Progressing Fin Rot and Now Blisters

[Lisak1]

Just wanted to chime in here to reassure you - if you were using the standard drug store variety 3% H2O2, that would not burn your fish. Food grade peroxide can be up to 35% - that will definitely burn - but even that would be diluted very quickly in a 1500 gallon pond. Even applied directly to the skin, 3% won't cause burns.

 

[MitchM]

Pox is usually only visible after coming out of cold water during the winter and symptoms go away after the water warms up. I don't think pox is an issue now. I don't see any signs of Ich. If you do have a microscope, it would be a good idea to have a look and eliminate any fear of parasites.

Focus for now on getting the mucous covering re-established on the fish. Once that happens, you can start doing water changes to get that salinity down.
Water changes will only be stressful if the source water is significantly different from the pond water - and you'll only know that from testing.

 

[Mutchinator]

Thank you so much! Will do...
.15 is good salt wise?

 

[Mutchinator]

Just wanted to chime in here to reassure you - if you were using the standard drug store variety 3% H2O2, that would not burn your fish. Food grade peroxide can be up to 35% - that will definitely burn - but even that would be diluted very quickly in a 1500 gallon pond. Even applied directly to the skin, 3% won't cause burns.

Thanks - and yes it was drug store variety.

 

[Lisak1]

We used to add quarts of hydrogen peroxide to our pond at a time - it's harmless to fish. Helpful for keeping string algae under control.

 

[MitchM]

Thank you so much! Will do...
.15 is good salt wise?

.15 is fatal for almost all plants and is hard on the kidneys of freshwater fish.
Their physiology has evolved in freshwater with zero salinity.
The constant use of salt in freshwater ponds has resulted in salt resistant parasites.

The goal should be healthy fish in a stable, zero salinity water environment.

 

[Tula]

Did I read correctly that you rely on a small bog filled with water hyacinths etc. ( in addition to the skimmer ) for filtration.......if your plants die , won't that compromise the bog's effectiveness?

I admire the fact that you sedated and treated this koi.......that's something many of us have never done....including me.

 

[Mutchinator]

Did I read correctly that you rely on a small bog filled with water hyacinths etc. ( in addition to the skimmer ) for filtration.......if your plants die , won't that compromise the bog's effectiveness?

I admire the fact that you sedated and treated this koi.......that's something many of us have never done....including me.

I don't rely on it solely - and only the small ones died; the larger plants are in good shape.

Yes I did a lot of research on treating them - was going to take to a local fish vet but for $110 to visit and then probably an antibiotic shot; I took my chances. It was actually not too bad - Hanover Koi Farms website and others go into depth on the topic.

 

[addy1]

I have never treated a fish. Good job on reading and learning.

 

[j.w]

@Mutchinator
Sorry to hear what you are going through w/your fish and hope you can help them heal.

 

[Mutchinator]

OK - treated for TWO weeks with Metafix and also did Pimafix for a week (to rule out fungal issues). The butterfly koi is looing much better - tail looks healed; although hard to tell if starting to return. The white koi which started to develop an ulcer looks clear now - without any further intervention. Here are my water results - we just had a large rain which may have diluted some of the salt as I have an overflow which run to daylight.

966 Salt
69 degF
ph 9.0
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 2
Nitrite 0
GH 179 (10 drops)
KH 71.6 (4 drops)

Any other suggestions at this point? I want the fish to be healthy for winter - and going to do the expansion in the Spring as opposed to Fall to avoid further disruption and stress.

 

[MitchM]

With a high GH, a low KH and a high PH, I would suggest:
Adding pure calcium chloride to raise your calcium level (no additives)
Adding baking soda to raise your KH level
Performing water changes to further reduce your salt level.
Can you post what your source water measurements are using your test kits?
A nitrate measurement will be helpful.
Once we have your source water measurements, we can get into what quantities of the above materials will be needed.

 

[Mutchinator]

Water source is well water -
pH 6.5
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Phosphate 0
GH 179
KH 71.6
TDS 150

 

[MitchM]

For your 1500g pond, I would add:
1 pound of calcium chloride
1 pound of baking soda
That should bring your GH up to about 250 ppm and your KH up to about 120 ppm.
That should drop your PH a bit.
Mix the calcium chloride in a separate container of water before adding it to the pond and add the calcium chloride 24 hours after adding the baking soda.
Check the 2 values again 24 hours later.