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  • Results 1 to 7 of 7

    Thread: What the heck is this?

    1. #1
      foothill999 is offline Senior Member
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      What the heck is this?

      Today I went to backflush and clean skimmer and for the first time seen dead mostiquo fish at first thought maybe skimmer finally got 1 but apon further review i seen some others barely swimming and can see attached near there tail what looks like a white clear substance with specks in it, is this a parasite? Possiably a fungus? I am assuming its also attaching to my 6 large koi but water recently is getying cloudy and its hard to see them and they have been acting weird laying on bottom more then usual.

      Water parameters are all normal. Temp 55 degrees. Will salting the pond help? I have some malachite green on hand.
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      Last edited by foothill999; 02-02-2019 at 06:10 PM.

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    2. #2
      richtoybox's Avatar
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      That appears to be fungus. No telling if it was there when the fish was alive or if it came post mortem. Can you check your water quality numbers, preferably with drip or meter tests, ammonia, nitrite, pH, and KH. Most issues with health start with water quality and it is cheaper to fix than throwing a bunch of expensive chemicals at them when that is the last thing they need.
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    3. #3
      foothill999 is offline Senior Member
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      Thank you, this fish was still alive when i scooped him up from the pond, he are swimming head up and struggling. I did get another dead one from skimmer basket and he appeared to have a tiny white thin thing attached to his belly. I pulled it off and looked under microscope it appears to have a sharp anchor like appearance at one end and a split w like tail, it was as thin as a slice of hair and about .5 inches long. I am guessing an anchor worm..... i do have plants in my pond. Water was tested again and it appears perfectand normal as always.
      Ph 8.0 to 8.2
      Ammonia 0
      Nitrite 0
      Nitrate 20 source water is 20 as well
      Kh not tested but always perfect....
      Water temp 55


      I added salt to salinity of .3, i have potasium permagate on hand. Have read alot on it pond is 1300 gallons was thinking of dosing it with 2tsp mixture. Does that sound like a good choice to cover all my basis?


      Quote Originally Posted by RichToyBox View Post
      That appears to be fungus. No telling if it was there when the fish was alive or if it came post mortem. Can you check your water quality numbers, preferably with drip or meter tests, ammonia, nitrite, pH, and KH. Most issues with health start with water quality and it is cheaper to fix than throwing a bunch of expensive chemicals at them when that is the last thing they need.

    4. #4
      icu2's Avatar
      icu2 is offline Administrator ~ WWKC President
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      Sounds like anchor worm... Dimilin should get rid of them.

      https://www.ebay.com/p/Dimilin-x-Koi...7632428&chn=ps
      --Steve



      Koiphen 2021 Koi Person of the Year!

    5. #5
      richtoybox's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by foothill999 View Post
      Thank you, this fish was still alive when i scooped him up from the pond, he are swimming head up and struggling. I did get another dead one from skimmer basket and he appeared to have a tiny white thin thing attached to his belly. I pulled it off and looked under microscope it appears to have a sharp anchor like appearance at one end and a split w like tail, it was as thin as a slice of hair and about .5 inches long. I am guessing an anchor worm..... i do have plants in my pond. Water was tested again and it appears perfectand normal as always.
      Ph 8.0 to 8.2
      Ammonia 0
      Nitrite 0
      Nitrate 20 source water is 20 as well
      Kh not tested but always perfect....
      Water temp 55


      I added salt to salinity of .3, i have potasium permagate on hand. Have read alot on it pond is 1300 gallons was thinking of dosing it with 2tsp mixture. Does that sound like a good choice to cover all my basis?
      Because of the strength of the PP, it is much better to measure by weight, using 1 gram per 100 gallons is 2.64ppm and a kitchen measuring teaspoon holds approximately 6grams struck off level, so the teaspoon should treat about 800 gallons at 2ppm, which is the recommended dosing, though due to organics in the pond, it is generally stated that one gram per 100 gallons is a good dose. But the household teaspoon is not as accurate as measuring with a gram scale to 0.1 or 0.01grams. If you are absolutely sure of the 1300 gallons, then 2 level measuring teaspoons would be a good starting place. If the 1300 gallons is determined by length, width and depth calculation, I would not risk it, as those calculations are off by 25% to 50% very often. The disparity is with sides that are not vertical, shelves, rocks, etc.
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    6. #6
      lukef's Avatar
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      all these guesses are guesses.
      But I don't think it is a normal "measurable" water quality issue.
      The fish are falling apart because of something else. My best guess from looking at that one fish is that either you have had cold water temperature swings with uneaten food left in the pond. That is a total guess. I am gonna go back and look and see where you live.... Yep. Merced is 45 degrees right now. Right in the wheelhouse for a Cold water fungus to grow, and the immune system of a koi to be slow.
      "Those aren't poodles. They're Dobermans with afros."

    7. #7
      foothill999 is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by lukef View Post
      all these guesses are guesses.
      But I don't think it is a normal "measurable" water quality issue.
      The fish are falling apart because of something else. My best guess from looking at that one fish is that either you have had cold water temperature swings with uneaten food left in the pond. That is a total guess. I am gonna go back and look and see where you live.... Yep. Merced is 45 degrees right now. Right in the wheelhouse for a Cold water fungus to grow, and the immune system of a koi to be slow.

      I think old food and it did appear to be fungus was the issue, i have 2 flag stone shelf that have sit half in and half out of water and they are terriable food collectors, with the cold weather i have been terriable at keeping them clean. I will be putting up some plants or something to block the food collecton on them. The kois are hanging 3.5ft deep and its hard to tell but they dont appear to have any noticable fungus. I have sated water for now and when weather is a bit better i will do pp treatment just to cover all my basis. Thank you all

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