Nitrite poisoning? Help.....!

[Isis]

I just tested plain old tap water for nitrites - and it has a reading of 0.3 - is this possible? I tested filtered water from the tap and it had a reading of 0.1. Could it be the test kit? Or is it actually possible? If I added a drop of dechlorinator to the sample of straight tap water before testing - the reading was 0.1.

I put in 20kgs of salt.

To everyone who responded to my post - thank you.

[Graham]

Yes it's possible for your tap water to have nitrite reading at that level...it's also possible that it's within the error ratio of the test kit...After reading your posts, I don't think this has anyhting to do with water quality and everything to do with a parasite problem.

While it would be nice to see that ammonia at 0.0ppm; at a pH of 7.5 it isn't a great concern and wouldn't be causing the problems you're seeing

The 0.3 of NO2 is nothing and the salt will protect the fish that small amount forever.

The 10ppm of NO3 is nothing, everyone wishes they had it that low.

Not sure what you're seeing on the tail but it isn't flukes as has been mentioned. The symptoms that you're describing definatly sound like a gill parasite problem and dead gills tell no story so try and get a scrape/sco[pe of a live fish...

G

[KoiCop]

Hello Isis . . .

I tend to agree with Graham that you've picked up a parasite problem -- possibly by intoducing fish without sufficient quarrantine?

How long ago were the newest koi added?

What is your water temperature? Sometimes that helps to identify what type of parasite might be involved. With the symptoms you described and cold water, for instance, costia readily comes to mind and chilo can't be ruled out.

Please update your profile to let us know where you live, OK? It not only will help us to understand your pond dynamics, it helps when making referrals to knowledgeable ponders in your area.

Since you're using metric units I'm going to assume you're not in the US?

[Isis]

The newest koi was added two weeks ago and died on saturday, live in south africa, mid summer here now - not all the koi are battling. The water temp is about 17 degrees celsius.

[CarolinaGirl]

Was the new koi quarantined? It is very possible that you introduces something bad with that new koi.

[Graham]

Quote: Originally Posted by Isis The newest koi was added two weeks ago and died on saturday, live in south africa, mid summer here now - not all the koi are battling. The water temp is about 17 degrees celsius.

Pretty safe bet that you've got a parasite problem....and the water is a minor problem. Can you contact someone from the SA koi club. They'll be able to do a scrape and scope for you, so you can ID the bug. Try contacting Dr Jim Phillps at Welcome to the Official website of the South African Koi Keepers Association - koi, nishikigoi, japan, showa, sanke, kohaku, shows, sakks, koisa magazine



If not then look at shotgunning the pond with something like Formalin & Malachite Green.

[Isis]

Hi yeah .... I contacted somebody and got them to come and have a look, the water seems okay, a little nitrite, no ammonia and the Ph is fine - nothing that would get them really sick. In fact, the guy (Colin) didn't seem to think they looked too ill - but I know my fish and they aren't themselves.

He did a scrape and didn't really find anything but it may be costia, which is apparently difficult to detect in early stages. Also the time period is about right for an infestation from the addition of the new koi - which was an import (and is now dead).

So it seems now, that my salt is a little high, need to get that down a bit with water changes and then add a dose of Formalin and Malachite Green.

And hope to hell that it sorts it out ....

[RookieKoiGuy]

I'm not sure how much chlorine/amonia they use in the water system where you are.
This may be a problem if you dont use Amquel or something to remove it.

Good Luck,
Tom

[Beniguy]

I saw the question asked, but not answered; Do you have a quarintine system? Was the fish quarantined before adding tot he pond?

Sounds like you brought in a new stran of bug the existing population was not ready for. In my 'q' system new fish are kept for well over a month, and "sacrificial" koi are added from the pond to cross expose.

Thanks to this I found some new arrivals had chilodinella, making them flash like crazy. Had I not followed this process the entire pond would been exposed.

Additional note: scope and scrap will not always find someting on one fish, it may be resistant, so scape and scope multiple fish to be thorough.

[Isis]

Like an idiot I didn't quarantine, I've bought fish from this breeder before and haven't had any trouble - but I know, that's no excuse.

I'm adding the new water as a very fine spray and adding a water conditioner - after the water changes and more oxygenation of the water, the fish seem a little better this morning, by tomorrow afternoon I should be able to dose with malachite and formalin. The Ph of the tap water is higher than that of the pond (7.5 vs 8.0), I have a feeling that because we have had a lot of rain recently the chlorine content is pretty high.

Given that the two fish which died first were the little ones (about 10cm), it does seem like it may be costia, even though there wasn't really anything to be seen on the scrapes - which were taken from two live fish showing symptoms. These fish are much larger, between 30 and 40cm.