Trichodina

Trichodina is another one of those parasites that you can't see without a microscope.  It will run down your fish's immunity system and open the door for other complications such as ulcers, fin rot and other bacterial infections.  It's similar in habit to Costia and Chilodonella.  They all three are microscopic and are basically treated with the same medications as what kills ich.  Trichodina is not as common as the others and it's not quite as dangerous though it still sets the koi or goldfish up for other problems.

How to Recognize, Treat and Prevent Trichodina in Your Koi or Goldfish Pond

Most parasites that affect koi and goldfish cannot be seen with the naked eye. Under the microscope Trichodina looks very similar to the drawing above.  Inside the circle, however is much more detailed, almost decorative lines.  As trichodina moves it spins in circles and reminds me of a merry-go-round.  It's quite "neat" to watch!  Unless you have super-human eyesight you can't see Trichodina without placing a mucus scraping under a microscope. 

Recognizing Trichodina

These little rascals, like all koi and goldfish parasites, are active - spinning around happily - and will tickle the fish as they dart around on the skin.  The fish will scratch themselves as best as they can, taking a "running" jump and scraping against the walls and floor of the pond to relieve the itch.  We call this "flashing". Other behavior the koi may exhibit is spastic swimming or spiraling, even jumping. 

The only sure-fire way of diagnosing Trichodina is to do a mucus scraping on the suspect fish.  It's quite interesting and, if you can get your hands on a microscope, quite easy as well.  When looking under the microscope if you find anything that moves on its own chances are it is a parasite and, if it looks like the drawing above or even more intricate like a merry-go-round, it is Trichodina. 

Treating Trichodina

Treating for Trichodina is the easy part!  Salt will kill this parasite but it has to be in a strong enough dose. 3 lbs. of non-iodized salt per 100 gallons (yes, that's the amount!) will kill Trichodina.  The salt must stay in the water for at least 2 weeks so that it will kill any babies as well.  We have a very pure salt that we use on our own guys that is wonderful to use for treating Trichodina.

Salt in that high of a dose will kill or retard the growth of many water plants so often a salt treatment is more trouble than it's worth.  For planted water gardens and koi or goldfish ponds that have plants we suggest you use either ProForm C or QuickCure.  If your water temperature is not very warm you should use the ProForm C.  You can use Quick Cure in spring or summer but not when the water is cold.  Quick Cure is part of our Parasite Pak that addresses flukes, fish lice and anchor worm as well as Trichodina and other parasites that salt will kill.

You may need to change most of or a portion of the water when treating for parasites.  Make sure to have de-chlorinator on hand.

Treatment has to be done on the whole pond because if one fish has a parasite, all of them do.

Emergency Procedures

1. Perform a salt treatment or treat with ProForm C or QuickCure.

What to Expect Next

Once Trichodina is eradicated from your pond you should not have any residual affect from either the parasite or the treatment except maybe that the fish have been stressed so that they are susceptible to anything that may come along.  Just be "gentle" with the fish for a while and keep an eye out for ulcers or other problems that arise when fish are stressed.

Preventing Trichodina

Quarantining and treating any new koi or goldfish is the key to preventing any infestation of any parasite, including Trichodina. 

More Information About Trichodina

• Buyer Beware - The Importance of Quarantine
• Flash Dance - A Closer Look at Parasites

Items You Might Need:

Doc's Pure Salt

Parasite Pak

ProForm C

Doc's De-Chlorinator

Know Your Gallons!

Heavy Duty Water Meter

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