Flesh eating disease

[Boo Boo]

I need Help.... Please
I have a 3 month old tank (30 gals) I had 5 koi till today. I now have 4. One of my fish got like a sore above his right eye, it was like an open wound. It got worse and worse, it was like it was being eaten away slowly. Finally it made it to the bone and he died. I have been treating the water with MELAFIX , but now I see like reddish sore spots on all of my other fish. Have you ever heard of a flesh eating disease like this? And how can I stop it?

 

[Capt.Gorilla]

Welcome to aquarium advice.

Are all the sores just above their eyes? what size are the koi, how often do you change water and how much? do you know the ammonia/nitrate/ph of your tank?
this information will help us figure out what the problem is.

 

[azn dreamer]

Maybe its a parasite infection?

 

[Boo Boo]

I have a big test kit, I test the water and all test come back good. I have found out that the the disease is calle "Hole in Head or Velvet" using Coppersafe right now any other med's good for this?

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya Boo Boo and welcome to AquariumAdvice.

Capt.Gorilla asks some very important questions. What are the water parameters? What size tank? How long have you had the koi? These questions may help point to a cause of your fish's death.

Hole in the head can occur in goldfish, but its pretty rare. It usually affects cichlids in the freshwater tank. Its quite possible your koi do not have HITH, but another type of infection. Keep a very close eye on your others; if the red areas do not start to reduce soon, its likely they have a bacterial infection and you will need to treat with an antibiotic instead. Kanacyn is one of the more effective meds out there atm. Also, keeping the tank water as clean as possible is a must, or else treating with meds won't be effective as poor water parameters will continue to stress the fish and reduce their immune systems.