new to koi

[Gaz24]

oh sound i fort you would have to buy new for koi. the site is very good and quite cheap as well i got a friend who's got a load of koi they call him the fish doctor real name ken Williams

[site admin]

Gaz,
I would not associate with that bloke called Ken Williams

He is my mate too. Could not meet a more helpful guy.
You will have to come down and visit us sometime, just say when you want to come, or perhaps it would be better if Ken and I come and have a look at your setup before advising you which way to go.
We are all very friendly and helpful in the club.

Dave.

[Gaz24]

yeah i will try and come down one day. seem to be having a bit of a problem with my pond i have lost 3 fish with fungus i think it is i have treated it 5 days ago soon as i seen the white cotton wool stuff on them but don't think its working because one of my koi still has it. whats the best way to get rid of it.

[Martin R]

Gaz,
Wearing rubbber gloves, carefully rub off the fungus, checking for tissue damage underneath. Wounds can be treated topically with Malachite green, using cotton buds. Carefully hold the Koi in a wetted towel (use pond water). Covering the eyes will help prevent too much thrashing about.

If your pond is not heated some treatments will have little effect. Then all you can do is Malachite dip your Koi into bowl with 1ml per gallon for no more than 5 minutes. Check them throughout the treatment time to make sure they're not stressed (gasping, or rolling)and put them back into the main pond earlier if they are. I'd put an airstone into the bowl too.
Martin

[Gaz24]

i never new i had to have the pond heated where can i get a pond heater from.

[site admin]

Hi,
You do not have to heat your Pond!,
I think what Martin is trying to say that with the water temperature at the moment, treatments will have less of an effect, than when the temperature rises in the summer.
Fungus on koi is usually related to some other problem, maybe water parameters or a parasite.
Do you know your water parameters, Ammonia, Nitrite, pH.
How long have you had the koi and where did you get them from?

Dave.

[Gaz24]

i don't no the ph i have only had the koi for 4 weeks i got them from a shop on eBay

[Martin R]

Hi Gaz,

The chances are, the eBay koi have brought the infection in with them
There is still a chance that you can get them right, using the advice given previously. Don't worry about heating.

Koi will always tend to carry parasites (Costia, Trichodina) and micro organisms (Fungi, Bacteria & Virusus) but they do no harm and remain in low numbers until the opportunity presents itself. For example when a Koi gets over stressed by transportation and intro to new pond (the Immune system drops), or the Pond water is High in Ammonia, Nitrites or other polutants. All sounds very confusing and scarey....but it's not
Where are you based? I would strongly recommend coming over to one of our members ponds soon to learn a little more about water testing and where to buy Koi from in the future. Sorry to say that eBay is not a good outlet for Koi.
Don't be discouraged. All is far from lost.
Martin

[site admin]

Hi Gaz,
You are welcome to come down and see me, I will run though the procedure for testing the water parameters with you, and have a chat
about Koi keeping in general.
My phone no. is on the website under membership secretary.

Dave.

[Gaz24]

i have just been to test the water and found one of my koi pined down by a frog i couldn't save the fish but the frogs gone yeah i mite pop down soon i am very busy at the mo trying to get my car sorted and my garden