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Aquatic Gardens
Ponds, Streams, Waterfalls
& Fountains:
Volume 1. Design & Construction
Volume 2. Maintenance, Stocking, Examples
V. 1
Print and
eBook on Amazon
V. 2
Print and
eBook on Amazon
by Robert (Bob) Fenner |
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Shubunkin 7/24/17
Good afternoon Crew!
<Maria>
I have a garden pond with two generations of Shubunkins in and I've today
noticed that one of them has a 'sac' between it's anal fin and
caudal fin - it looks like it's full of a creamy type pus with a
few reddish streaks in it, a bit ghastly looking!! The fish itself is
swimming and eating ok but I'm worried that it's suffering - do you know
what this might be and what I can do for it please?
<Have seen these growths many times. Most are not debilitating, and though
some folks treat, even attempt surgeries to remove/excise them, I would not.
Often they disappear on their own>
Thank you for your help!
Kind regards,
Maria Maxworthy
<And you, Bob Fenner>
Ulcer on 2 inch koi 7/17/17
Sir/maam,
<Logan>
I have a baby koi in a fairly new pond who has an ulcer on him. I noticed the
ulcer about 4 days ok. The only thing I was able to find locally was
Melafix,
<Mmm; search WWM re this plant extract. Of no real use; may be detrimental to
water quality>
so I immediately started treating with that while I waited on some Aqua
Prazi to arrive.
<... Praziquantel? Do you suspect this is a worm involvement?>
I now have the Aqua Prazi after using the Melafix for 3 days. Can I use the Aqua
Prazi now, or do I need to wait since I treated with Melafix?
<I wouldn't use either>
The ulcer is not getting better, and the baby koi is not as active as he was a
couple days ago. I tested my water levels and they checked out fine.
<... need values, not opinions>
I will try and get a picture for you. I really appreciate your help. I have had
koi for a couple years, but never have had any problems, so I am kind of lost.
Thank you very much.
v/r
Logan
<Can you send along a well-resolved pic of the sore? Is it emarginated?
Your small Koi may have (had) a simple mechanical injury; the sore resultant
from the trauma. Perhaps there is/are bacteria here as cause or result. Am
asking you to read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pondsubwebindex/holedispd.htm
and the Related FAQs file linked above. Does your fish's sore look like this?
Bob Fenner>
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Help regarding Ghost Koi 1/20/08 Dear Wet Web Media
Crew Great web site, which I often look to for inspiration but
this is the first time I've actually tried posting a
question. My question is regarding a ghost koi who is about
4" long and has been housed in 40" deep garden pond of
around 440 gallons (2,000.00 litres) with twelve other smaller or
similar sized fancy goldfish. For a while now I have noticed what
I thought appeared to be fungus growing around the ghost
Koi's dorsal fin and the base of the tail fin. <I see
this... pox> But after catching the fish and re-housing him in
a small hospital tank in readiness to treat him with a
proprietary anti fungus fin rot treatment I was surprised to find
what I thought was fungus doesn't look anything like the woolly
mould like growth I was expecting but more like some sort of
ulcer. Other than these various "lesions" growing on
the Koi's body all else seems fine, i.e. swimming normally,
feeding well etc. I have regularly tested the pond water quality
where the koi was recently caught from and in the two years the
pond has been operational the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate have
never been any cause for alarm. <Good, and well-reported>
If you could spare a few moments to look at the attached photos
of the Koi and any advice you or any one else in the Wet Web
Media Crew good give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again
for a great web site. Yours in anticipation Simon B <Not to be
an alarmist... as I could be wrong... this doitsu Ohgon appears
to be a bearer of carp pox... Please take a look/read on the
Net... Perhaps via Google, Images... and let's chat further.
Bob Fenner>
Re: Help regarding Ghost Koi Bob Many
thanks for your very prompt reply. After doing a bit more
research as you suggested, it would seem that your initial
diagnosis of Carp Pox was correct. From what I gather Carp Pox is
a viral infection, similar to the Herpes virus in Humans and some
people say that it can be brought on by poor water quality and
stress. <Yes> The fish was purchased in early September
from a well known garden aquatic centre here in Oxfordshire UK.
