new koi is sick, need help with diagnosis and treatment

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Ravn

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
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Okay, I bought this sick koi from the local Wal Mart :cry: cause I couldn't stand to let him die there (they refuse to treat sick fish). Anyhow, I know he has fin rot but there is something else wrong with him and I can't find any pics on the internet that look like what he has. Any help on what may be ailing him would be greatly appreciated. I have already treated the tank with melafix and was thinking about treating it with Quick Cure but I am also unsure if it safe to use both at the same time. I do know that if he doesn't get some help quick, he's not going to make it. He won't eat, but he does move around the tank normally. Please help. Thanks. Here are pics of the little guy. The pics aren't great but if you look close, it's almost as if his skin or scales are flaking off. BTW, the tank perameters are right on, he was put in the tank last night, is probably stressed a little but this seems more serious than a stress issue.
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I'd say its a bacteria infection initially started with poor water quality. Don't bother with quick cure, go for a bacterial cure to begin with. Does he have and bruise-like splotches on his gills? Do you have him with your other fish?
 
Thanks DepotFish for the advice, unfortunately though the koi died this morning while I was at work. Looks like I'll be making a trip back to Wal Mart for a refund and God help who ever is working when I get there.
 
I work at a walmart, and have been having continuous problems with koi who develop those exact symptons. It's horrible, and fast. I haven't been able to save many of them at all, but melafix seemed to help a lot. I dosed it heavy and changed the water daily. I've stopped ordering koi for a few weeks in hopes that whatever it was (had to be coming from the wholesaler, it doesn't infect other fish) would be over with. We'll see tommorow.

Sorry to hear about the fish.
 
A lot of farmed koi also carry koi herpes virus. The khv koi usually have bruises on their gills, but their skin can flake too.
 
Depot, I did alot of research on the KHV for that reason exactly. All the pictures I found are just of bruises on the fish and really messed up (bruised) gills.

Do you have a link that shows the "shedding"?
 
"The virus attacks epithelial cells of the koi, especially skin and gills. This results in excessive mucus shedding, dry feeling skin, dead gill cells (often attacked by fungus, parasites and bacteria). Affected koi do not eat, cannot breathe, and die a slow, painful death, often lasting weeks" http://www.barsons.com/khv.htm
Other websites describe non specific symptoms such as blisters on the scales and losing scales. I think that perhaps the skin problems are secondary to the khv.

I've seen the symptoms of the fish in this thread hundreds of times at walmart and in chain stores and I've never found any other explanation to why some of the koi have this and others in the tank are fine. I think if water quality were the problem, all fish would be affected, but I've yet to see a tank where all of the koi have this. It's perplexed me too.
 
Thanks Depot. IME, koi with the irridescent markings on them get it, and regular koi with no markings dont. I don't know if that's a normal thing to happen or not, but it's interesting. Thanks for the link, was a pretty interesting read. Atleast now I know what I'm dealing with for sure.
 
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