Can You Handle This?
Koi breeding is not for the faint-hearted or the casual hobbyist. This is a complex project that includes the proper koi pond construction, maintenance of koi water and temperature of the habitat, selection of koi fish food, and preventing koi disease. Koi disease can happen to the best and well-tended breed anytime.
Why Koi Get Sick
Fish, like humans, get sick and like humans, they are afflicted with different kinds of ailments that can be caused by parasites, dirty pond water, and wrong feeding. Koi can also get stressed and eventually succumb to koi disease right in the koi pond.
Common stressors are high ammonia levels, low oxygen levels, poor water quality, crowding, parasites, too low or high water temperature, and presence of toxic chemicals in the water, sharp pool edges, and inadequate nutrient. Fish handling can also stress the fish.
Bacterial Infections
The common disease agents are bacteria, viruses and fungus, and parasites that thrive in the water. Bacterial infections cause a high rate of koi mortality. These can be treated with antibiotics and salt used as a dip, injection, topical application, or mixed with fishmeal. Parasites are manually removed and fungal infections are treated anti-fungal remedies applied as a dip or bath.
Cotton wool disease appears like white tufts of wool around the mouth. The tufts spread to the body. This occurs because of improper fish handling, poor water quality, and the lowered immune system of the fish due to stress and inadequate diet.
Fungal Infections
Fungal spores can grow on any part of the Koi’s body. It also invades the gills and starts to destroy the tissues with the juices they secrete. Koi with fungal gill infections stays at the water surface to gulp air.
Viral Infections
Koi get the pox too. The carp pox is not deadly but it makes the fish ugly because the nodules appear on the koi’s body. This occurs during cold weather and clears up but the growth of the koi is retarded.
Fish herpes can strike anywhere and koi is not exempted. The fish appears lethargic and a thick slime coats the fish. If the gills are inspected, white and yellow patches will be observed. Isolate the fish and apply heat treatment for a week followed up with treatment prescribed by a koi expert. Do not attempt to treat the fish with anything that make the condition worse.
Parasites
The anchor worm is the dreaded parasite that can grow as long as 12mm. The worm burrows under a scale with its tail and body hanging out. The young worm takes up place in the gills and when they mate, the female worm transfer to the body where it feeds. To remove the worm, this must be done with tweezers or the parasite is soaked with a strong solution of potassium permanganate solution. Upon contact with the solution, the worm releases its grip.
These are a few samples of koi diseases you have to deal with if you are going to breed koi. To handle koi diseases, take the time to familiarize yourself with each and their specific treatment.
Return to Top page Koi Disease
Koi breeding is not for the faint-hearted or the casual hobbyist. This is a complex project that includes the proper koi pond construction, maintenance of koi water and temperature of the habitat, selection of koi fish food, and preventing koi disease. Koi disease can happen to the best and well-tended breed anytime.
Why Koi Get Sick
Fish, like humans, get sick and like humans, they are afflicted with different kinds of ailments that can be caused by parasites, dirty pond water, and wrong feeding. Koi can also get stressed and eventually succumb to koi disease right in the koi pond.
Common stressors are high ammonia levels, low oxygen levels, poor water quality, crowding, parasites, too low or high water temperature, and presence of toxic chemicals in the water, sharp pool edges, and inadequate nutrient. Fish handling can also stress the fish.
Bacterial Infections
The common disease agents are bacteria, viruses and fungus, and parasites that thrive in the water. Bacterial infections cause a high rate of koi mortality. These can be treated with antibiotics and salt used as a dip, injection, topical application, or mixed with fishmeal. Parasites are manually removed and fungal infections are treated anti-fungal remedies applied as a dip or bath.
Cotton wool disease appears like white tufts of wool around the mouth. The tufts spread to the body. This occurs because of improper fish handling, poor water quality, and the lowered immune system of the fish due to stress and inadequate diet.
Fungal Infections
Fungal spores can grow on any part of the Koi’s body. It also invades the gills and starts to destroy the tissues with the juices they secrete. Koi with fungal gill infections stays at the water surface to gulp air.
Viral Infections
Koi get the pox too. The carp pox is not deadly but it makes the fish ugly because the nodules appear on the koi’s body. This occurs during cold weather and clears up but the growth of the koi is retarded.
Fish herpes can strike anywhere and koi is not exempted. The fish appears lethargic and a thick slime coats the fish. If the gills are inspected, white and yellow patches will be observed. Isolate the fish and apply heat treatment for a week followed up with treatment prescribed by a koi expert. Do not attempt to treat the fish with anything that make the condition worse.
Parasites
The anchor worm is the dreaded parasite that can grow as long as 12mm. The worm burrows under a scale with its tail and body hanging out. The young worm takes up place in the gills and when they mate, the female worm transfer to the body where it feeds. To remove the worm, this must be done with tweezers or the parasite is soaked with a strong solution of potassium permanganate solution. Upon contact with the solution, the worm releases its grip.
These are a few samples of koi diseases you have to deal with if you are going to breed koi. To handle koi diseases, take the time to familiarize yourself with each and their specific treatment.
