Ick

[crazyforponds]

We just discovered that we have what seems an advanced case of ick in our pond. One fish has died and many more are coated. What can I do? We called a local pond store and they gave us bacterial water treatment which we are currently doing. It's pretty cold here in kansas but the pond does not have ice on it. I tested the water and it seems to be fine. I have read all kinds of treatment
such as chlorine in the water, salt, etc. Any advice? Don't want to loose all my fish.

 

[Dave 54]

I've copied this post in part that I did very recently to another person , to get more speed in answering you and could be important in the long run we'll see
Now it may be of some help to you maybe not, however we need to know why your fish has it in the first place .
So could you tell me if your pond has a waterfall and if its switched on please , could you also tell me if you cleaned the bottom of your pond prior to winter as well as clean your filter prior to winter ?
Next can you give me the depth of your pond , its water perameters i;e Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph please?
If it is Ichthylobodo necator or costia using its other name then you'll need to get a scape done , do you have your own microscope ,
If not ask your local fish dealer to come visit you with their own, it would be a good idea to get your own at a future date .
To help weve done a thread about taking your own scrape on the forum for koi if you are interested plus theres a good one by @Mmathis you can read :-

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/microscopes-and-scrapes.11108/

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/microscopes.11894/

Ich is an external parasite active from 2c up to 29c or as you guys like to say 36f to 84f and can survive in both its free swimming stage and on the host .
On a scrape it looks like a misshapen circle with a double tail and in is free swimming stage it will come up as a vigorously moving spot .
If spotted early costia can easily be eadicated but oon younger koi it can develope very quickly and result in heavy losses it normally becomes a problem due to enviromental factors such as poor system maintenance , poor water quality and last but not least changes in temperature.
Leaving waterfalls running during winter during the winter can superchill your ponds water and it may well be the main cause of your problem ...
A general off the shelf parasite treatment should be employed or use Malachite and formalin but because of the temperature I doubt this is going to be possble if your pond has gone bellow 11c .
Should this be the case salt can be used and is generally good for costia at all temperatures and can be added at adose rate of ),25-0,5oz per gallon, if you dont have medicated salt it shouldnt be a problem use cooking salt from the supermarket , its cheaper to buy and works out at around about 75p per three Kilo's , I keep a tub of about 20 kilograms of cooking salt ready for use in the pond or our QT unit when we have sick or new koi in for a period of QTing which should normally last 8 weeks before your koi goes into the main pond.
I hope this helps you weve been koi keeping some 27 years now and will hopefully be doing it in another 20 years or so .

Dave

 

[crazyforponds]

I've copied this post in part that I did very recently to another person , to get more speed in answering you and could be important in the long run we'll see
Now it may be of some help to you maybe not, however we need to know why your fish has it in the first place .
So could you tell me if your pond has a waterfall and if its switched on please , could you also tell me if you cleaned the bottom of your pond prior to winter as well as clean your filter prior to winter ?
Next can you give me the depth of your pond , its water perameters i;e Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph please?
If it is Ichthylobodo necator or costia using its other name then you'll need to get a scape done , do you have your own microscope ,
If not ask your local fish dealer to come visit you with their own, it would be a good idea to get your own at a future date .
To help weve done a thread about taking your own scrape on the forum for koi if you are interested plus theres a good one by @Mmathis you can read :-

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/microscopes-and-scrapes.11108/

