Can koi fish live in a salty water?

Koi are a freshwater fish. They can live with a small amount of salt in the water. The only time that they need salt is for parasite control or for a thicker slime coat (salt will irritate a Koi's skin, making it produce a thicker slime coat). Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

White Bump On Fin

I have a new koi and he has developed a white bump on his fin - I am wondering if this is a parasite. Also, he has a couple small blue fuzzy dots on his side which I suspect are fungus. How do I treat these two problems? -Betsy That white bump is probably carp pox. Carp pox is a virus that makes solid waxy lumps appear on Koi. Carp pox usually appears in cold water and then goes away when the water temperature rises. Carp pox is not deadly to Koi, it is mainly a cosmetic issue. The small blue fuzzy dots could just be color. If it is a fungus, treat it with a fish safe fungicide. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

I KEEP FINDING DEAD GOLDFISH. EITHER FISH ALL INTACT OR WITH THEIR HEAD OR STOMACH MISSING. ALL FEMALE - WE RECENTLY PUT A KOI OF TRIPLE THEIR SIZE. COULD HE BE HURTING OR KILLING THEM? - BUDD Koi and goldfish are both docile, so they get along good. A predator is probably getting in your pond and hurting your fish. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Sick Koi

I have this Koi fish in my pond at home. I think there's something wrong with him. He just sits there on the bottom and does nothing all day. Can you help? -Daniel He is probably sick, with parasites or a bacterial infection. The best thing to do is get in contact with a local veterinarian that specializes in Koi health or a local Koi club. They will be able to tell you what is afflicting the Koi and how to fix it. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

I have Koi and they keep flicking. What do I do to treat this? -Alex

Your Koi probably have a parasite that's bugging them. Find a veterinarian or a local Koi club and they should be able to help you out. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Koi Flicking

I have a 10x10x5 pond, six weeks old, and my Koi keep flicking. Is there anything I can do? -Alan Your Koi probably have some sort of parasitic infestation. Contact a local Koi club or veterinarian that specializes in Koi health so you can figure out what parasite is afflicting your Koi and what to treat it with. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Koi Health Problem

Koi not swimming much just huddled together at edges of pond near the top (not gasping for air). Your Koi probably have a parasitic infection. Contact a local Koi club or veterinarian that specializes in Koi health to: Find out what's afflicting your Koi Plan a treatment to get rid of i Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Prevention

I recently asked about worming fish and I understand your answer about Flukes. My Koi swim in salted water, but following on about treatments for parasites, etc. Is there anything that we should be treating on an annual basis with medications as a precaution against the possible infestation of diseases? I now have a nice collection of fish and I want to make sure I am always doing the right thing by them to ensure their health and safety. Thanking You, William. Koi health and disease is all about prevention, prevention, prevention. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Adding salt to your water makes a Koi's slime coat thicker, which means that it has a better barrier against parasites and bacteria. There really isn't anything other than salt that you can use to treat on a annual basis to prevent a parasitic infestation or a bacterial infection. The best thing that you can do is make sure that you have spot on water quality and a low stress environment for your Koi. You see, parasites and bacteria are in the water at all times. The only time they really harm a Koi is when their immune system is down. A Koi's immune system gets knocked down when: There's poor water quality. (i.e. a buildup of Ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate) They get stressed out often. (i.e. constantly being netted, animals going into pond, kids throwing rocks in pond, ect.) If you prevent these things from happening, you should have great success with keeping Koi. If you are buying Koi, make sure you get them from a reputable place too. You don't want to buy a Koi thats loaded with parasites. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Is there such a thing as sunburn for Koi? -Patrick

If a Koi is kept for long periods of time in a indoor tank and then put in an outdoor pond, there is a chance that it could get sunburned. It is always a good idea to provide a place in the pond with shade so that your Koi have some place to go during the peak sunlight hours of the day. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Egg Bound Koi

