Black Tuesday at the Koi pond.

In the last few posts I have talked about losing some fish and the challenges of fighting diseases in a pond.  This makes it a risky time in any pond, but more so when the temperature is changing.  Two fish have died (Rhu and Patty) and the disease has progressed to others in the pond (Tawney).

Summer is also a time of vacations and travel.  Traveling while treatment is progressing is also very risky.  Treatments usually occur over many days and things can change wildly over that time.  Symptoms can worsen and new symptoms may appear which may require changes in your treatment plan, all the while you are gone.  Plus putting such pressure on friends or neighbors who are feeding the fish is just not right, or productive. Unless they are familiar with Koi, they will not be in a  position to help with the treatment process.

At the Koi Garden pond we had just that happen:  a vacation was planned for a long time and I had to leave with a treatment plan partially completed.  The other thing that complicated matters is a heat wave in Seattle that raised the temperature over 90 degrees.   The higher temperature changes the water chemicals very quickly and can cause additional problems.  The treatment did not go as I had planned or wanted.   We had enlisted friends to review and feed the fish while we were gone.  But the higher temperature caused green water which obstructed any views of the fish, so health problems could progress…  Because they could not see the fish, they assumed that things were hunky dory.

Not so much.

Returning from a week long vacation to find all the fish dead is a bad way to return home.  

This is a sad time at the Koi Garden.  I will have to spend some time thinking about how to progress with the pond.

RIP Koi Garden Fish....

Black Day at the pond

We had two important tasks to accomplish:  Watch and help Patty through the treatment plan; and making sure the rest of the pond did not go the same path as with Patty. 

Patty initially appeared to respond well to the Malachite Green, but it was a short-lived victory.  Applying medicine to a hospital tank is tough.  The medicines need to be applied to a small space, so the correct calculations must be made.  Also since the medicines are so strong and the fish is so weakened by disease, the fish may not be able to survive the treatment.  And that is what happened to Patty.  After a short time in the hospital tank, Patty succumbed to the disease.  The disease had progressed too far.  Despite direct intervention of moving the fish forward and backward to keep water flowing through the gills, I was not able to revive Patty and keep the fish alive. 

No time to grieve.  Losing Patty was terrible, but there is no time to waste.  The rest of the fish we exposed to Patty for a few days before I found and moved the fish into the hospital tank.  This means that the pond and the fish that live there are at risk and must be treated very quickly.

While Patty’s treatment was progressing, I took some time to get a good look at the rest of the fish in the pond.  Things to look for include fish color, movement, feeding, anything out of the ordinary that hints that the fish might be ailing.  In the Koi garden pond, the rest of the fish were doing fine with the exception of Tawney, the long fined Tancho Showa.  Tawney was sulking on one side of the pond, not swimming with the rest of the fish.  There was no visible fin rot, but when fish do not fight for food with the other fish, there is a problem; and judging from what happened to Patty, Tawney had a BIG problem. 

Since the pond needed to be treated, I decided to treat the whole pond with the fish inside it.  I removed the plants to make sure they did not interact with the medicines.  This could be a problem for both the plants and the fish.  Plus, once the treatment plan is completed, we will place the plants back in the pond again.  I applied the Malachite Green to the pond (with 1 ounce per 500 gallons, dosed daily).  I also turned the heater way up in the pond, almost to the maximum.  Normally, I would never need to heat the pond in July, but this summer has not been normal.  I had turned the temperature off because I had thought summer had arrived.  But when the problems arrived, the temperature had dropped to 55 degrees.  At that temperature, the fish’s immune system is working, but not as well as it would be at 75 degrees.  These items seemed to help; there was a visible reaction within a half hour.  They all started being more active, looking for food and swimming around more.  Based on this outcome, I will keep the temperature slowly increasing until it gets over at least 70 degrees.

All fingers and extremities crossed!!!!

Patty is found!!!!!

Patty was hiding at the bottom of the Koi Garden pond.  I was worried that Patty was eaten by one of the critters that frequent the garden.   Luckily, that was not the outcome of the Patty search.  I found Patty along the bottom of the pond, hiding among the pumps and plants. 

