Hello Koi people,
On November 3rd I found my 17 year old female Koi upside down but alive; she tried to swim off when I touched her but with great difficulty, and rolled back over again. This went off and on for a couple of days then she righted herself and seemed to be okay. I have become very complacent over the years with this pond, as I've never had a problem with water quality or fish loss other than to a freak spawning accident, and when my quarantine tank sprung a leak many years ago, I never replaced it. So 2 days ago I again found her belly-up and couldn't do anything to help her but did get online and order a new tank and supplies to set her up in a sick tank. Too little too late, I found her dead today. She was extremely bloated. I had been assuming swim bladder problems, but did some research online and realized it could have been any number of things. So I did a necropsy as best I could and took lots of photos, because I know little of fish anatomy but am hoping someone out there can look at the pictures and give me an idea of what might have killed her. It appears to me she was impacted with eggs but also seemed to be incredibly full of fat, it just doesn't look normal to me! I didn't see anything that looked obviously like a tumor but then what do I know? I have about 9 mbs of photos that I've placed on OneDrive, if anyone uses it. Don't know if I can post that many here but if someone is willing to look at them I'd be happy to email, or if you know someplace I can contact about them, I'd appreciate your advice.
Briefly, the pond is just under 4000 gallons with 375 gallons of filtration (vortex, mechanical and bio) and a bottom drain and skimmer. Fish load very light - I had only three Koi and 9 senior goldfish. (No Q-tank to get new ones!) I feed a moderately priced Koi food, fish based in the summer, wheat-germ in the cooler months, and had stopped feeding around the last week of October. Our fall and winter so far have been extremely mild and the water temp has been upper 40s - low 50s. Now that I have a 300 gallon tank and heaters coming, do you think I should bring the other 2 koi inside and give them some decent water temperatures over the winter?
Any help appreciated. Thank you!
Ronaye