Treat me right, treat me good

Author: Richard Guest of Pets Parade Team

Tips on successful koi keeping

The successful treatment of lesions or ulcers on Koi depends on identifying the origin of the problem and correcting the underlying cause as well as treating the lesion itself. Broadly speaking there are three types of lesion that are visible on the body of a Koi.
The first are those caused by physical damage. These may arise from poor netting or handling, contact with sharp objects in the pool or a Koi jumping out of the pool. The second type is where a koi is suffering from septicaemia and the ulcer on the surface is an external sign of the damage being caused by pathogenic bacteria in the body. Surface damage may also be inflicted by parasites. Any of these wounds may develop a secondary infection with bacteria and fungus.

Certain aspects of the treatment are the same in all cases but there are some important differences to bear in mind if a successful cure is to take place. So how should the Koi
keeper respond when faced with a fish that has an ulcer or other surface wound? It is best to take a logical, step by step approach and to write down all the procedures as
you carry them out. This will help in evaluating the effectiveness of any treatment and will be of great help if you decide to call in professional assistance at a later stage.

The first step should be to test the water conditions in the pond. No miracle cure in a bottle will rescue your fish if their environment is poisonous. Ammonia and nitrite
should both be at zero and nitrate below 100 ppm, pH ideally should be between 7.5 and 8.5 and needs to be above 7 for members of the carp family. However it is more important that the pH is stable, even if it is less than perfect, than for it to be fluctuating wildly - for this reason I do not recommend chemical "pH adjusters". If conditions are poor then changes with dechlorinated water should be carried out to bring about immediate relief.
Improvements in filtration, a reduction of stocking levels or simply giving less food should correct this in the longer term.

Once the water quality has been dealt with the next step is to identify any other problems. Just one fish with damage may be the result of a physical injury or an isolated infection. In this case, if the wound is very minor it may be best to observe the fish over a few days and see if healing is taking place naturally. Netting the fish may cause additional stress and in good water conditions a superficial injury will often heal quite satisfactorily without intervention.

If there are several fish showing signs of disease then it is very likely that they have a bacterial or parasite infection (often triggered by poor water conditions). Koi that have an advanced internal bacterial infection will often exhibit reddening of the skin and haemorrhaging in the fins and will look as if the infection is "erupting out" from the inside.

If you have Koi that are showing these signs it is best to call in expert help. It is extremely difficult to cure a systemic bacterial infection without the use of antibiotics. These require an experienced professional to correctly administer them. There are several sources of help: vets or Aquatic consultants, specialist Koi dealers or your local Koi society may all be able
to offer assistance.

It is best to seek help if you are unsure on any of the treatment methods outlined in this article. One word of caution, if you decide to call in a vet be sure to find one that has experience in this area, as the standard veterinary training covers very little on the treatment of fish.

Koi that are suffering from a parasitic infection will usually exhibit some or all of the following signs: scratching on the bottom or sides of the pool, rapid gill movements or gasping at the surface, grey slime over the body, or clamped fins.

The only way to identify for sure if parasites are present is to take mucus scrapes from the fish and examine them under the microscope. If the scrapes reveal a parasite infection then the pool should be treated with the appropriate remedy to remove them.

Serious damage or an ulcer that is not showing signs of healing will require topical treatment in addition to any pool treatment or antibiotic injection. Ensure that you
have all the necessary equipment to hand before netting the Koi and a soft flat surface to lay the Koi on. With a large ulcer it is best to anaesthetise the fish as treatment
may be prolonged. Minor treatment may be carried out with the Koi wrapped in a wet towel and held securely by a helper. Once the Koi is laid out on the treatment surface it should be checked all over, quite often further ulcers will be found that were not apparent from
above. A wet towel should be left around the fish with just the area to be treated left exposed. The wound or ulcer needs to be thoroughly cleaned and any dead material removed.

You need to be quite vigorous at this point to ensure the area is properly cleaned. Tweezers are useful to remove dead scales and a wooden scraper is very effective if dragged across the area to take away any blood and fluid. Dead skin should be carefully cut away from the area around the wound and the area should be sprayed with a sterilising agent as this is carried out. There are several purpose made treatments for this such as Tamodine, Roccal
or Wound Clean. The area should then be dabbed dry with kitchen towel and sprayed with G7 or Wound Seal. The undamaged skin around the treatment area should be kept covered at all times to prevent any treatment getting onto the mucus. Do not allow any of the sprays to
get onto the gills or eyes. It is extremely important to dry the area before applying any
spray or cream, and also between applications, as they will not adhere properly to a wet surface.

The correct post treatment care is extremely important. Koi with an open wound are more susceptible to disease and will also have difficulty maintaining the correct osmotic
balance between their body fluids and the water. Adding cooking salt to the water at the rate of 1/2 oz per gallon is extremely beneficial and a pool treatment of Acriflavine
will help prevent bacterial infection. (Make sure that any course of parasite treatment has first been completed and removed from the water before adding further chemicals).
The fish should be closely monitored to see if the injury is clearing up. The edge of a wound or ulcer that is still infected will have an angry red appearance as healing
takes place this will change to a clear or white colour as new skin starts to grow. It is best not to continually catch and re-treat the Koi once healing starts to take place as this will damage the new skin. Please remember that very little healing will take place
in cold water conditions. An injury picked up in the autumn orwinter may not heal until
the following spring in an unheated pond even with the best treatment.

The ideal situation is to place the Koi into a separate, heated treatment pond where it can be easily observed and re-treated if necessary. Raising the water temperature up to
20°C or more will dramatically speed up the healing process. However you should only place Koi into a hospital pond if it is of a large enough size and has a mature filter
system. Improvising something on the spur of the moment will usually lead to a deterioration in water conditions and a wound that becomes worse rather than improving.

Given the correct care even very large ulcers can be treated and the koi go on to make a full recovery. But I hope this article has shown that any treatment must take account of the whole picture and address the complete pond environment as well as the specific problem.
Health problems rarely occur in isolation and time spent on eliminating the underlying causes will repay you with happy healthy Koi.

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Treat me right, treat me good

Tips on successful koi keeping

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