But all is not well. A lethargic fish is not a healthy fish.  And Patty was lethargically hiding at the bottom. 

No feeding.

No swimming.

A little bit of rot on the long flowing fins.

And a very stressed pink color.

All indications of a very bad situation. 

I immediately sprung to action.

First step is to get the fish out of the pond and into a hospital tank where intense treatment can be applied.  In Patty’s case, it is quite easy to catch a sick fish with a net.  They don’t move fast and are really not feeling well.

The hospital tank, in this case, was a large bucket with an air pump, bubbling constantly.

I quickly look at my Koi reference books to try and get a feel what the offending sickness.  I use my favorite book for koi knowledge(The Tetra Encyclopedia of KOI).  The fin rot indicates that bacteria is eating away the long flowing fins.  The pink color indicates stress and sickness on the white fish.  I added Malachite Green to the water.  It is a mixture of formalin (think formaldehyde, icchhh) and some chemical that produces bright blue stains (OK, I have no idea why it is called Malachite Green….).  This chemical kills any exterior bacteria that are attaching the fins. 

It is also a good habit to call your Koi network to confirm treatment.  For me, I call Diane Torgeson of Oasis Water Gardens.  Diane confirmed the Malachite Green treatment but also warned me NOT to use salt water treatment at the same time.  Whew, I use saltwater treatment for a general treatment.  It improves functioning of Koi gills and assists the koi’s natural defenses by increasing the slick feel of the fish, restricting bacteria’s ability to get to the fish.  But in combination with Malachite Green, the salt water will burn the fish;  Ohhhh No…  Dianne also recommended additional treatment with antibiotics.  Both of these treatments are multi day treatments.  The Malachite is applied each day for at least 3 and possible more days.  The treatment plan for the antibiotics is a 10 day plan, with drugs applied to the hospital tank every day.

With the correct treatment plan in place, I embarked on the toughest part of any hospital stay:  the waiting….

A death in the Koi Garden

Spring is a risky time in the Koi Garden.  The water temperature rises and with that, so does the risks for the fish.  While rising temperatures allow internal immune systems to take hold, it also allows viruses and harmful bacteria to grow and flourish as well.  In some cases the harmful bacteria grows faster than the fish’s ability to fight them.  This can lead to diseases and even quick deaths.

This is what has happened to some favorites in the Koi Garden.  Rhu, a great looking Kumonru died very quickly this week.  One morning he was found dead in the pond. Cause unknown.  Call it Spring Fever.   A great loss. Rhu was introduced to our readers in previous posts and will he will be missed.

When dead fish are found in the pond it is very important to remove the fish very quickly to reduce the chance of any disease transferring to the other fish.  A detailed review and analysis of the dead fish must be made to get some idea of the problem.   Do not touch the fish with bare hands.  Gloves should be worn; gardening gloves work well for this task; and they should be thoroughly washed afterward.  The fins should be checked for any problems like fin rot, ich, or any other malady.  Pry open the gills; the color should be a nice reddish, pink color.  The gills should be complete and healthy looking.  If the gills are damaged in any way, it could be an indication of the disease that the fish succumbed to.   It is also very important to test the water as well.  Watch out for high levels of Ammonia and Nitrites.  They can stress the fish and extended periods of stress can cause death.

This is the time where good reference materials are a must.  In previous posts, I have talked about a favorite book of mine.  In my gift recommendations I have talked about a few good books that could be a great help.  This is the time to talk to your Koi gardens friends.  In the Koi Garden one great resource I have is Oasis Water Gardens.  Diane Torgenson is a great source of assistance to any problems I might have.

In the case of Rhu, it might be of interest that the fish did change color.  It was almost not possible to recognize Rhu.  Readers might remember that a Kumonru is a fish that can change color based on temperature, water chemicals, and other factors.  When I pulled Rhu out of the pond he had a lot larger amount of red coloring, far more than he normally had.

Rhu was placed to rest with a burial in a corner of the Koi garden.  It is the same area where I have placed other fish that have died in the past.   While I never like to lose fish, having them give nutrients and growth to a nice Hydrangea is at least something positive out of the whole thing.