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911 sick koi turning red like sunburn (almost like when we first bruise red allover)

blueyz75 Jul 20, 2005 09:33 PM

Help SOS 911 I'm afraid i'm going to lose my koi an I dont know what to do. I'm afraid if i dont get somethign in him soon that will work I might. If he could kill himself he would, I keep stopping him. I have in a tank he can't jump out of. If he were my dogs i'd be holding him right now.

OK first the basics I'm sure will be asked, I have a Luguna powerjet either the 1500 or 2000 pump in an approximately 300-350 gallon pond. connected to that I have their two chambered filter I use as a mechanical filter (two chambered) to keep crap out of the pump. it runs all the time. The water runs up to a water fall source which serves as the bio filter it has lava rocks and pot scrubbies in it and than a big piece of filter media over all that. I use the good biobacteria with the barley in it to get it seeded, added a scoop a day (1tbsp) when pond has been yucky from rain etc. Also use algaefix when nec. I live in IL and the pond is about 18 inches or less deep. New one currently being dug. I have three plants (cannas) in pots on top of that and also water hycinth which isn't nec doing wonderful. I also have two shubunkins (or fantails) have heard them referred to as the same thing? which are no bigger than 3 inches each, I have two koi, one isabout 6 inches the other about 10, and a "fish" that is gold in color that was rescued and adopted last summer. For the last two days I have recuccitated my big koi (the 10" one) about 4 times. i worked with him for over half an hour today outside swimmign and breathing and holding him before bringing him in. Right now he's in a 100 gallon stock tank about half full, he is trying to jump when inside. i have a bubbbler on the bottom. he has one little sore on his head that looks like when you cut your finger, that flap of skin. his skin has lost coloring but that has happened gradually and now he almost looks like when a human gets a sun burn. he has a reddish tint to him.
I have melafix and parasite blocker in the pond and the tank he's in. i've also salted, although not where he is right this minute.
the ph is about 8-8.2
co2 concentration is 48 ppm
nitite none
gh was 5 drops or 5 degrees
kh was four drops or 4degrees
ammonia nh3 and nh4 reads very close to 0 there is a slight hint of green to it but barely, there is nothing on the card that has that slight shade, if i had to pick it woudl be close to the 0 ppm
Iron is 0 ppm
Taht is all the tests i have in the red sea fresh water kit, the chlorine one i dont have a scale for but i do add the dechlorinator religiously anytime i change or add water if anything i use extra to be safe.
You can see pics of pond at http://community.webshots.com/user/jeepgirlwj02 it has teh big green shade clothe over it
I hope you guys dont mind but i'm posting this other places too b/c i am WAY worried and would like to get him the path to recovery and not lose the others which all seem to be perfectly normal right now.

Replies (5)

badkarma Aug 11, 2005 11:19 PM

did some reading, check this link. might sound familiar

PARASITIC CRUSTACEANS AND MONOGENETIC FLUKES

Argulus, Lernea, Ergasilus, Dactylogyrus, Gyrodactylus

copy and paste the link below onto your browser

http://www.lagunakoi.com/html/medications.html
PARASITIC CRUSTACEANS AND MONOGENETIC FLUKES

maryclare Aug 10, 2006 03:57 PM

Sounds to me like he's stressed out (makes them pink)even if he's sick , it's no fun in solitary confinement. Give him a gold fish for company, put more water in, and cover the tank up, he wont panik so much in the dark, and cant get out if he's safely covered.Dont dose the water with any thing more, that's the quickest way to kill your fish! Call your local vet and ask him who is the closest koi vet in the area, then ring there for professional advice, what to do next.
Good luck.

mcj Oct 19, 2006 08:21 PM

I have not seen any thing about you're sun burnt koi latly. How is he?
I have the same problem that you have had and I lost my 7 pound koi today.I,ve lost 10-12 koi in the last year to year and a half. As with anyone the care for these great creatures I am be side my self and am looking for answers. I still have the problem with other fish,red bodies,sores,rot on there fins. I treated the problem with ProForm C and salt. It seamed to have slowed the problem but then it returned.
I've just finished treating the pond for the 2nd time and will hope to see some improvement
My pond is aprox. 50000 gal with a UV that will treat up to 10000 gal and a bead filter with a pump that pushes 10000 gallons of water an hour over a 5 foot waterfall and down 150 foot river lined with river rock. I,m told that the sediment that buids up in the river could be causing some of my problems. Good question. Any ideas? I'm a new member and I have experience in building ponds ,filtration totaling 20 years but caring for fish seams to be more work than my 6 year old daughter. If there is anyone out there that could help me I would love to here from.
Help me to save my fish Thanke you

maryclare Nov 22, 2006 11:04 AM

Sounds like your koi may have aeronomas, but you can only find that out by having a bacterial test done by a vet specialized in fish. If it is, then the fish will need to be treated with antibiotics (5 injections spread over a week.) It's not a good idea to treat the pond with a lot of chemicals if you dont know the cause of the illness, it can make matters a lot worse by stressing the fish even more. However the underlying problem is possibly lack of hygene and or too many fish for your filter system. The sediment in the stream (or in the pool for that matter) can be cleaned up with a pond vacuum at regular intervals. Dead plant life should always be removed, rotting things need bacteria to break them down. cleanliness is next to godliness where fish are concerned! Have you checked for things like metals (copper, iron, aluminium are all poison for fish), are you declorinating any water you add, do you make regular water changes? All these things affect fish health. Have you had you fish checked for parasites? I could go on and on, it's no good asking you neighbours for advice, you need to get an expert (Koi vet) to come and look at the pond and find out what is causing the fish to be suceptable to illness. Dont over feed meanwhile as that in it'self cancause problems! Sorry I cant be of more help.

Military_Ponder May 12, 2007 09:19 PM

Sounds like aeronomas to me as well. What is your stocking rate? Filtration? Aeronomas is a bad bug, but is generally due to a combination of overstocking, overfeeding and/or inadequate filtration.

I know this from experience as 5 years ago similiar happened to me. "Just one more koi!" More is not better.

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