Flashing fish?

[Cdsdave]

Hi all. I'm searching for some opinions about my 4 in aquarium kept koi. I noticed him flashing against the gravel 2 to 3 times in a row. Occasionally I hear gravel scrape, not too often, but this is the first time I saw one of the fish flashing. There are 3 other fish (2 smaller koi 1 gold 65 gal tank). I have some pics here. He was scraping the side with the bad eye, got him as a baby that way.

I could see no signs of parasites or damaged scales. He has a shiny scale by his dorsal fin but that's always been there. Maybe just had an itch?

3 pics of bad eye side and 1 of good side. Water was tested yesterday. All levels good. PH 7.4.

Thanks !!

 

[Mmathis]

When I saw the title, my first thought was a Christmas-fish decoration!

So now, I'm sorry I thought that, 'cause it isn't funny --- but it did make me smile

You mentioned water parameters were "good." Can you tell us what the numbers were (in addition to pH)? I noticed earlier that you were keeping yours in a 65 gal tank. I'm keeping 2 baby goldfish inside, in a 20 gal. tank, and while my water is testing WNL, my nitrates are borderline normal. So I'll be stepping up my H2O changes during the winter. From what I've learned, even my 2 goldies in a 20 gal. is pushing it, so I was concerned about your koi being in a 65 gal. I'm NOT an expert, by any means, but wondering if an increase in your filtration and aeration and more frequent H2O changes might help. And closely monitor that water!

Hopefully you'll get some more help.

 

[Cdsdave]

Ammonia and nitrites are 0. I do not have a nitrate tester. I was wrong about all tests being good, my phosphates were 1. It's my understanding phosphates do not harm fish but the growth of algae from it could affect their environment and cause health issues. However, except for some slight algae on their home(see pic) which they love to snack on, I clean off any I see starting to grow on the tank itself. And that is minimal. I do weekly 20% water changes. Clean the filters weekly and replace carbon and zeolite as needed. I daily check the spillway for excess food that may have collected.

I need to get a nitrate tester. I did add the two small koi the other day but that was after a 3+ week QT. I CHECKED THEM OVER VERY CAREFULLY AND LOOKED FOR ANY ODD BEHAVIOR BEFORE INTRODUCING THEM. Oops left the caps lock on, sorry they acted and still act fine. All the fish have a great appetite and seem happy. I'm hoping I'm just a paranoid "parent"

Thanks turtle for responding !!

 

[Mmathis]

No problem! I've had aquariums almost my entire life, but with only moderate success. I've learned more in the year and a half that I've had a pond than I ever knew about fish-keeping! Personally, I think the pond is easier than the tank, LOL! Geesh, every time I walk past my 2 little guys (20 gal), all kinds of stuff starts running through my head about numbers, toxicity, when did I last do a H2O change, do I have enough de-chlor for the next change....

I know that the API test kit I have includes nitrates. I looked at another one, and it included the test for phosphates instead of for nitrates. Just starting to grasp all of this myself, and there are so many variables. You said you "clean" your filters. Be sure you're not using straight tap water as that will wipe out your beneficial bacteria. How much filtration and aeration are you using?

Hoping someone with more experience than ME will chime in.

 

[Cdsdave]

The tank system I'm using was originally set up for saltwater so the filtration is very good. It's a sump system. Water flows over a spillway into a basin with sponges to catch larger debris. I do rinse these with tap water to remove the excess food and such. Their surface area is very small compared to the tank of bio balls in the sump. Plus the amount of water that comes in contact with the sponges is very minimal. From the sponges it's down a tube to a finer cotton like filter, into the bio balls,the carbon and zeolite, and another sponge and some foam I added before being pumped back up into the tank. The pump has a splitter on it directing the water up 2 pipes giving good surface movement. No aerator yet. I do plan on adding one.

