Starting a new koi pond with carp pox?

[koicarper]

Morning All, I'm wanting to build a 6000 gallon koi pond and I have a friend with really nice 1-2 year old koi but they might have carp pox. I know ideally you wouldn't want to start a new pond with a virus in it but I've read that this virus is not life threatening to the koi and it's wide spread already so if I buy other fish from local farms or on line I might buy carp with pox anyway? His fish are probably worth $50-$200 a piece and he's willing to give me some. If you were building a new pond to sit around and enjoy would you take the koi with pox? The water temps are around 65 degrees now and all the koi still look great to me.

[kdh]

At one or two years old. Kois immune system is not fully operational. So carp pox can present itself. As they get older 3ish or more. There immune system usually well keep it at bay. This is not written in stone but in general. If the pox is minor than I wouldn't worry about it. However you would be exposing any new fish added to the virus.

[cindy]

Are these the only Koi you plan on having?

[koicarper]

Are these the only Koi you plan on having?

Probably so unless I try to find a koi with a certain color that his fish might not have. Other than being free I figured why try to avoid it if there are farms out there with this virus, cant really quarantine fish 100% anyway since this virus can be inactive, so why not just except it since these aren't going to be show fish.

[Matt24]

That's a very interesting question. I was/am curious what others think here. Since carp pox is so common, not lethal, and seasonal, I can see an argument for taking such a nice offer on free koi. I know it has been in my pond for many years, but it's very rare that I see it. Perhaps it makes a difference whether one wants to have expensive koi hoping they will be winners at shows or if they are (as you say) for a "pond to sit around and enjoy".

[*Ci*]

In your original post you said that the koi might have carp pox … what symptoms are you seeing that leads you to think so?
If there are just a few small waxy patches on some fish, it’s really no big deal. I have found that carp pox is not that contagious and not every fish in a pond full will come up with it - maybe even only one. plus, as you mentioned, buying a bunch of koi from other sources and having carp pox show up is highly possible, anyway.

Got any photos of the koi?

[koicarper]

In your original post you said that the koi might have carp pox … what symptoms are you seeing that leads you to think so?
If there are just a few small waxy patches on some fish, it’s really no big deal. I have found that carp pox is not that contagious and not every fish in a pond full will come up with it - maybe even only one. plus, as you mentioned, buying a bunch of koi from other sources and having carp pox show up is highly possible, anyway.

Got any photos of the koi?

A couple koi had about two white waxy patches about the size of a lima bean. Not much at all and one lost the patches a week after checking it. No pictures, sorry.

[Hanover Koi Farms]

I would not be too concerned. It depends on what the actual pappilloma look like. Carp pox is a lot like HPV in humans. Sometimes the pox can turn into cancerous growths but only a small percentage of the time. Quite often Carp pox pappilloma goes away after a few years

[koicarper]

In your original post you said that the koi might have carp pox … what symptoms are you seeing that leads you to think so?
If there are just a few small waxy patches on some fish, it’s really no big deal. I have found that carp pox is not that contagious and not every fish in a pond full will come up with it - maybe even only one. plus, as you mentioned, buying a bunch of koi from other sources and having carp pox show up is highly possible, anyway.

Got any photos of the koi?

The koi's only symptoms are a couple small white waxy patches about the size of a lima bean which come and go.