Ulcer

[Bedskoi]

Hi

I am a bit worried because one of my fish has got an ulcer type sore on the side of his gill.
He also has a couple of hard lumps on his flanks i have put a couple of pics for you to see.
I am new to koi keeping so was hoping for some advice.
Bedskoi

[MikeM]

Looks like photos I've seen of carp pox, but I have no personal familiarity with it to say for sure. If it is, there is no known cure. Most will say that it will take care of itself with time and warmer temperatures, but will come back when the water cools. In my pond, the fish would be euthanized to prevent it spreading. Others would disagree.

As for the ulcer, check koivet.com for courses of treatment. The symptoms page will lead you to the basic steps.

You should check all your water parameters, filters, etc. and take whatever steps are needed to have top quality water and biofiltration. The conditions which caused this fish to develop an ulcer are affecting the others. You can expect the outbreak to spread unless steps are taken to maximize water quality.

This is the time of year in the northern hemisphere when these sorts of problems are seen. They usually reflect the koi having endured winter in too cold water with compromised filtration. In your case, it may be a secondary consequence of the carp pox (?) infection, but I do not know enough about it to give useful guesses.

Good luck!

[marco]

I agree with Mike, this seems to be a virus desease due to winter conditions. If you want to treet that koï, you should give injections of antibiotics to prevent bacterials complications and to help the skin cicatrisation. Have a look an koivet.com and read the "Creamsicks head Ulcers" and the treatment.
I don't know if you should kill that fish to prevent the contamination of the others, because it is difficult to know if others or maybe all others koï are already infected..., but for sure you should isolate that fish waiting what will happen to the others.
If you don't have any other problems with the others, I would do like Mike and kill that fish to prevent the contamination that you will keep for years.
Good luck

[dick benbow]

The mark on the end of the gill and where the color is rubbed off the gill plate is classic signs of rubbing/flashing koi attempting to dislodge a paracite. As with most cases of koi problems, there are tons of problems waiting to happen and once the gate is open ( rubbing to open an entrance for infection) all kinds of other problems present will take advantage.


for those quiet readers, Mike and Marco's comments both lend themselves towards the importance of having the ability to move a troubled koi into a proper facility. In my years of experience most keepers throw something together at the last minute and the water is even worse than in the pond and that creates more problems for the koi in question.

I could talk a lifetime about diseses and treatment but you know what i arrived at over time? Learn about keeping water, understocking, irradicating paracites.
It's called prevention. An ounce of It is truely worth more than a pound of cure!

But to address Bedskoi, It's hard to diagnose a problem from a picture. ( that's why most docs have you come in when your sick ) but if that koi were mine I'd be looking at a salt treatment and rising temperatures.

[marco]

I agree with you Dick, prevention is really important and a better solution then to be obliged to treat the pond when it might be too late.

If we supose to have good conditions for the fishes (good water quality, temperature and not overstocking) do you think that we should treat the pond with antiparasites substance in spring or even more often.

What are the treatment we should do in prevention ?

[jnorth]

The koi pictured below had similar problems back in late November. I pulled him out of the outside pond and brought himside where I gave swabbed him with PP. I also thought ulcer or parasite but didn't have a microscope (then) to find out. Long story short based on what I've read and seen since then it was carp pox and the PP was not necessary as it would have gone away on its own. So first pic is November and the second pic is last week. This koi has been inside in 65 degree water since November and will be spending winters inside with me from now on. Thats my strickly amatuer take on it.

[B.Scott]

Great job JNorth