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/microscopes.11894/

Ich is an external parasite active from 2c up to 29c or as you guys like to say 36f to 84f and can survive in both its free swimming stage and on the host .
On a scrape it looks like a misshapen circle with a double tail and in is free swimming stage it will come up as a vigorously moving spot .
If spotted early costia can easily be eadicated but oon younger koi it can develope very quickly and result in heavy losses it normally becomes a problem due to enviromental factors such as poor system maintenance , poor water quality and last but not least changes in temperature.
Leaving waterfalls running during winter during the winter can superchill your ponds water and it may well be the main cause of your problem ...
A general off the shelf parasite treatment should be employed or use Malachite and formalin but because of the temperature I doubt this is going to be possble if your pond has gone bellow 11c .
Should this be the case salt can be used and is generally good for costia at all temperatures and can be added at adose rate of ),25-0,5oz per gallon, if you dont have medicated salt it shouldnt be a problem use cooking salt from the supermarket , its cheaper to buy and works out at around about 75p per three Kilo's , I keep a tub of about 20 kilograms of cooking salt ready for use in the pond or our QT unit when we have sick or new koi in for a period of QTing which should normally last 8 weeks before your koi goes into the main pond.
I hope this helps you weve been koi keeping some 27 years now and will hopefully be doing it in another 20 years or so .


Thanks for your reply. I will read up on scape and do it. No real koi people in our town just pond shop or garden center who sell koi. This is the first winter for our pond. I've read a lot about taking care of fish n a pond. The summer seemed to go great. Fish we're happy n heathy. I have deligently removed every leaf that fell in the pond. Fall came ane we put a net over the pond. When the weather got cold we shut down the waterfall to prevent mixing the cold and warmer water. I put in two air stones about a foot below the surface. When you say did we clean our filter which one are u referring to? We have bioballs with two layers of sponge type material on top. I cleaned the sponge material sometime late in summer. The other filter is in front of the pump (in the skimmer). I clean this regularly with pond water. I just checked the condition of the water and the nitrates nitrites were zero. The ph was good and the hardness of the water appeared adequate. We got a treatment from the pond store and have put it in and changed the water 20%and installed the treatment again. The instructions say to do this three times. Should I put salt in the pond?

 

[crazyforponds]

My pond is 3-4 ft deep-5500 gallons. I tested the water yesterday and all was well- no nitrate, ph was good and hardness of water was within range. Throughout the summer I have been very diligent about removing all leaves and debris that falls into the pond. I did not actually clean the bottom of the pond but the water is clear and the bottom seems to be clean except for normal algae growing on the rock. We had the waterfall running until the weather turned cold and then we shut it off and put two air stones in the pond about a foot below the surface. I'm not sure which filter you are asking about. We have biobaals in the falls with two layers of sponge like material on top. I cleaned both of those with pond water in late summer. We also have a sponge like filter in the skimmer in front of the pump. I clean that regularly with pond water. We obtained a parasite treatment and are in the process of using it but I think the water temp is below 50 F. Should I add salt? Will it be okay with the parasite treatment? How do I make sure that this problem does not continue to exist in the spring when the water temp warms up. Thank you for your info. I will read your info on taking a scrape and follow through.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Any idea on what the parasite treatment you are using is called? Or what the main ingredients are?

Do you have a quarantine/hospital set up for your fish?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

How do I make sure that this problem does not continue to exist in the spring when the water temp warms up.

Fresh water parasitic organisms are ubiquitous to all pond environments. Nature provides fish built-in protection in the form of mucous secretion (Slime Coat) that covers the entirety of the fish body. This 'Slime Coat' contains some of the most effective anti-bacterial and anti-viral substances known. This 'Slime Coat' is constantly being renewed and sloughed off.
Keeping fish healthy by maintaining proper water quality and a stress-free environment is all that is required for the fish to maintain adequate production of the 'Slime Coat' and the resulting protection from parasites and other water-borne pathogens.

 

[crazyforponds]

Water quality is good. What do you mean by a stress free environment. What can cause stress to fish? The water quality is good. I have air stones in the pond for oxygenation and to prevent freezing. I have read extensively on the eco system and how to maintain. What am I missing? I am new at this so I would appreciate any advice.

 

[crazyforponds]

Any idea on what the parasite treatment you are using is called? Or what the main ingredients are?

Do you have a quarantine/hospital set up for your fish?

