Purchasing and "Cleaning Up" New Koi and Goldfish
Buying new koi and goldfish can be somewhat of a game of Russian Roulette. One never knows what he's going to bring home along with that fish! Sure -- they may look perfectly healthy at the pet store or garden center -- but without a microscope one cannot see what parasites might be lurking on the skin and gills of the fish. Often we are told not to buy fish that have sores or missing fins. One with a sore has visible medical problems. One missing a fin may not have anything wrong with him other than missing a "limb" (and he needs a home too) -- but there's more to it than that. A fish that has a sore on it or is missing a fin isn't necessarily a silent carrier of parasites like 95% of all koi and goldfish for sale out there displaying no symptoms. A silent carrier is a worse risk than a fish that is simply missing a fin because it brings parasites with it into the pond and your koi and goldfish may never know what hit them. Parasites, though almost always present on new fish, aren't the only health risk associated with adding new fish. Bacterial Gill Disease and deadly viruses can be brought in and kill off a whole population of pond fish in a matter of a few days.
We have always put our koi and goldfish through parasite treatments and at least two weeks of quarantine before we would sell them to anyone. We call it "cleaning them up". Not all fish dealers are as health-conscience. It's a fact that only about 5% of koi and goldfish dealers (including major chains) actually "clean them up" when they are received! A certain percentage of new fish are lost to complications of parasitic infestation, stress and disease within the first 72 hours after travel. If a dealer places them into quarantine and treats them first the dealer is the one to incur the loss. Thus, what happens most often is that the new koi and goldfish are unloaded out of their shipping bags into bins for immediate display and sell. The philosophy is that if they can sell them before any die they have made money.
With that said, it is up to the CONSUMER to be choosy from who they purchase their koi and goldfish and to quarantine and treat any new koi or goldfish before placing them into a pond with an existing fish population.
Here are a few pointers to look for when purchasing healthy koi and goldfish:
Who Can One Trust?
The consumer's responsibility starts with choosing a dealer. The best koi and goldfish dealers will have separate facilities where fish are quarantined and treated. They should not allow any of these quarantined fish to be sold prematurely. Dealers who are confident about the health of their fish should have a health guarantee of about two or three days. We have seen many dealers (mostly those who import and sell at shows) who will not guarantee a fish once it has left his tank. Our advice is to NOT PURCHASE a fish whose dealer will not guarantee it. You might be bringing home more than you bargained for. The consumer should not expect the dealer, however, to make good on his guarantee unless the consumer's pond water is healthy. For that reason, dealers who guarantee their fish will often require a pond water sample and the replacement given only if the pond water shows no ammonia or nitrites. If a dealer is willing to do a mucus scraping on a fish from his tank to test for parasites under a microscope -- that is the dealer to trust!
The "Must Have" Koi or Goldfish
I can't count the times I have heard the story of how that special goldfish at a major pet supply chain winked at you and you couldn't help it -- you had to get him! You knew when you bought him that he had not gone through any type of quarantine and, gosh darn it, you just couldn't help yourself. I know they are hard to resist! If you MUST purchase fish from a dealer that does not "clean up" the fish before selling them at least realize that you'll need to "clean him up" yourself once you get home.
The Gift That Keeps Giving
Koi and goldfish that are given as gifts carry the same gamble of being infested with parasites and disease as those you purchase yourself. We have heard so many sad stories about gift fish that infected the rest of the population. That's one gift that keeps on giving... It's sweet that someone would think enough of you to give you a koi for your birthday and you can't say no! So, whenever you get a gift fish place him in quarantine first.
Fish Purchasing Etiquette
By all means, take your time choosing that perfect koi or goldfish. The intention is for that fish to be with you for the rest of its life. Stand by the tank as long as it takes for you to decide which one(s) you want to take home. Fish should only be netted to check for any health problems before purchasing. Choose then net - not net then choose. Constant netting in a tank will cause stress and increase health problems and I would not blame any dealer if he (or she) refused to net a fish before the consumer has made up his (or her) mind on which fish he (or she) wants. As with other items that you buy - remind your children to keep their hands off. Hands in the water can cause even more stress to the fish. We often love to watch children feed the fish because it gives the kids such as pleasant experience. That is done under supervision and often only in established show ponds where the koi and goldfish are less stressed.
The Ride Home
Once the new koi or goldfish has been chosen, it is then bagged with less than half the bag filled with de-chlorinated water and filled the rest of the way with oxygen. Blowing into the bag is not a substitute for oxygen! The bag is placed into a box for extra stabilization for larger fish. Make sure you are going right home with the bagged fish. If it will take more than an hour to get the fish home you might want to let the one who bags the fish know so that extra precautions can be taken. Keep the bag away from direct sunlight and, if possible, under an air-condition vent in the car. The cooler the bags stays the better.
Got Him Home - Now What?
Float the bag in the quarantine tank (or pond) for at least 15 minutes before releasing the fish. What we want to happen is the water inside the bag should rise (or fall) to the temperature of the pond or tank.
