Koi Problem

[shawy2510]

I have a 20" chagoi which is looking ill, she looks like she has dropsy. The scales are sticking out a little and when i netted her yesterday and she started bleeding from the gills and it also look as though blood was seeping between the scales. Any help on what this could be???

 

[fatmrak315]

i am not going to be much help, but i would start by quarantining your fish, so that it hopefully does not spread to your other fish. it's a start while you wait for someone who experienced with this sort of thing, hope your fish gets better soon.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If the fishes scales are sticking out like a pine cone then it does sound like it it has dropsy, which coupled with the bleeding gills & seeping blood through the scales sounds like the fish has a very advanced aggressive internal bacterial infection. By this point its internal organs are probably already damaged and it may be more humane to euthanise the fish as recovering from an infection this advanced is unlikely (though possible).

If you do want to treat the fish though to see if you can save it, i would recommend using a combination of NTLABS KOI CARE ACRIFLAVIN and INTERPET AQUALIBRIUM TONIC SALT. The fish will have more chance of recovering if left in the pond with its buddies and you should treat the whole pond anyway regardless of whether the fish lives or dies, but be warned that the bacteria responsible for cases of dropsy like this becomes highly infectious if the infected fish dies in the pond.

I would also advise looking into your pond maintanence regime & more to find the route cause of the infection. Over-stocking ponds, inadequate filtration, improper or inadequate pond maintanence can all lead to water quality problems (which are one of the most common route causes of fish diseases) or create the conditions to harbour bad bacteria etc. You should test the ponds water for ammonia, nitrites & nitrates (ammonia & nitrites should be 0 at all times, nitrates between 1-40). If the pond has water quality problems it is very important to suss out the cause of them.

 

[shawy2510]

Thanks for the info, pond is cleaned and checked on a routine as we have quite expensive japanese koi and dont want to kill them and waste money. We have decided to call the koi doctor in our area to euthanise her tonight.

 

[fluttermoth]

Once the scales start sticking out it's usually all over, so I think you've probably made the right decision for the fish.

I'm sorry for your loss

 

[Fishy friend2]

i think you did the right thing and your koi will be dearly missed