How would you rate the success of you pond this year

[Steve W]

Hi all

Well ..covered the pond for the first time last winter with twin wall sheeting,
Also covered the pergola so no rain water gets in the pond in june,

No fish loss first time in 24 1/2 years.
No treatments
A naggiing sore from last year self healed,
Fish always hungery

So you could say a good year



Steve W

[aquitori]

The end of summer came and gone yesterday, and this year wasn't as bad as the years before. Hopefully the winter will show my koi's beauty well...

[gregbickal]

I have been experiencing problems with fish health this year when I have never had that in the past. I blame the strain of Aeromonas that came with my japanese koi.

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by gregbickal I have been experiencing problems with fish health this year when I have never had that in the past. I blame the strain of Aeromonas that came with my japanese koi.

Yeah there seemed to be the same issue with hobbyist here in Cali....

[koiczar]

This year was one of pleasure and disgust. The season started out slow in the Santa Clara Valley, Nor Cal. Everything went really well over the winter. Then along about early June, all of a sudden I started noticing fish disassociating themselves from the group. Before I could detect any problems, I lost two fish. I treated the pond with ProForm C for 3 daily treatments. A week later I lost another fish. I treated with Prazipond. On the fourth day of this regiment a microscopic exam was done. Ten slides from 3 fish who showed a lost interest in food, lethargic and heavy breathing(no pun intended). NOT ONE SINGLE PARASITE COULD BE FOUND. I thought, my worst fears, KHV!!!- found out that the cultures that were tested at the Univ of Georgia are performed to detect the ANTI-VIRUS not the virus itself. In the meantime, while waiting for the test results, I injected 7 fish with Amacacyn. After only one injection and on the day following that injection, 5 of the fish were showing signs of recovery, eating, swimming with the group and behaving much more energetically. The 2nd day, fish 6 was eating and showed no outward signs it had ever been ill.

My point to this is that the fish I sent to UofG tested positive for KHV. The vet said that just because the test was positive, it didn't mean that I currently have KHV. Only that at some point in this fishes life, it had been exposed to the virus. Also, there are no testing parameters and equipment available at this time to detect whether a fish exposed to KHV and lives is a CARRIER or just has antibodies in their chemistry to become immune to the virus.

After talking with a local dealer, Tom Tse, and several hobbyist friends I hold in high esteem about koi heath, we found that it was a very lethal bacterial gill disease. My test results on the cultures sent in revealed "no parasites" and "two aeromonas" varieties. There evidently is a new "kid" on the block this year that normally is of no threat. AEROMONAS VERONII. From what I have been told, the aeromonas hydrophilla and this new kid have joined forces and are more deadly than ever. I ended up losing 12 of 39 fish over a 5 week period. The ones I did lose showed no outward signs of any infection. Upon closer examination of the gills, one or both were so badly necrotic it was a wonder they lived as long as they did. The other 27 fish never got infected and have continued on a very nice growth cycle over the last 3 months.

I purchased 2 jumbo tosai from Champion koi last October which were both 12 1/2-13 inches. A kohaku from Maruyama and a sanke from Momotaro. The sanke is now 20 inches(and shows no sign of slowing down) and the kohaku is 17 3/4 inches. I don't feed color food EVER!! but I do use 50% HiSIlk/50% HaiFeng Quick Grow when water temps are over 68 degrees.

Since the initial incident in June, everything has been going great. This was my 3rd season since converting my 9000 gallon swimming pool. This filtration seems to really be kicking butt now. Water quality is at an all-time high - very little turbidity and clarity is good enough to read a dime in 5 ft of water.

There have been over ten outbreaks that I personally have knowledge of with the same exact symptoms and kill rates. If caught early on, Chloramine-T seems to be the answer, but you must be persistent with your treatments. Don't exceed 3-4 treatments in a row and KNOW YOUR Ph!! THIS STUFF CAN KILL YOUR FISH IN MINUTES OF YOU HAVE A LOW Ph AND YOU DOSE ACCORDING TO THE DIRECTIONS ON A BOTTLE OF "GBDX" from Argent Labs. This dosage works well for a Ph 7.5 and above. Check out the website koivet.com for more info on this.

I have always preached to newcomers to WATCH YOUR FISH AND LEARN THEIR INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR/HABITS- they'll tell you when something is wrong in koiville. Hope this information helps people, but when in doubt about a problem you're having with YOUR POND, get help from one of the koi health advisers from AKCA(maybe you have one in your local club). If you don't know one, contact Sanjiv Kapoor by logging on to the Santa Clara Valley Koi Club website at (www.scvkoi.com) and looking under koi health adviser or helpers. If you do detect a problem, hours are precious to your koi - waiting even a day can be deadly!!

Mike

[Ruth Rice]

Hi Mike
Your second paragraph is disturbing. At one time fish that survived an outbreak of KHV or that were heated up to get through the virus were thought to be non carriers. It is now known that survivors can infect naive fish at a later date. This virus is temperature sensitive so I would definately not rule out KHV in seasons to come and could this have played a part in your instance? Of course you may not experience temp shifts where you live.
Parasites are usually the cause of these nasty strains of bacteria taking hold of the fish. I would check more than one fish for parasites and gill snips would be in order if you suspected bgd.

[MikeM]

I concur with Ruth. If I were you, I'd seek verification. If any of the koi were exposed to KHV, then I would treat all as being KHV carriers. The virus may be in remission now, but it will come out and infect unexposed koi.

[koiczar]

Okay, I hear what you're saying. The fact that one fish had tested positive doesn't mean I had a KHV outbreak of any kind. The fish that showed signs of any illness, if it were KHV, would not have responded to a single injection of Amacacyn and totally healed. I lost only one fish out of the seven that were injected and that one was too far gone to save at that point. Also, KHV is temperature sensitive as you said. The attack occured at 67-68 degrees, not at 72 degrees. Also only losing 12 of 39 says volumes about the episode. KHV would have wiped out most all inhabitants within a couple of weeks.

Gill snips were done, blood was taken, internal organs were pulled. All sent to U of G for culture. Only the two strains of aeromonas bacteria were detected.

This can be a crazy hobby and is not for the faint of heart. Overall, I wouldn't trade it for any other hobby (other than maybe bonsai).

Just so you know, I've been in the hobby for over 40 years, so I've pretty much seen most everything you can imagine.

[MikeM]

This episode was not KHV, but if the positive test on the one fish is verified, then my understanding is that it has to be assumed that KHV is present in the pond population. I understand that there can be false negatives, but that false positives are unlikely. I would nonetheless seek verification. If the positive result is verified, I think you have to assume that fish (and others exposed to it) are carriers.



If my understanding is incorrect, I'd appreciate being corrected by LeeB, REC or one of the other knowledgeable health "afficionados".

[junglegeorge12]

now can a dormant carrier have the disease but not spread it? is a good question, no use injecting fish that are not infected.

also, I here there is a breeder here in the mountains near Lares, who mixes all kinds of game fish and tropicals and even shrimp in a pond fed by an irrigation canal that comes from a wildlife keeping reservoir and passes thruogh several farms on the way, how do you protect the koi from all the diseases, farm chemicals, and parasites in that situation, or is it better just to not buy one from there?