Are You Sick of Sick Koi
and Goldfish?
"Sick" the Pond Doc on It!
Nothing can ruin the enjoyment of a garden pond more than having sick koi and goldfish. It's so disappointing and heart-breaking to go out in the morning to your pond or water garden and see a few of your koi or goldfish floating. It always seems to be the ones you love most...
The Pond Doc has made quite a name for himself with koi and goldfish health and we have so many articles on our website that deal with sick koi and goldfish that it will make your head spin - or at least feel like it's spinning! Let's put all that "involved" science of koi and goldfish health aside for a while and look at your pond filled with sick fish in a new light.
Why are they sick? Have you introduced any new koi or goldfish into the pond within the last few months? Have you checked for ammonia and nitrites? How about the pH? Is it stable and at an acceptable reading? These are the questions The Pond Doc will ask before he can go any further with diagnosing your sick pond fish.
The three most common causes of koi and goldfish sickness are (listed by most commonly affected order) #1 - Parasites, #2 - The Pond Water is Toxic and #3 - A Virus has Been Introduced Into Your Pond.
#1 Cause of Koi and Goldfish Sickness and Death - Parasites
Parasites are transmitted most commonly from new fish but can also come in via frogs and turtles, though that tends to be a rarity. Unless your koi and goldfish have advanced stages of ick, fish lice or anchor worm you cannot see the parasites unless you look at a mucus scraping under a microscope. Most of us do not have a microscope set up so we have to take for granted that the fish have parasites when they come to us. Some dead give-away symptoms include head hanging (flukes most often the culprit), flashing (rubbing against the sides and bottom of the pond - they are trying to scratch that ich!), hanging out by the water return or gasping for air (gill flukes making it difficult for them to breathe), and ulcers.
Some parasites are deadly by themselves while some act more as an irritant - but one thing's for sure - parasites are the leading cause of death in koi and goldfish populations. The reason I say this is because if the parasite doesn't outright kill the fish it will introduce bad bacteria into the fish and cause ulcers to spring up and, left untreated, the ulcer disease will kill the koi or goldfish. Ulcers are a result of other problems in the pond (such as parasites) and should be treated like a symptom. If you don't get rid of the parasites (the cause), however, you will never get rid of the ulcers. Parasites also weaken the fish, making it more susceptible to disease and bad bacteria. A weakened koi or goldfish will often have loss of scales, fin rot and mouth rot.
Parasites are the easiest of the three major fish health problems to treat. It takes simply treating with a Parasite Pak so you will get any type of parasite that might be lurking. The ulcers that spring up as a result of parasites must be treated. We have excellent dips. scrubs and antibiotic foods that work well on koi and goldfish stricken with ulcer disease. Melafix is an excellent product to use for fin rot.
#2 - Problems with Water Parameters
The pond water is your koi and goldfish's home and if that environment is not healthy they will suffer. The water parameters that most affect the health of koi and goldfish are ammonia, nitrites and pH. If a koi or goldfish dies or if one or all of them look sick or act strangely, the first thing you do is grab your test kit and test the water for ammonia, nitrites, pH and alkalinity (aka pH stability).
Ammonia and nitrites are present in ponds that do not have an intact or complete nitrifying cycle. The biological filtration is what develops the cycle and if you have no biological filter on your pond you can expect to have ongoing problems with ammonia and nitrites. Ammonia burns the gills of the fish and they will die when the concentration of ammonia is high enough. Nitrites poison the blood and they will die if the nitrites go unchecked. The ONLY acceptable level of ammonia and nitrites is ZERO.
Everything wrong in the pond is a stress factor and weakens the koi and goldfish's immunity -- and Ammonia and Nitrites are one of the worse stress factors there is -- second only to the parasite. Again, bad water is another cause of ulcers disease and other complications. Bad water quality plus parasites is a recipe for almost certain death. If you have readings of ammonia and/or nitrites, the best defense is to make an immediate water change of about 70% or so (don't forget to dechlor if you have chlorinated water) and to beef up the biological filter. You can prolong water changes while the nitrifying cycle re-establishes by adding Ultimate to your pond water.
pH, when unstable, can suddenly crash (plummets down to as low as 5.0!) and kills everything in the pond, including the nitrifying cycle. This often happens in the wee hours of the morning. If you find all your koi and goldfish dead in the morning this very well could be what killed them. Don't give pH the chance to crash. Keep pH stabilizer in the water. It will prevent disaster.
#3 - Viruses
The most deadly of all are viruses. They are transmitted by new fish. This is the best argument I can give you for quarantining new arrivals. Although viruses aren't nearly as common a problem as parasites or poor water conditions when a virus strikes you'll never forget the event.
You'll want to crank the water temperature of your quarantine tank up past 70 degrees because some nasty viruses will lay dormant until the pond water heats up to the low 70's F. Suddenly you'll notice your koi and goldfish dropping off one by one until they are just about all gone. Some viruses attack only koi while some attack only goldfish so if you lose all your koi, for example, it may be a virus, especially if the water parameters all check out and there are no parasites in the equation. Viruses aren't treatable. Once introduced, your fish will die.
Prevention IS the Best Koi and Goldfish Medicine!
In the world of koi and goldfish health, prevention is the key to a parasite and disease-free pond. The trick to maintaining a healthy pond environment is simply keeping the stress factors low and not introducing any irritants such as parasites and viruses into your pond. Here's some pointers that do wonders to keep your fish from getting sick:
Don't overcrowd your pond and, if you do (like so many of us do), provide plenty of biological filtration to support the heavy fish load.
Quarantine all new arrivals for at least two weeks and "clean them up" while they are in quarantine. Have yourself a large aquarium or holding tank set up in the garage and treat those new fish with a Parasite Pak so you'll get ALL the parasites that are present. Heat the tank so any viruses will show up in the quarantine tank and not in your pond.
Test your pond often (once every week or two for established ponds or whenever you see potential problems) and keep pH stabilizer in the pond for safety's sake.
Keep the pond clean. Do not line the bottom of the pond with rocks. If the bottom is lined with rocks, remove them now! This provides a breeding facility for bad bacteria.
What it all boils down to is that Koi and goldfish simply react to their environment. If the environment is toxic, they will die. If the pond is infected they will get sick.
If you do notice something suspicious, please feel free to contact us BUT be armed with the results of the ammonia, nitrite and pH tests. If your fish are dying, don't waste your time emailing. Call us right away - but again - have those test results with you. The number is (770) 663-6325. If in doubt about the water quality, go ahead and change out as much of the water as you safely can and don't forget to dechlorinate the water if you use chlorinated tap water.
Medications Recommended by the Pond Doc for Getting Rid of Parasites:
Doc's Prescription™ Parasite Pak
Medications Recommended by the Pond Doc for Treating Ulcers:
Doc's Prescription™
Lil' DabaDo Ulcer Scrub
Doc's Prescription™
Triple Antibiotic Fish Food
Medication Recommended by the Pond Doc for Treating Fin Rot:
Water Treatments the Pond Doc Recommends for a Healthy Pond Environment:
Microbe-Lift 7.5 pH Stabilizer
Microbe-Lift PL Biological Filter Booster
Microbe-Lift Bead Filter Starter
(Biological Bead Filter Booster)