I have a Koi which is about 10 years old. It has a dark swelling to its abdomen more noticeable to the right hand side of the fish. I've spoken to my local fish supplier who thinks that the fish could be egg bound. Could you suggest how the fish could be treated. Egg stripping was suggested? -Reg Egg stripping is a preventative measure to keep a Koi from getting egg bound. When a female Koi grows eggs inside of her body, they either have to be expelled while mating or be re-absorbed. Sometimes the re-absorption of the eggs doesn't go so well and a female Koi will get "Egg Bound". Once a Koi gets egg bound, the only treatment is surgery to remove the tumor that grows from the impacted eggs. Contact a local veterinarian that specializes in Koi health and plan a course of action. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Blind Koi

I feel that my Koi is possibly blind. He just sits on the bottom of his tank and does nothing. He used to be a very active fish trying to bite my fingers when I fed him but know he doesn't seem to see me. Can you please help me with any info or treatments Thank you Richard Richard, It is a possibility that your Koi could be sick. When a Koi gets sick, they tend to isolate themselves. Contact a local Koi club or a veterinarian that specializes in Koi health and see if they will take a look at your Koi to get a better diagnosis. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

I have lost two fish who seem to have dirt or old food coming out of thier gills? What caused this? -Dave

That dirt or old food is probably a fungus. A fungus is a secondary or tertiary infection. It basically means that something damaged your Koi and its immune system was weakened, so the fungus was allowed to take over. You need to find out what caused this and then take the appropriate action. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Koi Damage

I have a beautiful Shusui, 3 years old, and about two weeks ago I noticed the markings just in front of the tail were missing leaving a patch about 1 cm square that is the underlying body color. I have inspected this closely and cannot see anything there that would have caused this, could it have damaged itself by flicking it's tail as they often do. Will the darker blue markings grow back and how long will that take, or will it stay as it is now. All the vital signs are good, ie, moving well, eating well, not showing any stress signs at all. All my other fish are really well and this has disappointed me because it was such a beautiful fish with perfect markings. Would appreciate your comments on the likely cause of this change in coloration. Thanking you, William. Your Shusui lost the scales near its tail, probably by scraping against something. Koi scales take a while to grow back, about one year. Make sure that the area with the missing scales doesn't get infected. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Some of my Koi are rubbing themselves against the bottom of pond,would pond salts help?

Salt is a treatment for the problem, but not a solution. Your Koi is probably rubbing against the bottom because of a parasitic infestation in your pond. You need to take a scraping with a microscope slide to find out what parasite is irritating your Koi. Then contact someone in your area, like a veterinarian, and plan for a course of action to get rid of the problem Salt will make your Koi produce a thicker slime coat and at higher dosages, it will kill off certain parasites. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Koi Dying For No Reason

Hi I was wondering if you could help me. I have a large Koi pond and since x mas, the majority of my fish have died. I have no idea whats wrong with them. At first they seem to bloat and then they float vertically, head up in the water, then they die. I have other fish, and they are unaffected. Have you got any idea what might be wrong or causing this? Any advice would be great. Thanks, Liz It seems like your Koi have succumbed to an internal infection. That would explain why they would blow up, float funny and then expire. The other fish in your pond might have a better immune system or they might be unaffected by the thing that afflicted your Koi. The infection could have been caused by feeding when it's too cold, bad water quality, a suppressed immune system, ect. Contact a local veterinarian that specializes in fish health & disease or a local Koi club. They will be able to provide you with more information. You need to find out exactly what caused the problem, a veterinarian or a club member will be able to visit your pond and will tell you how to fix it. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Hi, I just want to know if Aeromonas is a contagious disease and if can affect the other fishes in the pond. -Eric

