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What You Want To Know About Keeping Your Koi Healthy
Koi health is very important if you want to appreciate your fish for a long time. Koi fish are known to live for decades although the average life span is 20 to 30 years. Koi are hardy and durable; however, they can get sick. Their life expectancy depends largely on genetics and living conditions.
The modern day koi are tough but they have lost much of the toughness of their ancestor, the magoi carp. They can flourish in the poorest water conditions and remain unaffected by the presence of parasites. This is because of the inbreeding practice that started from way back when nishikigoi was first being established. Breeders have had to pair koi with parents and siblings to get the perfect body shape, intense colors and beautiful patterns that make the present koi so admirable.
Nevertheless, the koi of today hardly ever get sick and if they get sick or die, you can trace the root cause to water quality problems. Other threats to koi health are parasites, ulcer disease, predators, medicine overdose, jumping out of the water, virus infections, toxic pesticides, and tumor.
Water Quality
Poor water quality is the main cause of koi death. You will need to watch out for the pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and also oxygen levels in your pond. Even small changes in their levels can adversely affect koi health. PH refers to the acid and alkaline content of your pond. Koi need a pH of 7.0 through 9.0. Ammonia is produced by your koi in the form of waste. It can be extracted effectively by using biological filter system that makes use of the nitrification cycle.
Bacteria will transform ammonia into nitrites. However, nitrites are still toxic to the koi and must also be changed by other bacteria into nitrates that are comparably safer to the koi. Nitrates, in turn, are consumed by the plants as well as algae in the pond. You already know how oxygen is needed to support life. As your koi grow larger, they will need more dissolved oxygen. To Make sure that there is plenty of oxygen in the pond water install a waterfall, jets or air pump, or put air stones to add oxygen to the water.
Parasites, Ulcer Disease and Bacterial Infections
If the koi fish perish or exhibit abnormal behavior despite the good quality of your water, you could suspect the cause to be either parasites or bacterial infections. Parasites such as anchor worms and fish lice can be harmful to your fish. The initial signs are red or white pimples that rapidly change into sores. The ulcer can reach into the muscles of the fish so you need to catch the disease during its early stages.
You will have to keep you koi clear of parasites. Hold the affected fish in salted water and supply with medicated food. You can swab the sores using betadine to help them heal. Consult with a veterinarian on how best to treat your koi.
Quarantine
You will need to isolate any new fish for at least three weeks before introducing them to the pond. Throughout this period, you will have to treat the fish for parasites. If you do not have a separate quarantine tank, make sure to purchase your koi only from reputable dealers that guarantees their fish to be parasite-free. Also carefully choose the plants for addition to the pond which also has to be parasite-free.
Overcrowding
If you continue having koi health troubles (such as stunted growth or erratic behavior) even if your water is of top quality and you purchased only parasite-free fish, you may want to check your koi population. Your fish may be experiencing stress due to overcrowding.
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