Simply Koi and More Koi

i have a koi that has broken the bone on top of its tail,and has a split in the tail. whats the best thing to do? ive used duncans fm1 but done nothing else, not sure on nex thing to do

tom

hi mate, i had this problem with a koi of mine,it broke 5 rays on its tail fin, at the time i got lee aka tommy two ponds round, too sort it.
we treated it with Mercurochrome. this has healed up well.but there is scaring,lee said this would possibly get back to normal,but could take a couple of years,as it will grow out, i feel this will never probably do this, but we saved a lovely fish,and at the end of the day
this is what it is all about.

there is a need for a photo of this before i can pass comment, i need to know the physical look of the break

dunc

cheers for the reply sam, thats one of my options the other is to glue it, had 2 mates round today who said it would be worth ago, its in my qt at the mo at 26c and with salt and proflavin due to a small bacterial prob.
duncan ive added a pic but it isnt the best pic dont really want to net it incase i split it more tom

Hi Tom,

It looks like the first part is damages and i think there will be two ways to go on this but will be interesting to see Dunc's answer as well especially before you try anything so here goes for my take on it :

1. If there is a way of sticking and may be even making a splint to hold it together and hope it can repair which IMO could be a tough one and a long shout and could even end up being more trouble than good.

2. Rip the damage part off and treat and with good water and some heat a good chance that it will after a while grow back although this will depend on the temperature and water and could take a couple of seasons for it to fully repair. May even perhaps depending on the pond for a dose of CT to help the wound and keep the bacterial count down a bit while it repairs.

There you go thats my head on the chopping block and hope i am not to far away with it

Hi Tom, thanks for the photo's they do help

This is not going to heal with just topicals its going to need some kind of surgical intervention

It’s going to need splinting quite substantially and the splint is going to need suturing in place this can be done with a wooden splint on the outside super-glued then sutured or as I have done in the past a hypodermic needle inserted down the peduncle and the end sutured to the fin. the needle being stainless with not react with the tissue

Both ways, it’s not a procedure for the novice and I have no way of knowing what your skill base is

Im happy to do this for you but you will need to bring the fish to me or you can get someone with the knowledge to do this for you

third option is to pair the affected fin off and topically treat its will never grow back to its former glory but its a relatively less intrusive way and easier way out if you can put up with the fish looking like John merrick

dunc

cheers for your input gaz, duncan im hoping i can glue it with it been when of my better fish. i have a friend coming to help me, with the wooden splint would i glue the bone first then suter the splint to the fin?

tom

which ever way serves to get the job done is my suggestion if you find it easier to glue the bone first do it that way if not the other just make sure its straight other wise you may as well pair the fin away now

you will need to suture it as well though

dunc

cheers for the advice duncan, i had her out today and decided it was best to cut the tail. hopefully she will make a good recovery

tom