Koi and Goldfish Health, Disease and Treatment. Dosing a Fish Pond
Maintaining a high level of water quality results in a healthy and stable koi or goldfish pond system in equilibrium with itself. In such a situation koi or goldfish will rarely suffer from serious heath problems. Water quality is managed by ensuring the fish pond has an adequately sized pond filter (biofilter) for purifying the potentially toxic chemicals emanating from a fish's normal metabolic process. Introducing new fish gradually and avoiding overfeeding are other aspects of pond management that will allow a pond to remain in balance and thereby reduce the risk of health problems.
In the real world health problems arise from occurrences out of our control. For example a fish might be wounded by a bird especially herons stabbing a wound into a fish which becomes infected leading to bacterial disease like ulcers.
If a pump breaks down and is unattended to quickly will result in a biofilter breakdown and fish will become stressed due to ammonia levels reaching toxic proportions.
At times chemicals have to be added to a pond to treat koi or goldfish health problems or a pondkeeper might decide to add chemicals to lower chlorine levels from a tap water top up or add products like Viresco used to eliminate blanketweed. It's important whenever anything is added to a pond to do it correctly by following the dosage instructions on the product's packaging.
How to Dose Additives to Pond Water
If chemicals are to be effective in a pond then correct dosages must be applied and this means the volume of water in a pond needs to be known with a fair level of accuracy. This more often than not means a calculation has to be done and this is far from easy for irregular shaped ponds.
You can access a calculator that will allow you to calculate the volume of any pond quite accurately by clicking this calculator link.
Since many koi and goldfish disease or health treatment chemicals are toxic when overdosed or ineffective if under-dosed you can appreciate the need to measure volume accurately. It is also vital to follow manufacturer's instructions when adding anything to a pond to prevent stressing in the fish.
Some koi and goldfish health treatments require multiple doses to be effective. Incorrect dosage over a period of time can lead to serious consequences so make sure you get a good accurate fix on pond volume before you start adding health treatments.
When dosing a fish pond with medications it is often recommended to turn off the UV to prevent the chemicals being deactivated. It is also recommended that extra aeration takes place during the period of treatment.
Two Different Types of Pond Treatments.
The first group treat fish disease and medication and the second group are related to water quality improvements.
Fish Medications
Koi and goldfish medications can be used to prevent diseases setting in or for curing disease once it has become apparent. Preventative treatment might for example be used in spring when a pond is starting to come back to life after a long cold winter when fish didn't eat and drew down on the body fat levels to survive. As water warms in spring pathogenic bacteria also start to come back to life and multiply. This might be a time to consider a preventative treatment such as an anti-parsite medication or a product like Viresco or Koi Zyme to mop up Aeromonas bacteria.
It should rarely be necessary for any kind of koi or goldfish treatment to be done in winter.
Antibacterial Treatments.
A wide range of broad spectrum antibacterial treatments available are available to treat fish conditions such as ragged fins and reddened areas of tissue which are signs of bacterial infection in fish. When fish have open sores or ulcers, it is highly unlikely that adding anti bacterial treatments to the pond will be effective. In these cases koi need very special treatment normally outside of the pond..
Anti-parasite Treatments.
The most important classes of parasites that effect koi and goldfish health are the microscopic parasites such as Costia, Trichodina and Chilodinella and larger parasites such as anchor worm and fish lice. These potentially dangerous parasites can be can be treated by dosing a pond with a carefully measured course of medication. White spot, characterised by white spots on the fish as the name implies can also be controlled using a course of antiparasitic pond treatment.
Antifungus Treatment.
You can expect fungus outbreaks more commonly in spring and autumn. There are a range of anti-fungal products on the market and as always follow the instructions exactly.
Water Quality Pond Water Treatments.
Algae and Blanketweed
Suspended algae and blanketweed problems are by far the most common with the suspended algae problem showing itself as cloudy green (pea soup) or brownish colour preventing your seeing the fish. While the suspended algae problem is best handled using an UV clarifier there are effective additives that can be used the best of which is probably Viresco. Blanketweed is also controlled by Viresco.
Tap Water Conditioner.
It is sometimes a good idea to neutralise chlorine and chloramine contained in tap water when major water changes are done or a when a pond is filled for the first time.
Filter Starters Enzyme Treatments.
These bacterial mixes are used to speed up the population of a biofilter that has been dormant for whatever reason. Other bacterial and enzyme mixes are available that digest organic material sitting at the bottom of a pond. .
Enzyme preparations are also available that will 'consume' sludge and other organic debris that may accumulate in a mature pond. Simply pour in the solution and let nature take over.
Koi Medications Koi Pond Treatment and Fish Health water disease
Koi pond disease Aeromonas pseudomonas lymnozyme bacteria
Pond Fish Diseases Koi Health Ulcers Parasites Medications water
Protect the lives of your fish
Protecting Young Pond Fish | Using Surface Skimmers
Sick Gold Fish Koi Pond Fish Health Problems Filters Healthy
