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14-08-2019, 05:31 AM #1
Ochiba Constantly Chewing Concerns
I made a video which explains my concerns but it's 8 minutes long. If you have 8 minutes to spare, here is the link (hopefully)...
If that doesn't work, try....
https://youtu.be/6gRi5l7BeIY
For those that don't wanna sit through 6 minutes of self indulgent nonsense and 2 minutes of actually describing the issue, here it is in (as) brief (as i can):
Short version:
My ochiba is constantly chewing and has a lump on her tail.
Last year my matsuba began constantly chewing....6 weeks later i had to euthanise her.
There are differences so hopefully it isn't the same thing. There are some images somewhere below:
Longer version:
Last year my matsuba ballooned to an enormous size. I thought she was egg bound. I tried putting her in a "spawning vat" with various combinations of males. Nothing happened. I even tried putting 2 randy goldfish in there with her. Nothing happened.
She was still feeding and i began exploring where to get carp pituatory (sp) gland from.
She was doing this weird thing with her mouth where she appeared to be constantly chewing.
Then one day i came down to find foam everywhere. Then i saw the matsuba was significantly smaller. I thought "Oh brilliant, she has spawned". I looked for the eggs. There were none.
This was that really hot period we had in July 2018
A few days later, the matsuba presented 2 small ulcers. If you looked at her from the back and said the bottom of her caudal fin was 6 o'clock and the top of her caudal fin was 12 o'clock, then the ulcers were just past her anal fin, at 4 o'clock and 8'o clock
The image below shows a topical treatment applied to one of the areas (the ulcers were no longer small when the photo was taken)
20180707_235955 (1).jpg
I mentioned the chewing to a koi health professional. They said that it might be an indication of an internal bacterial infection.
Then she stopped feeding. I got some baytril. I was confident that would fix her.
But....The ulcers got bigger. I was terrified that they would join together as one big ulcer*.
The baytril did nothing. I wished i had sent a swab off to be cultured.
I tried amoxicillin next. I thought it was going to work because i did see her eat. I was so pleased. But it was false hope and the ulcers got bigger and moved up her body.
I wish i had euthanised then but i still thought she would get better. The koi health expert was subtly leading me toward euthanasia but agreed one last throw of the dice with amikacin.
After 2 injections there was still no improvement and i knew i had to do the decent thing. I cried and wailed and nearly took her out of the sedation overdose.
I felt so low. Ashamed for letting that happen to her. I went over and over everything time and time again.
I left her in the sedation fluid for 24 hours. I could see her fin moving. Or could i? I hadn't slept since Sunday and it was now Thursday night. I told myself that it was the wind blowing the water. But what IF she was still alive?
Paula had told me a story of a koi sent to her for autopsy, that suddenly started flapping around just as she was about to cut it open ! Very much still alive !
I couldn't risk even the slightest chance of burying that poor fish alive. So i took a screwdriver and hammered it through her head 3 times.
I didn't even look at the pond for several days after that. My oldest, biggest and favourite koi was dead. I had failed to look after her.
I felt wretched. So guilty. So ashamed. So empty and pathetic. This lasted for weeks. Someone at work asked me for aquarium advice. I advised them to ask someone else because i kill mine.
Although that turned out to be like a trip to Alton Towers in comparisson to what happened in November....my dog died. I am still not over losing the dog. She literally was my best friend. I slept downstairs on the floor for the last 8 months of her life so she no longer had to go upstairs. I still sleep downstairs. In case anyone wants to see, there is a tribute video for Ellie (the dog) here...
https://youtu.be/yijrCWE02eA
I have digressed sorry. Back on topic....
*They eventually did. The ulcers....meet in the middle and become one huge thing.
20180726_140031_6777.jpg
Now the ochiba is doing the same chewing thing. So i am worried that the same thing will happen to her.
I'm going to press "submit new thread" now in case i lose the text above but i haven't quite finished.....
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john1, Frimley Koi keeper Thanked / Liked this Post
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14-08-2019, 06:05 AM #2
So yeah....the ochiba had some raised scales. Which i sorted twice with salt. The lump on her caudal fin went very red and angry. Then went back to normal.
But she keeps chewing.
I got a scrape on Monday. A decent bit of mucus from the gill operculum. The front if it, not underneath i am not confident enough to go underneath the operculum. Especially with this koi being such a struggler.
I found nothing moving in the mucus. When i got back from work, some 9 hours later, i looked at the slide again. As expected, nothing motile but some weird looking things nonetheless.
Here you go. Here are some images:
20190813_022312.jpg20190813_022454.jpg
What? You want more?
Hang on then....
20190524_062tail.jpg
That is what the lump normally looks like.
And this is how it looked on one day this year....
20190605_122128.jpg
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Frimley Koi keeper Thanked / Liked this Post
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20-09-2019, 11:29 AM #3
Anyone?
Update - In the end i did errrrrm nothing and errrrrm nothing happened to the koi.
She had something on the bottom of her caudal fin whch looks like a tear. (Rhyme with pear....not a tear rhyming with fear)
I was going to get her out and have a look but i haven't yet.
This weekend i will be removing all the fish anyway as i need to fix / re-fix some holes in the liner.
Note - Using a pressure washer to clean the pond wasn't one of my finest moments.
And i will be giving 3-5 fish away to a friend of a colleague, assuming they scrape clean. The lady hasn't asked me to scrape them but there is no way i wouldn't scrape because she has no quarantine facility.
So they are all coming out. I have a temporary pond set up ready.
20190918_03190.jpg
I'll get some photos of the ochiba and any others than i find with anything.
Something for you all to look forward to eh?
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20-09-2019, 06:11 PM #4
Nice to see you back on Justin how you doing ?.
lovely video of Ellie.... made me shed a tear...……...oh ok then, maybe a lot of tears, but I don't care we all
have emotions..
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Running heater at low temp?
Covering the pond with polycarb should be enough to stop water temps dipping below 6C for the most...