Thread: Raising Koi Fry - Development progress & Pictures

Sadly it is not looking good for the Tancho Showa.

I will be gutted to lose this Koi, she's only 6 1/2 years old, but I am lost as to what I could possibly do to save her. I've emailed London Aquatic vets again just in case they have any ideas.

Initially looked like a tumour due to the swelling on the right hand side, but now she's huge all over and showing signs of internal infection. She didn't show any signs of carrying eggs all year and no males have shown any interest in her. If it does turn out to be egg related then I'll need to re-evaluate my processes and husbandry.

Even with spawning brushes my Koi never show any interest in spawning and I wonder if it is related to pond design or my feeding regime, I really don't know.

26th August - first signs something wasn't right with the mild swelling on the right hand side (Note in my update post on 4th August she looked completely normal):




8th September:





30th October:

Sorry to see this Steve, I had the exact same thing with an Isa Showa a couple of years back. It got an ulcer and I swabbed etc then got the correct antibiotics as per Paula. it recovered but over winter and into the spring it done exactly what yours did then passed away. I don't know if it was some sort of organ failure meaning so it took on water

Unfortunately the Tancho started deteriorating quite fast and it became obvious there was no coming back from it.

After putting her to sleep I tried to do an autopsy but inside looked different to previous fish I've seen/opened up so I was unable to figure out the cause of death, only that it was pretty obviously not right inside. Not sure if its a good idea to post the pics here as its pretty gruesome.

There was no eggs inside, and possibly what might have been the gonad, so maybe it was male after all, that needs to be confirmed.
There was a lot of fat, a lot of fluid that squirted out of various places (like, cups full), and a large mass that I couldn't determine whether it was an organ or a tumour.
There were areas that looked necrotic.

All in all pretty gutted, never lost a Koi in 33+ years, and now lost my 3 favourite Koi in less than 3 years (Kirin, Doitsu Ochiba and now this Tancho Showa). There's nothing else in the pond that I get excited to see each morning in the same way as I did for these 3.

19th May 2019 - 1st Nov 2025 - just 6.5 years old. RIP.


On a brighter note, after 2 years of searching I've finally found a stunning new Kirin, she ships in November and all going well will be ready for collection in mid-Spring 2026.

Shame.
Sounds like dropsy then? With unknown cause, as usual.

Got photos of your new acquisition.