If at all possible - place your new koi or goldfish in a separate salted quarantine tank for at least two weeks to clean him up before placing him into the pond. Anyone who has purchased expensive Japanese koi knows the feeling of losing a couple of hundred dollars (or more) because the fish did not survive. But what if this new fish also brought disease to your existing expensive koi collection? We've seen this happen over and over again! The mistake was placing the new koi directly into the pond without cleaning him up or seeing if he has a disease.
Setting Up and Using a Quarantine Tank
A tank can be as little as 10 gallons (for baby fish) or up to about 500 gallons. It can be a small pond built just for the purpose of having a quarantine area, an indoor aquarium, or any large container that is made of something non-toxic (no metals at all) that can hold water. The koi and goldfish you purchase will be housed in that tank for at least two weeks so the water quality of the tank has to remain excellent. It MUST be aerated. Many treatments will chew up the oxygen in the tank and, if the water is stagnant, the fish could simply suffocate from lack of oxygen. Some people outfit the tank with biological filters and artificial air pumps. Many of the treatments used during the quarantine process will kill nitrifying bacteria so the filter is just not necessary while treatments are being performed. With no biological filtration it is absolutely mandatory that the water quality be monitored closely everyday for ammonia and nitrite problems. Water changes must be preformed on a regular basis to prevent ammonia build-up or nitrite poisoning. We suggest using Ultimate to maintain good quality water for as long as possible between water changes. The fish should not be fed for the duration of the treatments. This will only add to water quality problems. A nice, sturdy screen cover should be placed over the top of the tank so that the fish will not jump out.
If the water inside the tank is cooler than 70 degrees find a heater capable of heating the tank and keeping it at about 72 degrees. This will force any viruses that pop up when the weather gets warm to surface now before the fish are added to the pond and give the virus to the existing population. Salt the tank at 3 lbs. of non-iodized salt per 100 gallons of water. Whenever you make a water change re-salt to the amount of water you are adding back. Leave the salt in for as long as the fish stay in the tank, hopefully not past three weeks. Treat the tank with Anti-Fluke or Fluke Tabs first. Complete two full treatments four days apart, following the directions on the product. Make a 50% water change (adding back Ultimate but NOT the salt) then treat with Cure-Ich. Both the Anti-Fluke and Cure-Ick are included in our Parasite Pak. You may want to keep a Pak handy. Follow the directions. The rest is a waiting game to see how the fish react. Hopefully, by the end of two weeks you can successfully place the new, clean fish into their permanent pond home. Make sure when transferring the fish that you gradually add pond water to your tank so the koi or goldfish will adjust slowly to the temperature and pH of the pond.
What If a Quarantine Tank is Out of the Question?
We would love to see everyone use quarantine tanks but we realize that sometimes quarantining new arrivals is just not possible. In that case, what does a pond owner do to protect his (or her) existing population? The answer is to treat the whole pond as if you knew it had parasites after the new fish have been introduced. This won't protect the fish from warm-temperature viruses and that's one of the reasons we prefer separate tanks but viruses are less frequent than parasites. Imported koi tend to have the most occurrences of viruses so one is definitely taking a chance when not quarantining new imported arrivals in a separate tank. If the water from which the new fish were being held was at least 72 degrees it's probably safe.
A Word About NEW FISH
New koi and goldfish are highly stressed. In fact, whenever they go through the stress of being bagged and transported their systems go down and they lose their ability to resist even the smallest irritant for a couple of days. The new koi or goldfish with his lowered immunity will be a prime target for diseases and parasites existing in the pond already. They are very excited when introduced into new waters and jump like crazy so lower your pond's water level down a foot until they settle down or cover the pond (or tank) with sturdy netting. The object is to keep them from jumping out.
Here are a few items we mentioned in our article:
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Doc's Prescription Parasite Pak™Insure your pond is parasite free by treating it with Doc's Prescription Parasite Pak. Includes Anti-Fluke and Quick Cure and Specific Instructions from the Pond Doc. |
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| Treats Ponds Up to 1000 Gallons | Item # DPPPak1000...................................$ 19.95 | |
| Treats Ponds Up to 2000 Gallons | Item # DPPPak2000...................................$ 28.95 | |
| Treats Ponds Up to 4000 Gallons | Item # DPPPak4000...................................$ 39.95 | |
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Ultimate Water Conditioner Removes Nitrates, Nitrites, Ammonia, Chlorine & Chloramines Safe for Salt, Reef, Live Rock & Fresh Water Aquariums & Ponds. Ultimate is a "full-function" water conditioner that works in the principle way that Amquel Plus does. It removes ammonia and chlorine, destroys chloramines, detoxifies nitrite and heavy metals, boosts alkalinity, replaces skin-slime coat, adds electrolytes, reduces stress and instantly "ages" water. Great for new ponds where biological bacteria have not been established, for under-filtered ponds where persistent ammonia and nitrite readings occur and for over-stocked ponds. |
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| Ultimate 32 oz. Bottle.......treats 1920 gals.....$ 19.95 | ||
| Ultimate Gallon Size.......treats 7680 gals.....$ 69.95 | ||
| Not all test kits will give you proper readings when Ultimate is used. For accurate test results use only Kordon or Pond Care by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals brands of Ammonia and Nitrite drop test kits. | ||
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