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  1. #1
    Junior Member Rank = Fry GingerJase's Avatar
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    Swim bladder issues

    Hi Everyone,

    New to the forum....I've had my pond 3 years. I have a Kings Lynne Koi multi chamber filter, 7000K litres rectangular boxed lined with bottom drain. Currently stocked with 12 koi largest being 18 inches.
    So I've lost one fish a week ago and another one on its it way out I am sure both with what appears to be swim bladder issues....never encountered this before.
    Tested with Kockney Koi liquid test kit for Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate and PH...all of which are within normal the colour ranges.
    I have aeration both in the pond and in the bacterial chamber of the filter.

    Is there anything I can do for the koi on its way out which is current breathing but floating on it side/upside down (....have watched videos on injecting/reducing the swim bladder (aspirating).

    Could this be a bacterial issue and if so any ideas on the possible cause?
    I was going to treat the pond with NT Labs Acriflavine....thoughts please anyone?

    Thanks in advance

    Jase



  2. #2
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Hassai koinewbie's Avatar
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    Hi jase what exactly were your water parameters?. How often do you clean your filter & how much water do you change weekly & do you dechlorinate it?. Don't put any treatments in until you've performed a scrape on some fish to check for parasites which you probably have. More information equals better advice.

  3. #3
    Junior Member Rank = Fry GingerJase's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by koinewbie View Post
    Hi jase what exactly were your water parameters?. How often do you clean your filter & how much water do you change weekly & do you dechlorinate it?. Don't put any treatments in until you've performed a scrape on some fish to check for parasites which you probably have. More information equals better advice.

    Hi and thanks for the reply.
    Ammonia was 0
    Nitrate was <20
    Nitrite was 0.1
    PH was 7.4
    Temp is 12 degree unheated
    Water change every week when cleaning filter...I empty two bays of my four bay filter and refill by spraying off the tap water....which until now has not seemed to have upset anything....guessimg roughly 50gallons.

  4. #4
    Junior Member Rank = Fry GingerJase's Avatar
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    I reallly don’t think time is on my side to save the fish.....should I anesthetise it and use a syringe to remove some of the air from its swim bladder?? (I’ve Watched videos) Or I have the option of floating a tub in my hot tub and raising the temperature to see if that works??

  5. #5
    Junior Member Rank = Fry GingerJase's Avatar
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    Well I’ve gotta say I am pretty disappointed with the level of response to my post....in A and E. I am very new to koi desease at never experienced koi loss before....I’ve tried to self diagnose and then asking for emergency advise would have expected more of a reponce than the what appears to be the standard “what’s your water perimeters”....I posted on the A and E because it’s an emergency! To which I’ve recieved no useful advice apart from do a scrape.
    I did feel with the right advise yesterday I could have saved the fish....

  6. #6
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Hassai koinewbie's Avatar
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    Hi jase sorry you lost your fish your nitrite is higher than it should be but probably not the reason your losing fish. You say you change around 50 gallons a week?. I would say that's nowhere near enough & also spraying the water into the pond won't really gas anything off. You might have a build up of chloramine which doesn't gas off but needs a dechlorinator such as sodium thiosulphate pentahydrate. You need to do a scrape asap to check for parasites as some treatments can't be used or are ineffective at lower temps. Do you have the facility to do a scrape & check with a microscope?. Are your fish flashing or rubbing against the sides of the pond or are they jumping?. A scrape should be done before treating with anything or you could do more harm than good.

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  8. #7
    Junior Member Rank = Fry GingerJase's Avatar
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    Hi thank for the reply.....
    I was looking st buying a hose connected dechlorinator....£21 Off eBay...are they any good?
    So I need also buy a microscope....can you recommend one please? I’ve not scraped before either so need to watch a few videos on that.
    No flashing or running from the other fish...fed them peas today which they loved....so now lost two fish to the same swim bladder issue...

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    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    How deep is your pond?
    There is a possible link to over saturation of the water with oxygen in deep ponds and swim bladder issues.
    In other words too much air could potentially be a factor.
    But you definitely need to rule out parasite issues and sort out your lack of dechlorination as there could be other factors at play. If your water changing is all done at filter clean times then the easiest way of dechlorinating is to use a liquid dechlorinator, or buy some cheap sodium thiosulphate to make your own. The cheaper dechlorinator units are only good for an extremely slow flow rate, which can be ok for a trickly-in but not a large change as you would be there for hours.

    Take a looks at the Apex Practitioner or Brunel SP22 (they are the same scope) Fish disease microscopes

    They have good optics, a mechanical stage and a good range of magnification for koi parasites. The kit usually comes with a box of slides and cover slips so you are ready to go- use a credit card or lolly pop stick to take the mucus, put on a slide, put on a blob of pond water and cover slip and have a look.

    There is also a USB 'mini grab' that you can buy as an accessory that replaces the eye piece so you can see on your computer screen if you prefer that. You can also save still and video images with it which helps if you need confirmation of what you are seeing. Just beware there is no driver for the mini grab for Macs, you have to use a PC. It is also possible to use a phone camera to film down the eyepiece, a little tricky to do but doesn't cost you any extra dosh!

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