Context:
-the koi pond is actually my mom's but she's too stressed over this so I'm looking for help for her
-8,000 gallon pond with bog
-28 fish total
-there was another koi dead (it's cold where we are so no one's really gone out) for at least a week
-puppy (the fish), was upside down when I found him and is in a quarantine tub
-is on his side and not swimming correctly
-i put melafix in the tub
-has that weird thing jutting out about an 1/8 inch
-eyes are cloudy
-scales are similar to dropsy but without the swelling
-the fish has weird scales (partially skin like a Japanese koi, pa
rtial regular scales). they seem to jut out of the fish
Typically, healthy fish get sick from poor water quality. Often times at the beginning hobbyist only check the ammonia and nitrite and then assume everything is okay. However, as time goes by the KH (carbonate alkalinity) in the water gets consumed by the nitrifying bacteria and goes to zero. When the KH goes to zero the nitrogen cycle stops and before you know it your koi get sick. The first step in solving the mystery is to check the water quality (ammonia, nitrite, and KH) and then treat the illness. Its either going to be bacterial or parasitic. Bacterial problems can be solved with Medicated koi food, anti bacterial injections, or a bacterial bath. A bacterial bath should be done in a quarantine tank. However, your fish may recover with out any treatment with good water quality.
I'm going to check the water quality when I get home but we've had this pond well established for almost 6 years and had no fish get sick. As far as I know the fish isnt doing much better(almost upside down, can't move). My main concern is what is in the fish that's jutting out. Could you recommend any specific medicines other than melafix (what I'm using currently). We've also gotten a lot of rain recently, could that play a part in anything? Thank you for the help so far and sorry for the choppy sentences I'm in a time crunch currently
I couldn't really see the scales in the pictures but if he looked a little like a "pine cone" it can be
from kidney's failing. To help with osmotic regulation you can raise the salt level to .9% to
help regulate water. During cold times I've also read that bringing them inside and slowly raising
the water temp can help them. Better pictures will help others diagnose though.
Imo melafix does little but make the water smell good.
Rain can cause the pH to drop do to the acid in it if the KH level isn't high enough to stabilize it.
If you don't have them I'd get API test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, (high range) pH, and KH.
If you raise the level of salt, a digital meter is great to have.