What is your KH?
What is your KH?
Andrea
Koi Health Care Committee Member
Ok, I'll stop participating.
Andrea
Koi Health Care Committee Member
Last edited by kevin32; 12-19-2018 at 10:16 PM.
So I've been keeping koi for 4 year-ish now. Seen my fish flash 100s of times over the years. Retrospective, I've been able trace it down to water quality and environment. A little tweek here and there my koi always recovered. Just a week a ago I counted my Yami flash 19x over a short period. So I'm tweeking again . At times it is the koi that doesn't know how to flash (perhaps to get rid of parasites) that end up with a skin condition. Of course you know fish at times flash to get rid of themselves of parasites. And of course you know parasites are part of the normal flora, right? Koi don't have arms to scratch themselves with so they scratch themselves against objects (soft ones I hope). Never have I needed to treat my pond with proform-malachite-pp-whatever (probably never will). Did salt once or twice, never again. But who knows. When I get worried about flashing, I look for any signs of inflammatory response against parasites on their skin. I take note of their slime coat, cropping of their scales, and of any redness or veining. A flashlight helps focus on certain areas for inspection. A mirror placed underneath them help when inspecting their bellies, pecs and chin areas. If you a see spot on their skin that is suspicious, focus on it, tweet your water quality and conditions here and there, and monitor this spot over several days/weeks to make sure it is not getting worst.
Video of belly and chin inspection (sorry for the poor quality vid from my 5 yo iphone):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cvUDmZORao
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. ---- Marthe Troly-Curtin
KoiRun on YouTube, latest video:
https://youtu.be/72iiuRXY2Wk
Dude fish dont just flash for no reason. Lets be upfront here. The so called spawn never happened..was a big temp change which made the fish want to spawn. Again the koi did not spawn. Maybe some stress hormones
Many biochemical reactions in living cells, namely enzymatic ones, are temperature and ph (KH) dependent. Genes have to express certain enzymes to cope with these environment changes for proper biochemical functions (necessary for survival). When genes have to express these enzymes on a daily basis it takes a lot of energy on a daily basis. This is a cause of stress on a daily basis. This is why Ph and temperature swings must be kept at a minimum.
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. ---- Marthe Troly-Curtin
KoiRun on YouTube, latest video:
https://youtu.be/72iiuRXY2Wk
I'm always striving for better water conditions...
Aren't we all?
If you are saying your water condition is perfect then what I'd like more than ever is to follow a particular fish of yours that you've grown over the years (not just months) that never died, lost colour, deformed etc... Until then I can't really take you seriously, sorry about that.
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. ---- Marthe Troly-Curtin
KoiRun on YouTube, latest video:
https://youtu.be/72iiuRXY2Wk
Hi headman, I’m very happy to see you! So Koi with ‘passion and parasites’ has led you on a merry chase and now sadly you’re just left to deal with the parasites. (Tell your boys ‘better luck next time’ ).
Is ademink helping you via PM’s?
Check all of your water parameters. I don’t remember seeing any notation about a problem with any of those but aside from parasites or pH fluctuations, sometimes sensitive Koi will flash with the influx of small amounts of ammonia or nitrite.
The water parameters are always the first thing to check.
Salt is good, but be careful if / when you decide on other treatments because some are “salt-sensitive” - don’t do well with salt in a pond. Keep us posted!
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. ---- Marthe Troly-Curtin
KoiRun on YouTube, latest video:
https://youtu.be/72iiuRXY2Wk
I haven’t noticed any flashing in the last few day but will continue to watch them close. Our water temperature today is 61... it will drop into the 40’s the next few nights. Here is a underwater video to inspect them. I seen something on one of thier tail fins at the 1:45 mark (one with yellow nose) Please let me know if you see anything or can tell thier sex. I believe the white one with the orange head is a female. Thank you
https://youtu.be/Ar8S05bQbVU
Thanks headman,
I enjoyed watching this nice clear video of your inspection on my 4K TV. I really wish people share more of these kinds of videos. Nice clear water, nice fish, fins are in nice shape. Normal curious behaviour on their part. I agree this is something to keep an eye on:
Last edited by KoiRun; 12-23-2018 at 06:14 PM.
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. ---- Marthe Troly-Curtin
KoiRun on YouTube, latest video:
https://youtu.be/72iiuRXY2Wk