Fed up of loosing Koi

[DaveB]

I have had an on going problem with loosing 1 maybe two koi a year of which I can,t put my finger on. last year I had a problem with gill flukes and treated a few times with CT and then flubenol 3 times in total. Unfortunately one of my koi was sitting on the bottom and I lost her a couple of months later after taking several scrapes I found nothing. During this period all the other koi came through the treatments, without too much bother.
This year I have lost my large sanke which in the past I successfully treated the wound underneath her. Unfortunaely she had been sitting on the bottom again inbetween feeding and I did not want to go through the whole process of repairing her again, so I put her to sleep.Now having found one or two koi with one or two gill flukes and costia I have carried out one treatment of flubenol and two treatments of M&F all supplied by Duncan. After a couple of weeks where the koi looked a bit quiet they have all recovered well and eating as if there is no tommorrow. All except one koi. I have lifted her and scraped and found nothing but found her skin/scales to be rough. I am just wondering what effect formalin has on metalic koi and perhaps she just need a bit more time to get over the treatments and restore her mucus.
I have also been wondering whether these problems the last few years are p.H. related. I still have problems with this and on very sunny days is still swinging 0.4.and perhaps this could cause rough skin and my shiro looking a bit stressed.
Best regards Dave

[Duncan]

Dave

you sound fed up mate, but before we go racing off in all directions what is your KH and GH value and do you have any sign of green water or algae you know the stuff is your blanket weed under control, also whats the O2 in the pond

we have been having this discussion and I said flubenol has just been overused and the fluke are very resistant to it

yes doitsu fish are more susceptible to react to chemicals but that said we still have to use them we have little choice>




dunc

[DaveB]

Duncan Thanks for the very quick response. I have gone to what I think are great lengths to reduce my p.H. swing. Last year when I had the gill fluke outbreak I am not saying this is the cause but the p.H at the time was swinging everywhere, as much as 0.7 between morning and night. The koi seemed to settle down after increasing the k.H to 5 d.H and after the CT high dose.Looked 100% better. This year prior to removing the covers I fitted two large shade sails and ensured the first signs of blanketweed was killed off and treated with ecopure gold about 3 weeks ago. I have also fitted an extra 30 watts of UV. I also fitted an extra tier to my shower and replaced the media with BHM and doubled the flow rate over the shower to 5-6000gph in the hope of increasing the amount of air going into the pond. I have managed to reduce the p.H swing but on very sunny days it still around 0.4. My K.H is currently 3.5 d.H but I have increased it further by adding bicarb but the swing is still there.Its not untilI I lock the p.H to 8.3 with a K.H. of 9 and above. My g.H is currently 6 d.H. Both K.H and G.H are maintained by adding naturashell and hydrolite. Without these my k.H and G.H. from the tap is 1.5 and 4 respectively
Duncan can you remember a few years ago I used to run RO. I even brought the g.H to below the k.H and the swing was still there. I no longer run a bubble bead so only have two square vortexes full of K1 and the bacci so believe I don,t have an overactive filter but could be wrong. The o2 levels are always at saturation for any given temp. Orp levels are 260 for a p.H of 7.9. At lower p.H ORP levels are as high as 320mv. I don,t think I am overstocked with 14 koi. one or two small ones but majority are 65cm+. I am at a loss as to whats going on. Best regards Dave

[Duncan]

dave im gonna have a think about this as im getting my stuff ready for work tomorrow I have been off with depression for 10 weeks and tomorrow is my first day back

one thing I don't like, all this junk your throwing in the pond naturashell and hydrolite, ecopure, bicarb geez its like a witches cauldron

you know just thinking out loud here I would junk all this stuff and let the pH bottom out the same as your tap water and just see what happens, do the fish pick up? are the swings worse or better?
you have water most would kill for and every one has pH swings its a fact of life high in the afternoon low first thing in the morning

its time to start thinking outside the box

dunc

[DaveB]

Duncan, I hear what you are saying and I have thought about that too. I am going on holliday on thursday, just for a few days and will be back on monday. I will leave thing as they are until I get back and will probably do as you say and see how the swing is and the koi react. perhpas this time the swing may not be too bad with all the other changes I have made.Glad to hear you are feeling better. perhaps getting back into the hobby might help you in some way. I know it keeps me going and don,t know what I would do if I ever gave it up( Thought about that too) now that I am retired and lost my dog after 14 years. Its like cutting off your arm. Best regards Dave

[DaveB]

Sorry Guys for sounding so dishearted. I am back of holliday and after doing a couple of waterchanges ( thought it would be a good idea as no maintenance was done while I was away) Koi are looking pretty good and all are eating. The p.h. K.H. and G.H. have all crept up a little while I have been away so have taken Duncan advice and decided to remove all the oystershell and hydrolite.I will slowly bring down the above parameters so watch this space. Best Regards Dave

[Geoff9]

Hi Dave
Just read through this thread, sorry your having problems mate, if you are ever my way you can always pop by for a chat and see my pond, I think you have my address.

Regards Geoff

[DaveB]

geoff Thanks for your input.I have sent you a private message. Best regards Dave