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  1. #1

    My Fish are Flashing.

    Hi Everyone/ I've got 15 fish in my pond. And 4 of them are flashing, but I've only noticed them doing it after feeding? What are peoples thoughts? Thank you



  2. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion davethefish1's Avatar
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    Water quality tests, scrape and microscopy
    Koi keeping 101...

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  4. #3
    Hi/ Thank you. Water test are all good . Fish feeding like mad. Got The scope out today only tested two fish which were flashing. But read that you might have to scape the fish with up to seven slides. I only scrapped the lateral line on both Fish. Will have to try again tomorrow. Just thought it was strange, that they only did it after feeding.

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    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion davethefish1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maddog1 View Post
    Hi/ Thank you. Water test are all good . Fish feeding like mad. Got The scope out today only tested two fish which were flashing. But read that you might have to scape the fish with up to seven slides. I only scrapped the lateral line on both Fish. Will have to try again tomorrow. Just thought it was strange, that they only did it after feeding.
    water tests all good? thats unusual for this time of year,
    most peoples bios are just waking up unless heated all winter...
    low ammonia readings followed by nitrite, as food levels are increased and bacteria struggle to grow as fast....
    ph swings as algae start growning in earnest with higher light levels.

    benignly some flashing can be down to coarse/sharp food particles stuck in gill filaments. i had some colour food like that, but only once.
    most common is gill fluke irritation, causing discomfort when food particles pass through gills.
    i've never found gill flukes on the body though, only ever in gill scrapes... you would have to have a reasonably high level of infestation to find them on the body i think...

    i don't often do gill scrapes because they are usually a bit bloody...only after eliminating everything else...
    as you can see from the pink colour of this gill scrape with a gill fluke....

    i'd scrape 3 more and some that are not flashing,
    some fish don't flash much and still have parasites but are just more tolerant of them...


    Last edited by davethefish1; 13-05-2022 at 11:07 PM.

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  7. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by davethefish1 View Post
    water tests all good? thats unusual for this time of year,
    most peoples bios are just waking up unless heated all winter...
    low ammonia readings followed by nitrite, as food levels are increased and bacteria struggle to grow as fast....
    ph swings as algae start growning in earnest with higher light levels.

    benignly some flashing can be down to coarse/sharp food particles stuck in gill filaments. i had some colour food like that, but only once.
    most common is gill fluke irritation, causing discomfort when food particles pass through gills.
    i've never found gill flukes on the body though, only ever in gill scrapes... you would have to have a reasonably high level of infestation to find them on the body i think...

    i don't often do gill scrapes because they are usually a bit bloody...only after eliminating everything else...
    as you can see from the pink colour of this gill scrape with a gill fluke....

    i'd scrape 3 more and some that are not flashing,
    some fish don't flash much and still have parasites but are just more tolerant of them...


    |Thank you David. Some really good information there, what makes a lot of sense. Love the last bit about fish not flashing and having parasites, because they are healthier, stronger etc. Or not as stressed.

  8. #6
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Mine have started flashing the last few days as well. Some raised scales here and there as well which haven't gone down.

    Like Dave says, water quality was the likely culprit for the time of year, but other than some movement with pH all parameters are perfect.

    Microscope already on the dining room table.... a job for tonight by the looks of it!

    You don't need 7 scrapes though - the last 4 or 5 will be dead by the time you get to them. Just scrape a couple from an easy to reach area to start with. If no parasites found then try a bit more in depth, bowl the koi, flip it upside down against the side of the bowl and it should stay still, then get some scrapes from between the Pec and Ventral fins, around the pec ball joints, under the chin etc, they are the places I get the best success.

    I already scraped one of mine from above the lateral line the other day, didn't find anything, so will try a couple more tonight.

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  10. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post
    Mine have started flashing the last few days as well. Some raised scales here and there as well which haven't gone down.

    Like Dave says, water quality was the likely culprit for the time of year, but other than some movement with pH all parameters are perfect.

    Microscope already on the dining room table.... a job for tonight by the looks of it!

    You don't need 7 scrapes though - the last 4 or 5 will be dead by the time you get to them. Just scrape a couple from an easy to reach area to start with. If no parasites found then try a bit more in depth, bowl the koi, flip it upside down against the side of the bowl and it should stay still, then get some scrapes from between the Pec and Ventral fins, around the pec ball joints, under the chin etc, they are the places I get the best success.

    I already scraped one of mine from above the lateral line the other day, didn't find anything, so will try a couple more tonight.
    HI RS. Thank you for the heads up. I did over ten scraps over 3 days and found one Gill fluke and one Trichodena. Went to my local koi supply dealer. Who is straight as they come. Had a in depth chat with him, told him what I had notice etc. He like me after the only finding 2 parasites on over ten slides, didn't wont to rush in with treatments. My nitrite had spike to a high of 0. 25ppm, so I want to be 100% sure on that to get in to 0ppm on the scale first while keeping an on the Fish. I do know I have been over feeding them while been on holiday, I'm digging a new pond and their only in a 800 gallon pool. Every time I went past I had to throw some in.

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  12. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maddog1 View Post
    HI RS. Thank you for the heads up. I did over ten scraps over 3 days and found one Gill fluke and one Trichodena. Went to my local koi supply dealer. Who is straight as they come. Had a in depth chat with him, told him what I had notice etc. He like me after the only finding 2 parasites on over ten slides, didn't wont to rush in with treatments. My nitrite had spike to a high of 0. 25ppm, so I want to be 100% sure on that to get in to 0ppm on the scale first while keeping an on the Fish. I do know I have been over feeding them while been on holiday, I'm digging a new pond and their only in a 800 gallon pool. Every time I went past I had to throw some in.
    I did 3 scrapes, probably in excess of 100 trich on the slides. They were all dead (possibly contaminated with Tamodine which I applied to raised scales whilst scraping), but undeniably Trich.


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