This is the first full year for my pond. I have read extensively on the subject but don't have actual experience. I did not realize that we had to quarantine fish before putting them in the pond. I will be doing that next spring and summer. When we discovered the problem I called the local pond store and they gave us Aquascape Ulcer-bacterial infection treatment. No ingredients listed. However reading everything I can find on ICH it seems like salt is the answer. Can I still put salt in the water after this treatment? I'm having trouble finding information on how to add the salt. Do you need water changes? It seems like every site I read on the internet gives you different advice. Quarantine would be difficult since I have over 40 fish in the pond and many of then are infected.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I used the term stress-free for lack of a better description. Although no pond environment is completely stress-free, all means should be taken to prevent/avoid any major abrupt changes in water quality parameters or the ambient water environment. This type of sudden stress severely weakens a fish.

You should quarantine NEW fish when adding to an existing pond. No need to quarantine the initial pond fish population providing they all come from the same source.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

This is the first full year for my pond. I have read extensively on the subject but don't have actual experience. I did not realize that we had to quarantine fish before putting them in the pond. I will be doing that next spring and summer. When we discovered the problem I called the local pond store and they gave us Aquascape Ulcer-bacterial infection treatment. No ingredients listed. However reading everything I can find on ICH it seems like salt is the answer. Can I still put salt in the water after this treatment? I'm having trouble finding information on how to add the salt. Do you need water changes? It seems like every site I read on the internet gives you different advice. Quarantine would be difficult since I have over 40 fish in the pond and many of then are infected.

I'm not certain what is in the treatment you have but from what I can tell it is not an antiparasitic so it won't help if your fish have ich. I have never treated a pond with salt (although I have done so in aquariums) I'm not exactly sure about using any type of treatments in the colder water. What is the temperature of your pond?

Here is a little info about using salt: http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/disease/treatment/trtmnt.htm#salt

 

[Dave 54]

I think its about time we merged the two threads dont you crazyforponds otherwise people are going to get confused dont you think crazyforponds ?

Dave

 

[crazyforponds]

I think its about time we merged the two threads dont you crazyforponds otherwise people are going to get confused dont you think crazyforponds ?

Dave

Sounds good to me. I really appreciate all the advice. I took Dave advice and got a drop test kit. Well what I thought was good water quality probably was not. It showed pH 8-ammonia .5/ppm-negative nitrates and nitrates-temp is 40 F. With what little I know, I know ammonia is deadly to fish. Probably the reason for my sick fish. What do I do now. I have two air stones in the pond and have turned off my waterfall.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

glad you got the test kit. water testing should be the first thing a person does when trying to figure out a problem with their fish.

 

[Dave 54]

This might sound strange crazyforponds but what does your water smell like at the moment , smell is another weapon in our arsenal we can use in conjunction with water test kits good healthy water smells pure .
Water that has problems has an unpleasent smell .
As I've mentioned before try changing 20-40% of the ponds water daily however it being winter you need to trickle the water back in so as not to loose the temperature the pond is already at "do not be tempted to do a huge waterchange as you will mess with the existing PH that the pond is now at .
I do regular winter waterchanges via a dechlorination pre filter and never loose more than . 2c
To remove ammonia in future why not try the use of zeloite rocks they are rechargeable in a salt solution , we have two bags that we swop around every few months .

Dave

 

[crazyforponds]

This might sound strange crazyforponds but what does your water smell like at the moment , smell is another weapon in our arsenal we can use in conjunction with water test kits good healthy water smells pure .
Water that has problems has an unpleasent smell .
As I've mentioned before try changing 20-40% of the ponds water daily however it being winter you need to trickle the water back in so as not to loose the temperature the pond is already at "do not be tempted to do a huge waterchange as you will mess with the existing PH that the pond is now at .
I do regular winter waterchanges via a dechlorination pre filter and never loose more than . 2c
To remove ammonia in future why not try the use of zeloite rocks they are rechargeable in a salt solution , we have two bags that we swop around every few months .

Dave

Water smells okay. I tested my tap water and it shows ph of 8.8 and ammonia level 2 ppm. If I'm using this water for water changes isn't this adding to the problem. I will try zeolite rocks.