But was caught by a Saturday moron, who franticly chased the fish
around the tank with an over sized net, before finally catching
it, then roughly manhandling it into a bag after its fin rays
became completely stuck in the nets mesh (I don't shop there any
more) <I certainly don't blame you> so I guess that
could explain the stress part, but like I said my pond water
quality is regularly tested and hasn't ever been a cause for
alarm. I did read that the Carp Pox lesions can often go down by
themselves in the summer months and indeed simply raising the
water temperature can apparently sometimes cause the lesions to
go down. <Yes, sometimes> If this is correct the fact that
the fish is now in a small hospital tank in the heated living
room could put this theory to the test, although the fish doesn't
particularly seem to be enjoying his new smaller surroundings and
seems to rarely venture out of the two flower pots that were put
there to give him a bit of a feeling of security. Do you think it
would be smart to keep the fish in its new home until late spring
now, rather than returning it to the unheated outdoor pond which
is currently around 10 or 11 oC (unusually mild British Winter,
probably making up for all the flooding of July 2007). And from
what I have gathered Carp Pox is incurable but more unsightly
than harmless, is this correct? <Mmm, can be... unfortunately
this "plague" is often tied/linked to incidences of
Furunculosis/Ana aki... Aeromonad infections that can be
trouble...> Or do you know of or have any experience of a
medication that actually works, <Ah, no> because I don't
really want to go needlessly bombarding the fish with chemicals
for a condition that I understand wont kill it and may improve by
its self, is that correct? <Yes> Well thanks again for your
earlier reply and a great web site, I promise I will set up a Pay
Pal account and make a small donation for its up keep. Simon B
<Simon... I do wish we could quickly communicate... such that
your mind might be more at rest. The gist of what you write is
so... there is not much to do other than keep the one fish
isolated (from the rest of your Nishikigoi), do what you can to
provide good water quality, bolster its immune system... and
hope. Cheers, Bob Fenner>
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| Re: Help regarding
Ghost Koi 1/28/08 Hi Bob Hope this e-mail finds you and
the rest of the wet web media crew well. <Thank you my
friend, yes> Apologies for being a bit slow with the
communications but our e-mail access hasn't been working for a
while and besides this whole Internet revolution thing passed
me by I bit and I am still a newcomer to it all. <Better
late than...> Any way just to keep you up to date on your
original diagnosis of Carp Pox affecting my Ghost Koi. Since
we did last communicate after I moved the fish from the pond
into the small hospital tank in the heated living room all
lesions appear to have completely disappeared! Literally to
the point where you can now barely even see any trace them.
So it looks like that higher water temperature has done the
trick. <Mmm, yes... and this "cure" points to
another probable root cause here... Aeromonad
involvement/Furunculosis/Ana aki...> Am still not quite
sure what to do with the Koi because I am thinking that as
soon as I return him to the lower water temperatures in the
pond, the Pox lesions will return as quickly as they seemed
to have disappeared. <Likely so...> But as you can see
from the attached pictures his present living quarters can
only be considered as temporary but at least he seems to be
getting used to all the attention from the cat ( but I think
I will keep the aquarium lid gaffer tapped down just to be
sure) If I did return the koi to the pond in spring (who
knows last April here in the UK was apparently the hottest
since records began) are the Pox lesions likely to return
each subsequent year as the water temperature drops again in
autumn? <Only time, observation can/will tell... but this
is what I would do> I did a head count in the pond today
and all the other inmates appear to be in fine health but I
was wondering is the carp pox virus only contagious amongst
other koi or will the other non Koi pond inhabitants (common
goldfish, comets, Shubunkins and a couple of seldom seem
weather loaches). be at risk each year? <The viral aspect
is more universal than Aeromonad outbreaks... which tend to
run in "ones", "twos" unless a virulent
stage and/or severe "challenge" occurs> Well
thanks for all your earlier assistance. Simon <Please do
read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebIndex/holedispd.htm and the
linked, related FAQs file above. Bob Fenner> |
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| Comets Dying in Pond 6/31/05 Hi, <Hello there> For
several years we have had problems with goldfish (comets) in a pond
which get white fuzzy areas on their sides in the late spring/early
summer. <... well, Pondfishes are weaker in the months when
temperatures are changing most... but something else is at play
here.> There has been some mortality each year but this year it
has been worse. We've been losing between 1 and 2 comets per
week for the last 3 or 4 weeks. When I found them in the skimmer,
one had white fuzzy (hairy) areas on its side, two had open sores
(photos attached) and one was completely unmarked. <Furuncular
sores... the symptom, disease Furunculosis> In previous years I
have used Ich cure with Formalin and another product (Melafix?).
