6.5 ph is quite low.....low ph contributes to inflamatory conditions...i would put a pinch of baking soda in every few hours untill the ph is up to 7.5 .

I'll try that tomorrow when it's light out. 6.5 really is barely acidic, though. Can't koi live anywhere from 6 to 8 (slightly acidic to slightly basic), though?
Still, do you have any suggestions for anti-inflammatory water treatments. My koi is in his own quarantine tank, so i twill only affect him. Do you thing it's by any chance some sort of swim bladder infection? His state seems to fluctuate quite a lot. Sometimes he is swimming straight, while sometimes he is laying on his side in the corner of the tank, but most of the time he is swimming backwards on his side and then swimming straight into the wall and flashing. I really would like to treat him if it's possible. He also seems to favor one side of his tail while swimming, almost as if it pains him to bend to the other side.

 

[baeya]

Hey Rab.... How is your fish doing? Haven't heard from you in a couple days...