Aeromonas is not an infectious disease, it is a secondary infection. It appears after a Koi has had skin damage from: rough handling, brushing up against an abrasive surface (like a pointy rock), a parasitic infection, ect. There are different strains of Aeromonas, some are worse than others. Aeromonas infections are treated with Tricide-Neo and/or antibiotic injections. Here's part of an article from Wikipedia: The Aeromonadales are an order of Proteobacteria, with six genera in two families. Aeromonas is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic rod that morphologically resembles members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Fourteen species of Aeromonas have been described, most of which have been associated with human diseases. The most important pathoges are A. hydrophila, A. caviae, and A. veronii biovar sobria. The organisms are ubiquitous in fresh and brachish water. Two major diseases associated with Aeromonas are gastroenteritis and wound infections,with or without bacteremia. Gastroentritis typically occurs after the ingestion of contaminated water or food, whereas wound infections result from exposure to contaminated water. Although some potential virulence factors (e.g. endotoxins, hemolysins, enterotoxins, adherance factors) have been identified, their precise role is unknown. Aeromonas species cause: 1) opportunistic systemic disease in immunocompromised patients, 2) diarrheal disease in otherwise healthy individuals, and 3) wound infections. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

How to treat Argulus

Argulus (fish louse) infestations in a pond are treated with Dimlin. When Dimlin is added to a pond, it prevents any adolescent Argulus from forming their exoskeleton, causing them to die off when they are adults. Consult Koi Health and Disease for more information and dosing rates for Dimlin. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Koi and Aluminum

I am in the process of building a larger pond for my koi. Is it safe to incorporate a cast aluminum urn into the design? My plan is to pump water from the biological filter up through the bottom of the urn where it will then splash over the sides of the urn and back into the pond. -Eric You should be fine with using an aluminum urn if you have pH neutral or alkaline water. If your water is acidic, the aluminum urn will harm your fish. When aluminum is in acidic water, it seems to cause respiratory problems for fish. Here's an article from PumMed on Aluminum Toxicity to fish: Aluminium is acutely toxic to fish in acid waters. The gill is the principal target organ and death is due to a combination of ionoregulatory, osmoregulatory and respiratory dysfunction. The toxic mechanism has hitherto received little direct consideration and is unknown. In this paper the mechanism of acute aluminium toxicity is approached from a chemical perspective. Symptomatic evidence of toxicity is taken from the literature and combined with our own research to elucidate a biochemically sound model to describe a possible mechanism of acute aluminium toxicity in fish. The proposed model delineates the chemical conditions immediately adjacent to the gill surface and emphasizes their importance in aluminium's toxic mode of action. The mechanism is shown to be bipartite. Aluminium binding to functional groups both apically located at the gill surface and intracellularly located within lamellar epithelial cells disrupts the barrier properties of the gill epithelium. The concomitant iono- and osmoregulatory dysfunction results in accelerated cell necrosis, sloughing and death of the fish. The mechanism of epithelial cell death is proposed as a general mechanism of aluminium-induced accelerated cell death. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

Koi Ulcer

I have a 14 year old ghost carp with a swelling on his side near his rear fin also now his scales seem swollen and redness under the scales can anyone help me how to treat him???? -Liz Your Koi probably has an ulcer. Ulcers are caused by the bacterias Aeromonas and Pseudomonas. There are two ways to treat an ulcer, injections with antibiotics or a Tricide-Neo dip if you don't like needles. Consult a local veterinarian that specializes in Koi health on the best course of action. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit

A Black Spot

I have two Koi and two goldfish in a 600 gallons pond with a 1200 pump mag-Drive and a Jebao PF-3 Bio Filter with 11 Watts UV. This morning one of my goldfish had a small black spot on the side of the belly. I have been doing water tests weekly and I don’t see anything wrong with the water. I don’t know what could be wrong. Any Ideas? -Patrick Patrick, The black spot on your goldfish is probably a small cosmetic flaw, caused by a bad gene. Koi people usually call it Shimi. It has nothing to do with water quality and it does not affect their health. There is a small possibility that it could be a parasite, like a fish louse or an anchor worm. But it's unlikely and you'd notice that your goldfish would probably be acting funny. Share: Del.icio.us Digg Reddit