Thought all problems were gone... not :(

[MikeWh]

Hi, after I must admit I thought pond problems & parasite stuff was way in the past, but no Just when you think you've cracked it.. I'm not sure but I may have to treat the pond blind on this one despite knowing it's not really the best thing to do.

Pond is still
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
PH 8.2
Common carp with heavy mucus layer, sometimes hanging under venturi, sometimes hanging just below the surface espesially in direct sun, breathing laboured.
I don't have a QT at all.
Scrapes show nothing at all & I got 5 slides of this fish alone & spent ages looking at them. Scraped 3 of the koi aswell & not a hint of a parasite.
Any other ideas welcome as all koi are 100% normal & I'm totally clueless from here on. bloomin hobby
Mike

[Duncan]

hi mike

how long has this fish been behaiving like this and is it just this one fish?

next have you tried looking at the gills and maybe doing a gill byopsy ?

look for necrosis and excess mucus blocking the gill off

dunc

[MikeWh]

Hi Duncan & thanks for the reply.

Yes it is only this fish, & all koi are fine.

gill byopsy

That sounds a bit beyond me.

With regard to noticable gill problems, I really did not have the best light last night mainly because I can catch the fish easier that way.

I read with interest your explanation on fish becomming egg bound though, because I'm sure the carp has had a change of shape although my wife does not agree.

This carp is probably the oldest fish in the pond, 4-5 years old & has been at 20.5 for ages, obviously I could be barking up the wrong tree with the egg bound thing.

Would be a shame to loose it though even if it is just a common.

Sorry I just re read your post & missed your question, it's been off food for about a week, but I only really noticed the thick mucus layer yesterday, this fish has been off food befor & usually gets back into it. It's had patches of mucus befor that I have asked about on here but this just goes away normally.

Just to add I'm going to net it again shortly for a gill inspection although I'm not sure what to look for.
Mike

[Duncan]

ok Mike

your l;ooking for this mess see pic inculded wihch is rotten or rotting gill

or excess mucus over the red areas of the gill

while you have it out do a salt bath of 4oz per gallon salt for 10 minutes these will help clear anything either over its gills or on its body mucus wise

then see if she perks up

dunc

[MikeWh]

Thanks Duncan, I'm not reaching for the chemicals yet, as you sugested I'll give the salt bath a go, I'll just have to go & get some, I'll let you know how it goes
Mike

[MikeWh]

Hi..It's stll not a happy fish, it was not overly impressed with being netted & bled quite a lot. Gills looked normal although the very outer part of the gill cover seemed a lot lighter than normal on one side, the part on the edge that seals the gill while closed if you know what I mean?..
With all koi 100% fine I think with this carp I'm going to have to let nature take it's course, I'm still under the impression that area around & forward of the vent is very swolen compaired to normal & seems soft.
The whole fish is a much lighter colour than normal, not sure if thats relavent to thick mucus or stress or both.
Not sure what else I can do for it other than raise the heat, as I said no QT set up at all So it could be curtains for this fella Mike