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  1. #1

    Koi wasting away!

    Hi all.

    I have been trying to improve the health of a poorly fish for a number of months. The fish is about 9 inches and began showing green growths on it with a general dull look to its colour and loss of slime coat. I put this down the being a fungal infection and treated the whole pond. Since then the green growths have 90% cleared up however he has now started to loose weight' even though he is eating fine. He is now super super skinny and I fear it wont last much longer. So after further research I now believe it to be flukes.

    What's the safest way to treat the pond for flukes? Some say Praziquantel or SupaVerm and others say not to risk using these treatments.

    Any thoughts?

    Cheers!



  2. #2
    Buy a microscope so you can gain a correct diagnosis.
    Unless you are positive as to what's causing issues with your fish it's highly likely you could be making the situation worse with ineffective treatments.

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  4. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Solvent Cement View Post
    Buy a microscope so you can gain a correct diagnosis.
    Unless you are positive as to what's causing issues with your fish it's highly likely you could be making the situation worse with ineffective treatments.
    agree with all was has been wrote above. you need to know what the parasites are first. then treat for what they are. example you could have a more leathal illness like whitespot or say costia. which would need
    treating before flukes. if you have not got a microscope. look online and see if there is a koi centre near you that does the tests. or put your address up . and ask if anyone lives near you to come and do the scrape.
    good luck with it mate.
    fred

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  6. #4
    I agree, the correct way to proceed is to diagnose first and then treat according to what you find. If you cannot do that yourself, post your location and someone may be able to help.

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  8. #5
    Do as the above suggest and hope it is flukes, whitespot or costia etc as opposed to what crossed my mind.

    Are any other fish showing signs of distress/ill health ?

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  10. #6
    Thanks for the advice. No there are no other signs of issues with any of the other fish. I will invest in a microscope for future diagnosing however the fish has deteriorated so fast in the last 3-4 days that I fear its not going to last much longer and I need to act immediately. Is there anything I can try? Remove it from the pond and treat? Salt?

    Many thanks

    Will

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  12. #7
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by willshill View Post
    Thanks for the advice. No there are no other signs of issues with any of the other fish. I will invest in a microscope for future diagnosing however the fish has deteriorated so fast in the last 3-4 days that I fear its not going to last much longer and I need to act immediately. Is there anything I can try? Remove it from the pond and treat? Salt?

    Many thanks

    Will
    Have you got a grow on tank or a qt
    Is your pond heated or not.
    This needs heat. 22c to 23c to try and help its immune system fight back.
    If you have a tank. Even a fish tank. Put a heater in there.
    Taking the heat up 1 to 2 degrees a day up to 22c / 23c. Then add salt up to 0.3 for 5 days then 0.6 to try to help it.

    But it needs scraping. And viewing under a microscope. To try to find out what is wrong with it.

    As it is right now. It is all guess work.


    Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

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  14. #8
    Hi FreddyBoy

    Yes the pond is heated to 21 currently and has been all summer. I have a large plastic container and an aquarium heater which I could use however the Fish is still very active so I shall order a Microscope and see if i can diagnose in time. Isolating the fish may push it over the edge with stress....

    What quality of microscope is needed? Will a basic £25 usb microscope do the trick or so I need some extreme magnification to be able to see these organisms? What do you use?

    Many thanks

  15. #9
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by willshill View Post
    Hi FreddyBoy

    Yes the pond is heated to 21 currently and has been all summer. I have a large plastic container and an aquarium heater which I could use however the Fish is still very active so I shall order a Microscope and see if i can diagnose in time. Isolating the fish may push it over the edge with stress....

    What quality of microscope is needed? Will a basic £25 usb microscope do the trick or so I need some extreme magnification to be able to see these organisms? What do you use?

    Many thanks
    sorry mate did nt know you was heated. you know the fish. if its happy leave it in there. don t want you to stress it to much. and if you believe it could make it worse leave it.
    my microscope is a celestron micro 360. a lot on here use the apex practitioner. my mistake was mine has one eye sighting. instead of x2 binocular type.
    so I bought a mini grab to go inside the sighting tube and it comes up on my computer . aging eyes haha

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  17. #10
    So I did a scrape and saw absolutely nothing! I looked long and hard and did not see any movement what so ever. Either the cheap microscope I bought is not up to the job or there is no external parasite.

    What level of magnification would you go in order to spot a moving parasite?

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  19. #11
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by willshill View Post
    So I did a scrape and saw absolutely nothing! I looked long and hard and did not see any movement what so ever. Either the cheap microscope I bought is not up to the job or there is no external parasite.

    What level of magnification would you go in order to spot a moving parasite?
    I go with this as a guide

    I use this as a guide lol.

    The magnification you are using is the strength of the eyepiece multiplied by the lens.

    So using a x10 eyepiece with x40 objective gives you x400.

    I generally give the whole slide the once over at x40 first, that will allow you to find any flukes pretty easily since they are pretty large. I then go up to x100, x200 and finally x400. You won't see costia very well until you are at x200 or above really.

    Hope this helps

    Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

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  21. #12
    Senior Member Rank = Hassai big h's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by freddyboy View Post
    I go with this as a guide

    I use this as a guide lol.

    The magnification you are using is the strength of the eyepiece multiplied by the lens.

    So using a x10 eyepiece with x40 objective gives you x400.

    I generally give the whole slide the once over at x40 first, that will allow you to find any flukes pretty easily since they are pretty large. I then go up to x100, x200 and finally x400. You won't see costia very well until you are at x200 or above really.

    Hope this helps

    Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

    Spot on Freddy..Slow and steady wins the race

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  23. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by big h View Post
    Spot on Freddy..Slow and steady wins the race
    cheers H. I use my computer usb grabber now myself. as my eyesight aint what it used to be. still as you say mate. go over it a few times. last time I didn't see anything until my third go with the slide.

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  25. #14
    Senior Member Rank = Hassai big h's Avatar
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    I have to replace my Researcher i sold when i thought i had fallen out of love with the hobby.I had a minigrab and couldnt do without one now .Cheers

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  27. #15
    How is this fish now? Any improvements ? Or did it not make it?

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