Last year medicated food seemed to help more than any the other
treatments. It didn't seem to be effective this year. <No...
this pandemic is hard to beat with anything other than injected
antibiotics> It is a 2500 to 3000 gal pond with a biofilter made
of Polyflo mats, a 20 foot stream flowing over rocks and two water
falls (one from the filter into the stream and one from the stream
into the pond). The flow rate is about 2000 GPH through the filter
and down the stream. There are Koi and Goldfish (mostly comets)
probably totaling 150" but possibly 200". The pond is
about 60% shaded with water lilies and has about 100 bunches of
Anacharis in the filter and stream (the Koi eat them if I leave
them in the pond). The water is clear and the pond is relatively
free of organic material. I have not measure the O2 level but with
the stream and falls and observing the behavior of the fish I
believe it is OK. Ph is between 7.5 and 8.0. Ammonia is 0 mg/l,
nitrates ~ 2.5 mg/l, nitrites < 0.1 mg/l, and the
salt level is 0.08%. <Good info., numbers> From articles
I've read, I believe I should do a potassium permanganate
treatment early in the spring before I establish the bio filter.
<Mmm, a bit dangerous... but this oxidizer can do a bunch of
good used carefully. Do so on a day when you can watch your
livestock, be able to quickly remove it to somewhere else...>
Also, I use cement blocks to raise marginal plants off of the
bottom and provide more shaded areas for the fish. They have some
rough edges which could cause injuries to the fish. I don't see
them around the blocks often but that doesn't mean they're
not there. <Good speculation, but no... very likely what you
have is a persistent, cycling Aeromonad infection in the system, in
the fishes themselves> I'd appreciate any comments or
treatment suggestions you can make. Thanks, Larry Heine <Thank
you for writing so clearly, well... and the useful images... Please
see my article on this scourge here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebIndex/holedispd.htm
and the linked files at top. At present there is no definitive
cure, but as you will come to understand, a few preventative
measures improve ones chances of avoiding hyper-infective states,
complete wipe-outs. Bob Fenner> |
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| Re: Comets Dying in Pond 6/31/05 Thanks, Bob,
<Larry> I had already read that article and most of the
others but didn't see anything that stood out as a cause.
<Mmm, there really isn't any real "cause" per
se... just that the rod-shaped bacteria are always present...
non-emarginated sores... some rapid, some not mortality, mass or
individual> I am not able to catch individual fish for isolated
treatment unless I drain the pond since they go under the lily pads
whenever a net goes into the pond. I'll try to do more in my
spring clean-up and see if I can find any way to treat flukes as a
possible cause. Larry <... there are the listed things that can
be done to stem spreading, effecting actual cures. In practice,
most folks do little or nothing... for expensive koi, antibiotic
feeding, injections are efficacious. Bob Fenner> |
koi (disease) Hi Does carp pox and other non fatal viruses
spread? <Yes, you can read more about this here
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebIndex/holedispd.htm -Steven
Pro>
Koi Problem Bob - Thanks for the info and your site is
a winner. Attach a fee for diagnosis and treatment advice and
you'll make a fortune!! Best regards, Chris. Bob - I
have a friend that has a problem with one of his koi. I'm
pretty sure I know what it is, but thought I might solicit your
opinion before I start treatment. Any help would be
appreciated. I'll check out your new web site and give you
some feedback. Regards, Chris Clevers, Hikari USA
<Thanks Chris. See you soon. Bob Fenner> <Yes Chris,
unfortunately this Sanke has the condition called Ana aki in
Japanese, hole in the side or Furunculosis in the English
speaking world... A thorough rundown on the condition, it's
treatment is posted.... on the site! www.wetwebmedia.com, under
the pond index.... will/would give the specific URL but find it
more useful to have folks become familiar with what WWM has to
offer by having them scan through. Bob Fenner, please have your
friend contact me directly if I may be of assistance.><And
further, thanks for causing me to look at the materials on the topic
on the site... am taking the time to add the images (feverishly)
as we speak/read. Be seeing you, Bob Fenner>
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Aquatic Gardens
Ponds, Streams, Waterfalls
& Fountains:
Volume 1. Design & Construction
Volume 2. Maintenance, Stocking, Examples
V. 1
Print and
eBook on Amazon
V. 2
Print and
eBook on Amazon
by Robert (Bob) Fenner |
|
|
|
