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  1. #1

    Unhappy Fish flashing and jumping

    Hi,

    New to this forum, so apologies for any stupid questions I might ask!

    I normally have a guy that helps me tend to my Koi pond, but he is currently unable to visit due to the social distancing measures.

    As the temps have increased, I have noticed that my fish have started jumping out of the water a lot, flashing on the sides of the pond, and flicking their pectoral fins.

    I have ordered a new UV and am will change this myself this evening (wish me luck), and have put them on a mix of NV Labs Wheatgerm with Garlic and NV Labs Health to try to assist their immune systems.

    I have little strips for testing the water, and everything seems within tolerances.

    The pond itself is aprox 18,000 Litres, running with 1 bottom drain into an Oase Drum filter, 1 x 10,0000 l/hr pump and going through a 55w UV.

    The pond itself is about 18 months old, although I did introduce a few more fish a couple of months ago that needed rehoming. These came from New Forest Koi, and had been isolated and had no problems.

    The picture below is the best I could get of one of the fish that clearly has something up with its pectoral fin.



    What advise would you suggest for treating? Pond salts and/or some other treatment?

    Many thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.


    Richard.



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  3. #2
    Member Rank = Nisai Mpathe's Avatar
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    First thing to do is get a proper liquid test kit ie an api kit as the test strips arent reliable then get the results on here

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  5. #3
    I had a somewhat old NT labs basic kit, so have done a test with the following results:


    • Ammonia - 0.0 to 0.2
    • Nitrite - 0.0 to 0.25
    • Nitrate - 5.0
    • PH - 7.5
    • GH - 6
    • Alkalnity - 4


    So not quite ideal, but nothing like a 'new pond syndrome' - the cycle is working and have added some bacteria to the filter media twice since the weather started warming up

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  7. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    difficult to see from the picture, is it on other fish ie on the fins, it could be white spot but need some closer and clearer pictures, i used FMG to clear my fish last summer for this.... you get them on the bodies too they look similar to breeding tubicles....
    2200 gallons,infinity window,
    Evolve 4k combi,spindrifter,
    2x20k pumps, BD,Skimmer,
    Shower, ASHP

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  9. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    something to add your GH Levels appear slightly low, my parameter guide says it should be between 8 and 12, also your alkalinity is this your PH that you are referring too ? if so 4 is quite acidic your water needs to be around 7 / 8 ?? i have no experience of your testing kit so i could be wrong...... anyone else use the NT kit ??
    2200 gallons,infinity window,
    Evolve 4k combi,spindrifter,
    2x20k pumps, BD,Skimmer,
    Shower, ASHP

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  11. #6
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion RoyLittle0's Avatar
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    Last year I had problems with fish flashing this time of year, I was constantly working overseas so didn't have time to do a scrape to see what the real issue was, so I ended up treating with FMG, mainly because I had it and I know its good for this kind of thing, In may case it worked but its a chance I took that paid off without a scrape it was just a educated guess, my water parameters were spot on so I knew it was not that.
    4600 Gallon Concrete Block and Fiberglass
    2100 mm x 710 mm Infinity Window 32mm thick glass
    2 x Aerated Bottom Drains and Skimmer
    Filtreau HiFlow 30 Drum Filter
    Bio Chamber - 140 litres K1
    Bakki Shower - 30 KG Sakura Far Infrared Media
    2 x 18,000 lh pumps
    Heated from house boiler through a heat exchanger
    Idealseal MS290

    My Pond Build

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  13. #7
    Roy - I have some FMG, but its old so I would need some more.

    I think it could well be white spot, but not sure. I will try and get some better photos; I would be too scared to try and scrape the fish without expert help.

    Smartin - The GH is indeed a tad low, but I dont think that is the cause of the issue. The PH is about spot on, 7.5 - the Alkalinity is KH, and lists an ideal value of around 6, so again the water is not quite perfect, but doubt its the root cause of the problem.

    I do have another fish that suffers from KOI pox, but that tends to go away as the weather heats up.

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  15. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Water parameters look good enough to me not to cause flashing or jumping.

    Main causes of flashing and jumping outside of water parameters would be White Spot or Flukes. Flukes being most common at this time of year.

    Unfortunately they require completely different treatments so as positive ID is a must before treating with anything.

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  17. #9
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Mikeh83's Avatar
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    I noticed one of mine flashing yesterday and this morning he jumped 3 times in succession.

    Scrapped 2 today and sure enough flukes.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  19. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ubiquity View Post
    Roy - I have some FMG, but its old so I would need some more.

    I think it could well be white spot, but not sure. I will try and get some better photos; I would be too scared to try and scrape the fish without expert help.

    Smartin - The GH is indeed a tad low, but I dont think that is the cause of the issue. The PH is about spot on, 7.5 - the Alkalinity is KH, and lists an ideal value of around 6, so again the water is not quite perfect, but doubt its the root cause of the problem.

    I do have another fish that suffers from KOI pox, but that tends to go away as the weather heats up.
    thats why i asked if your alkalinity was PH as i was unfamiliar with the terminology and your test kit....... knowing its now KH I agree water seems good, do you have a scope ? sure Gazkoi can provide you with some FMG if needed..
    2200 gallons,infinity window,
    Evolve 4k combi,spindrifter,
    2x20k pumps, BD,Skimmer,
    Shower, ASHP

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  21. #11
    I guess I need to get a scope to positively id. The idea of catching and scraping a fish absolultey terrifies me in all honesty. I did have some specialist treatment for flukes, but again it is well past its use by date. There are a few small tench in the pond as well, and FMG does say no tench (although they were okay when I treated a couple of years ago in the previous pond).

    Is there any fish doctor available down on the South Coast (near Portsmouth). Probably not possibly with the current COVID-19 lockdowns, but would happily pay someone to do a scrape and ID the issue for me...

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  23. #12
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion Ajm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ubiquity View Post
    I guess I need to get a scope to positively id. The idea of catching and scraping a fish absolultey terrifies me in all honesty. I did have some specialist treatment for flukes, but again it is well past its use by date. There are a few small tench in the pond as well, and FMG does say no tench (although they were okay when I treated a couple of years ago in the previous pond).

    Is there any fish doctor available down on the South Coast (near Portsmouth). Probably not possibly with the current COVID-19 lockdowns, but would happily pay someone to do a scrape and ID the issue for me...
    Ask your local dealer mate that's where I go with mine as i haven't got a scope yet

    Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
    Freddyboy the legend

    "we are water keepers first"

    Johnathan

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  25. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Ajm View Post
    Ask your local dealer mate that's where I go with mine as i haven't got a scope yet
    My local guy, who actually built the pond for me and does pond and acquarium maintenance is self-isolating at present, and has furlonged all of his staff :/

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