Senior Member
I have always been careful about putting chemicals in my pond for issues like red fins or pumps on skin. Recently, I saw a product called Koi Pharma which seems to be a kind of koi food used for bacteria treatment. Has anyone tried this before or somthing similar? Would you say it is safer or less safe than medicating a pond?
Here is the link to the product:
https://koimarket.com/products/koi-m...d=koi%20pharma
Senior Member
What are you trying to treat?
Administrator
If it is a food, it is probably an antibiotic laced food. The problem with those foods is the fish that need the antibiotic are generally off their feed, and not interested, to they don't get the antibiotic needed. Topicals or injectibles are much superior when antibiotics are needed specifically treating the affected fish. Antibiotics that are not consumed are being used up in the killing of good bio filter bacteria as well as any water borne bacteria.
Administrator
Interesting. Popped up in my feed too. Will research.
Senior Member
I moved my fishes to a new pond last year. Only 2 of them had raised red/pink pumps on their backs because the old pond was overstocked. When they came to the new pond, several more was affected but after months of constant water changes in small amounts, the water parameters have stablized much more and most of the fishes have gotten better. It's just a few that still have the bumps that come and go and one of the goldfishes have red streaks on their tail. So was wondering if I should try this.Originally Posted by fly4koi
Last edited by WLcreations; 09-25-2023 at 04:33 PM.
Senior Member
I see. I haven't tried topicals or injectibles before but would really like to learn more. Do you have any recommendations on the medication product or good tutorials for the procedure I can reference? I used to lookup info on Youtube but have noticed that, back in the day, only people who are genuine experts or hobbiest who want to help others posts videos but nowadays there are so many people who just want to get views, I'm afraid of using the wrong source for information. I have tried some of the things they show online and didn't get good results so wanted to be safe especially when handling the fishes. The fishes who are affected have been eating and swimming okay.
Last edited by WLcreations; 09-25-2023 at 04:32 PM.
Administrator
If you have not seen https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showt...-Health-Sticky, I would highly recommend it. Part Eleven has information on topicals, Parts Eighteen and Nineteen deal with injectibles. Injectibles require a veterinarian to provide them, and most do not treat fish. If you have a very nice vet, he/she may provide without charging for a visit and examination, but not many will. Both topicals and injectibles do require the fish to be sedated so that you can work on a fish that is sleeping instead of flopping all over the place and Part Seventeen covers sedation. I used oil of cloves which you can get from GNC or mail order from places like Amazon. At first it is very scary, but after you have done it a few times it loses that scariness. The most effective topical is Tricide Neo which you can find online.
Last edited by RichToyBox; 09-25-2023 at 08:56 PM. Reason: forgot
Supporting Member
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is fast becoming a recognised risk. Not only to your fish but to the environment that waste water goes to.
So please consider when antibiotics are really necessary and do complete rule full course.
Senior Member
Upload some pictures showing the problem?
Senior Member
Sorry for the wait, it has been raining a lot the past few days so was waiting for it to clear to take a picture. Here is a picture of the koi, the bumps on the back are pink. It was better before and then a few bumps appeared. It has been eating and swimming as usual throughout. I wonder if it has to do with the weather getting colder. Does this look like a parasite or bacteria?
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