Medi-koi fish food

[khoifish89]

I just bought a bag of medi-koi fish food. I want to know have anyone tried this medicated koi fish food. According to the manufactured website, it is "excellent for treating tough Bacterial and Fungal diseases." I do notice that my sick kois that are laying on bottom of the pond are actually eating.

 

[jlk]

I have not personally used MediKoi (medigold instead) but it has an excellent mix of antibiotics in it. It should address most bacterial issues but as its an internal mix of antibiotics, I am honestly not sure how it's supposed to address external fungal issues. Have you caught one of your bottom sitting fish to inspect it to see if there are sores or other issues? Have you been seasonally treating for flukes?

 

[khoifish89]

thank you for mention fluke, i have notice that some of my koi have flukes. i do not know why i am having so much trouble.

 

[jlk]

thank you for mention fluke, i have notice that some of my koi have flukes. i do not know why i am having so much trouble.

Have you treated them with a course of prazi? What troubles do you seem to be having beyond bottom sitting (which can be the result of flukes as well)?

 

[khoifish89]

From ammonia spike, which the level is back to normal, somewhat of a massive fish lost, about 5 per day of fingerlings koi, tail rot , and many other problems I cannot remember.

 

[jlk]

Did you figure out the reason behind your ammonia spike? How do your parameters look now? An ammonia spike alone is enough to cause fish sickness and demise. If flukes have not been addressed, they should be as well. Please ask if we can be of further help!

 

[Sharpchick]

How large is the pond, and how many fish do you have in it?

A lot of pondkeepers I talked with (by email and on message boards) during this past winter recommend a round of prazi in the spring and also in the fall.

 

[khoifish89]

How large is the pond, and how many fish do you have in it?

A lot of pondkeepers I talked with (by email and on message boards) during this past winter recommend a round of prazi in the spring and also in the fall.

The above ground pond is 60 cubic feet, so about 450 gallon. I know I will get yelled at for this, I have about 35 fingerlings koi.

Did you figure out the reason behind your ammonia spike? How do your parameters look now? An ammonia spike alone is enough to cause fish sickness and demise. If flukes have not been addressed, they should be as well. Please ask if we can be of further help!

I just did a water test. Here are the results:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.50 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm
pH: 7.2

Also I have attach a photo of what my fingerlings look like. By the gill, a patch of white and it also look like hole in the head. I did treat the pond with pimafix and melafix, but I notice somewhat of an improvement but not that much. Still losing fish at an alarming rate. Just this morning about another 7 fingerlings.

 

[jlk]

Well, you already know that's ALOT of fish (even if they are juveniles) for a small pond so that's something your going to need to address. The problem with heavily overstocking is not only one of water quality issues but of significant disease.

For right now, I would start with water changes and use Pond Prime or regular Prime to help detox nitrite. I would also increase the salinity to atleast .1% for now. The pond also needs to be treated for flukes (praziquantel 5mg/l for atleast 3-4wks). Continue feeding the MK 3-4x a day for a minimum of two weeks in addition to the prazi. The MK may need to be extended to 30 days if there is not significant improvement. Unfortunately, you will likely continue to see fish loss until the water quality issues and disease issues are brought under control. Please ask if you have questions!

 

[khoifish89]

Does the picture I attached, is a sign of flukes? Also what kind of salt? Regular rock salt or aquarium salt.

 

[jlk]

I can not tell anything from the topview pic but its safe to assume flukes are a contributing factor here. Fluke damage sets fish up for secondary systemic infections as does water quality issues. The good news is flukes are easy to treat and prazi is very safe to use.

If you have plain rock salt (not treated with additional chemicals), this is fine to use. You want to dose at 3.8grams/gallon. So, for a 450g pond, this is 1,710grams (or 3lbs 12oz) of salt. Or approximately one large box of API aq salt (its @1800grams). It may sound like a lot but its really a very low dose if you compare it to the salinity of sw.

 

[khoifish89]

I can not tell anything from the topview pic but its safe to assume flukes are a contributing factor here. Fluke damage sets fish up for secondary systemic infections as does water quality issues. The good news is flukes are easy to treat and prazi is very safe to use.

If you have plain rock salt (not treated with additional chemicals), this is fine to use. You want to dose at 3.8grams/gallon. So, for a 450g pond, this is 1,710grams (or 3lbs 12oz) of salt. Or approximately one large box of API aq salt (its @1800grams). It may sound like a lot but its really a very low dose if you compare it to the salinity of sw.

What you are saying is that all I need is prazi?

 

[jlk]

Prazi (5mg/l for atleast 3-4wks) will address flukes. The MK and salt hopefully will bring the bacterial infection under control but it may take some time. Water changes will be must along with a good conditioner to bring your nitrites under control and help improve water quality so there are not additional issues. Please ask if you have questions!

 

[khoifish89]

okay, I found a picture on web that look exactly what my koi have when they died or about to die. It says that because of pH crash. How do I bring my pH back to "normal" for a koi pond.

 

[Sharpchick]

Water changes. Don't add more and more "stuff" to your water.

And getting rid of your overstock.

 

[jlk]

okay, I found a picture on web that look exactly what my koi have when they died or about to die. It says that because of pH crash. How do I bring my pH back to "normal" for a koi pond.

You said your ph is @7.2- is this around what it is normally? The pics you posted that said it was the result of a ph crash are possible when the ph drops from the 7-8 range down to 6 or less. This isn't the case with your pond unless the ph normally sits in the high 8 range (8.6+). You mentioned having ammonia spike and you have high nitrites now as well. There is nothing that indicates a ph crash so please do not try to adjust anything beyond water changes (ie, ph chemicals).

 

[khoifish89]

I did a water change this afternoon about 30%.

 

[khoifish89]

I will do another water change and water testing this morning.

 

[khoifish89]

I meant to ask this, but i keep on forgetting. Beside qt koi for a week or so. Is there an additative to add to the pond to prevent disease from transferring from the koi to the koi that is already in the pond or vise-versa?.

 

[jlk]

I meant to ask this, but i keep on forgetting. Beside qt koi for a week or so. Is there an additative to add to the pond to prevent disease from transferring from the koi to the koi that is already in the pond or vise-versa?.

Honestly, no, there isn't. The best means for preventing disease is strict quarantine practices (minimum of 3-4wks), proper stocking, proper maintenance, healthy water and a good diet. If a fish becomes sick during qt, the qt process does not start again until he is healthy. Then you begin again at day 1 of qt.