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  • Results 1 to 9 of 9

    Thread: Kohaku has lost buoyancy, 3 months now. Looks healthy

    1. #1
      DMon707 is offline Junior Member
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      Kohaku has lost buoyancy, 3 months now. Looks healthy

      My kohaku, Blondie, has been in my pond for 20 years. She seemed to lose buoyancy in early July, but otherwise has remained healthy. If there's the prospect of food, she comes swimming off the bottom and circles the pond. If it turns out there's no food or she gets fed she returns to the bottom, exact same spot (she's worn the algae off). Her fins are never clamped. She is strong. I've checked out her skin, but there are no problems, not even on her underside. It's like she accidentally swallowed a pound of buckshot. When not swimming hard, she just drops to bottom.

      All the other fish are fine. No new fish have been introduced into the pond in 6 years. Pond ph is 7.2. Water quality is fine.

      Oddly, this same thing happened last year, but I can't remember whether it was her or my showa. I was traveling and didn't pay it much mind. Within a month or so the fish was back to normal. Can anyone solve the mystery of the sinking fish?

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    2. #2
      ademink's Avatar
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      Likely a swim bladder issue. I have one who acts very similar. Swims like a bat out of hell, actually breaches all the way out of the water and then settles back down. We are going on year two like this. I don't know how long she will go on but she eats and seems fairly healthy besides not swimming normally. I bring her inside in the winter b/c she does tend toward ulcers in the colder months b/c she is sitting on the bottom of the pond so long (food for thought). This is not curable if this is what yours is suffering from.
      Andrea
      Koi Health Care Committee Member

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      I was afraid of that, but thank you for enlightening me, ademink. At least I don't have to worry about cold weather causing ulcers. I've noticed that when she dives, sometimes air bubbles escape her body. I might try water wings...

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      ademink's Avatar
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      lol I've tried to think of a variety of things. I have decided as long as she is eating and seems interested in being alive, I'll let her live.
      Andrea
      Koi Health Care Committee Member

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      She has been swimming up to eat when others are feeding, but then she doesn't seem to see the food, swims around desperately searching. So I bought her sinking food and put it right in front of her. She just stays put while the other fish eat the food. I don't think she's eaten in 3 months, but otherwise looks healthy except for a slight bulge on her left side. Possible intestinal blockage?

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      She may have a tumor. They have to REALLY fight to get up (and stay up) at the surface of the water to feed. I think it's exhausting for them. Mine swims like a bat out of hell, eats as fast as she can and returns to the same spot on the pond floor. She does better when I have her in a 300 gallon QT b/c she doesn't have to fight so hard to get to the surface. She will be going in there for the winter. I'll see how she fares in the spring and if she continues to live like she is now, I will euthanize her. She is so "healthy" but she is not living her best life. Really sad.

      You may want to pull yours and see if there is an ulcer where you see the bulge (underneath where you can't see). If she isn't eating and just has a bulging side, it may be time to kindly put her to rest.
      Andrea
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      Great news! Blondie began sucking up the new sinking food once she saw the other fish eating it. Three weeks later she's apparently cured, swimming around the pond without effort. Her swim bladder is functioning again. Was it the food? All the fish had been on an exclusive Sho-koi diet for decades, but I had recalled that some years ago Dr. Eric Johnson had criticized Sho-koi for not benefiting his kohakus sufficiently. The sinking food I got for Blondie was "Microbe Lift" with probiotics and stabilized vitamin C. If you have a sinking fish problem, you might consider trying it!

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      Great news.
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      Richard

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      Hi...I have a Kujaku with the same problem for the past 1.5 wks...Was fine prior...everything you posted about yours applies to mine so far. She had a little sore on bottom initially but healed after I treated her with some antibiotics and wound kote a few doses. I will go buy the Microbe lift sinking food you mentioned and hope for the best. My fish is 3 yrs old and really hope she can get better like yours....did the food come that way with Vit c or something u had to add to it?
      thanks

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