Wintering ... Fungus Issue

[kirscp]

I'm in Northern Minnesota, so my pond is all wintered up. A few weeks ago I noticed a few of my "babies" (last years babies) had some fungus on them (tails, fins, etc). Nothing too bad. I treated the entire pond with an anti fungus ... jungle something (I don't recall the name, but they don't sell it anymore). I pulled out 4 of the babies that were infected and brushed the fungus off with a salt water mixture. They are doing great in a 29 gallon tank and the fungus appears to be gone.

The above has nothing to do with my issue. I noticed that one of my adult koi appear to have a spot of fungus on their head. My question is ... should I just brush the fungus off the adult and release it back into the pond? I have treated the water. I have another 29 gallon tank, but that isn't going to be big enough for him over winter...at least I don't want him to be stuck in there. I'd guess he's 12 - 18" .. they are always a lot larger when you get them out of the pond!

I do have a pretty large deicer, 2 feet by 4 feet, so if need by I can pull any sick fish out during the winter. Seems every winter I have to pull a few out.

My other option is to pull the adult out of the pond, treat him in the house, then try to adapt him back to the pond. I feel this option would be pretty stressful on him.

At a last resort, I do have a 55 gallon tank, but it isn't set up. Actually, don't know where I would set it up. I would also like to keep that as a last resort for any fish that become sick during the winter.

I have not confirmed it is actually fungus, but if it is, it is a small spot ... smaller then a dime size circle on his head, between his eye and mouth.

I'm leaning towards just brushing the possible fungus with salt mixture and release back into the pond. If anyone else has had any experience with this ... your input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fishin4cars]

Jungle medication is really pretty much junk for treating Koi, It's not really very effective, and it take a LOT to treat a pond.
You don't mention anything about your water quality, size of the pond, or stocking load. All those need to be a known before starting to try and treat.
next is properly identifying what your dealing with. Is it a fungus, or is it a slime coating that is peeling, or is it a bacterial infection.
A 2'x4' deicer? never seen one that big. But does it actually warm the water or does it just keep ice from forming. Most are thermostat controlled to come on when the temp reaches about 32 degrees F or 0 C and shut off at about 32-34F or 2C. Most don't actually heat the water for treatment purposes. salt is probably one of the safer additives you can add directly to the water to help with trating without causing much harm. Most other nedication are designed to treat specific fungus, or bacteria and if that's not what they need they can be come immune to that medication and make treating what ever your actually treating even harder to treat. If at all possible it's usually best to treat in a smaller tank so you know the exact capacity of how much water your treating along with the exact amount of medication to treat that given amount of water. there are many kinds of fungus and bacteria that can attack in cold water, usually though it's found that most are caused by a underlying water issue like decaying leaves, or plant matter and muck on the bottom of the pond that can cause ifections due to stress and poor immune systems and also due to the lack of bacteria function to help with that breakdown during cold water time.

 

[kirscp]

Pond of 5,000 gallons ... well, probably under 4500 now, as I have to drain water off below my skimmer. I added enough of the Jungle brand to cover the 5,000 gallons. I purchased a tub two years ago and used it with good success, but that was during the spring.

Yes the pond deicer is 2' x 4'. Home made, uses 3 40 watt bulbs and keeps it open though -20. I also use a large aerator. I wanted a large one, so I can check on the fish weekly and pull any sick ones out. And only using 120 watts or so, can't beat that.

Here is the pond deicer, I have two layers of plastic and between is 2" of styrofoam.

The four that I brought into the house, are all doing great. Fungus is completely gone. I did not add anything else to the water, and used 100% pond water.

I'll check my salt level in the pond and see what it is currently at.

Bottom on pond is mostly clean. I don't have rocks and I use a bottom drain. I removed all the string algae that was left over, so that won't be an issue.

 

[addy1]

Glad your fish got better! I am just going to use an aerator this year to keep the ice at bay.

 

[j.w]

Good to hear about your fish kirscp.