 

[Dave 54]

Dave I kept koi indoors for 22 years before my health forced a move outside so As such I have alott of expertece about aquarium koi indoors.
I dont think that there is much to worry about koi do somtimes flash with nothing at all wrong with them.
Now if it keeps this up then yes there is probably a parasitic problem but if its only the odd times then dont panic my friend .
Lets set your mind at rest a tad and look at a few points.
1) The koi's finnage isn't clamped.
2) the dorsal fin is erect this is the sign of a healthy koi.
3) Non of your other koi are flshing another good sign.
4) You do regular mintenance and water changes so your doing everything right. If however when you do the tests your nitrate is up then there is a product you can buy that is specially designed to leech the nitrate from the water which will take care of it its a resin exclusive to JBL
You place a bag of it inside your external cannister filter and it does the rest.
Then all you'll have to do when its taken in as much as it can is soak the resin bag in in a bucket of heavily salted water for a period of 24 hours. At the end of this period of time its then ready to go again.
However what I did and would strongly suggest you do is to purchase not one but two bags so that you can alternate them thu protecting your koi Aquarium on a permanent basis.
Enjoy three photo's of our koi's former home for 22 years of their lives .

Dave

 

[Cdsdave]

Thanks ,Dave

Nice happy healthy looking koi!! Are they still doing well? Hope so

Take care,
Dave

 

[Dave 54]

Thanks ,Dave

Nice happy healthy looking koi!! Are they still doing well? Hope so

Take care,
Dave

Thanx Dave they are indeed doing well living outdoors though I must admit going from an indoor temperature of 22c down to 7c on their first winter with an air temperature of minus -10c was an extremely frightening time for us .
We did loose a beuatiful Koromo in late spring of the next year which was down to its immunity crashing most probably brought on by that winter but apart from the new Gin Rin that picked the only spot where it couldn't flip back in all the originals are in the pond.
If you dont mind me asking hat size tank are they in at the moment ?
The only litrature I have on indoor koi keeping is a book by Barry Goodwin now deceased called the Enigma of Koi ISBN 0952657619 and Goldfish and koi in your home by Dr Herbert Axelrod and William Vorderwinkler ISBN 0866220410 Barry touches brilliantly on the last chapter of his book about indoor koi keeping the other book is more Goldfish indoors and koi out .
So when we started we were very much in the dark and had to surmount many issues before we perfected the ultimate indoor setup cleaning was an issue we got around that by syphoning everything through an Eheim 2117 cannister filter returning the water back into the tak clean with the detritus from the gravel staying in the filter ({ it also allowed for three sweeps of the entire tank) before we had to chase the water not giving a good enough clean.
Matching water temperatures another major issue each partial waterchange was 70 imperial gallons , first we found the cold tap fluctuated in temperature so we got around this buy creating a "Y" out of garden hose and a "Y" fixture connecting up to both the hot and cold taps turning down the gas central heating/boiler to its lowest allowed us to match temperatures with that of the tank perfectly.
The sheer logistics of everything was amazing , we had to use a propper koi pond pump to supply oxygen to the tank, and a large 15 watt U/V sterilizer was employed as the years went by we changed the filtrtion from three eheim2117's to an eheim professional III 2080 and a Fluval FX5 .
In the summer the temperature sky rocketed in the tank so we had to employ a 300 watt chiller unit giving us a summer temperature of 16c in the tank (this also matched that of the show vats hich was a major plus for us).
All in all it was a fun time but in the end as my disability grew it bacame a hated chore to clean the tank , what once took an hour took four and a half, the pain I endured was horrendous in the ebd I started to hate it and mitakes crept in, so it was either quit the hobby or move outside , we moved outside.
Two slide valves and a hose stuck through a dechlorinator what could be simpler than that lol I've finished in five minutes and then simply top up the pond to the amount of water removed .
Spray through with pressure washer the jap matting twice a year, replace the filterwool twice a year, replace the zeolite with a second bag and top up the bag of crushed oystershell "the jobs a good un as we say in the UK" hardly hard work
Had I stayed in the tank I wouldnt hve been answering your thread I'd have Quit simply as that end of Hobby.


Dave

 

[Cdsdave]

Hi Dave,

The tank is a 65 gallon. I bought the whole package some 13 yrs back for a saltwater setup. Believe it or not the pumps both work(fingers crossed)great even after sitting all these years with some residual salt build up. They are Rio pumps. I only use 1 as the other was for a protein skimmer which I don't have installed. Here is a pic of the filtration system...

Thanks for your replies!

Take care
Dave