lympho, to dump or not to dump ?

[saratogatan]

1 of my kois has lympho(sp?), 90% sure. Doc jonson's book says it will go away.

Question to high end koi hobbyist, should I dump this koi ? and or any koi showing sign of this viral infection ?

stan

[Andrew]

No, don't dump!

Unless your particular fish is so susceptible to carp pox it's getting overwhelmed then do nothing, it will go away. If it's particularly bad then you can topically remove and or treat if required, but this isn't often neccessary.

Traditionally it was held that it went with warmer temperatures, and conversly came with cooler, but a convincing explanation from a respected source was recently given on another, UK based, board that it isn't temperature related.

[saratogatan]

this koi is having carp pox to begin with. It is also showing sign of herpe simplex infection too.

stan

[aquitori]

Do you have pics of the severity?

[saratogatan]

aq,
Sorry I don't own a digital camera, it will be tuff to use my wife's digicam.

The infected are is limited to about 3"X3", on the shoulder. I know stephen dumped his infected koi, but mine is much better koi.

stan

[dick benbow]

I think the question is does it bother you to have that koi in your pond. I know some koi keepers who decide to keep all koi inspite of scars etc and other who can't stand to have a koi around that isn't "perfect". Since it's your pond you have to decide if something like that will bother you. If you know in your heart it will, maybe it's time to move that koi along

[Arthur]

Dick,

You're spot on about the decision to keep a koi that has an obvious demerit in your pond with your other koi.

I have such a koi in my pond. It was a beautiful 3-year old Sanke that I purchased as part of my first koi school when I started my last pond at home (the most expensive one). Altough it will never be jumbo, the conformity is great as is the pattern. However in her second winter with me she got a really bad ulcer on the side that went unnoticed for a while due to my over confidence in the system I have.

She completely recovered but has lost some scales that did not come back. On the other hand she has grown to 27-28" and lives quite happily. I will not get rid of her for two reasons: 1) I feel guilty that I left her down, and 2) she is what I would have expected of her (without the scar that came because of my negligence, a constant reminder of the requirement to be vigilent---mind you the scar is all in a shiro area and I would have to point it out for the average koikeeper to see it).

I thought I'd share a personal experience.

[dick benbow]

thanks for sharing Arthur. I have an ake mae kigoi that has a ovarian tumor. It's quite the bulge and is always noticed by visitors who are surprised because the others are in good health and shape. But she has been with me thru everything, over 20 years and she's part of my family. She stays bulge and all.

[kiky]

Ah Dick so you have a koi with an 'ovarian tumor' but still "alive". How long ago since it start to bulge? How long more do you think before she will die?

Even if the symptoms are similar to the kois I described in another thread, it is likely that the disease is diferent. In my case the koi will eventually die before too long!

[saratogatan]

thanks everyone, I want to keep this koi in my pond, even if that means infecting other kois. I just wasn't sure how higher end koi hobbyists take care of the situation.

The infected ara is very obvious, but what the hack.

stan

[MikeM]

Stan: Decision is yours (obviously) and you know what you are doing. So, that's how it is. Everyone has to strike the balance that is right for them.

Years ago I was fairly active in breeding guppies. It never failed that a breeder to which I became attached would develop some condition ... because I kept them way past their "sale date". Whatever the condition, their weakness would more likely than not invite some contagious disease to take hold. Then it would spread to the entire tank, and maybe other tanks. Treatments would mess up biological filtration, etc etc. I became hard-hearted. At the first sign of debilitating ailment, I would euthanize. Once I began that practice, significant health problems became quite rare. Overall, I believe it saved more fish than I euthanized.

Now, guppies are a lot different from koi ... short life spans, etc.; but, I would apply the same practice to any koi with an incurable, contagious disease. That would be the right balance for me, although it will be a real heartbreaker if/when I lose Junior, the Hariwake that hatched in my lilypond over a decade ago.

This is the sort of issue that has no "correct" answer. People who understand the situation will reach the decision that is right for them.