HELP

[Tony]

HELP!! I have had 1 koi die. Do not no why. Now I have a good size goldfish dead! My white koi has what appears to be 2 dark spots on its side, and the top of its body appears to be getting red. My Ammonia is below .25 PH is high 8.0 nitrite 0.25 nitrates at around 40. I have naturally high nitrates in well water. I have been cycling just tank for a month. Just started cycling water through my grow bed.

[Debra Colvin]

Sounds like some sort of fish disease. What killed the other fish?

[Phil Slaton]

Damn Koi ... to fragile.  They may have ick.  You need to salt your tank to about 3.ppt.  Do you have the info on how to salt?  If not, post your email and I will send it to you.

[Tony]

Not sure what killed it. I have only had them a week. They came from an adoption so not sure if they were sick when I got them.

[Phil Slaton]

Yeah, they were sick when you got them.  Came from a tank with ick in the population.

[Tony]

Will the salt harm the seeds and plants?

[Phil Slaton]

Not if you keep it under 5-ppt.

[Bill Bailey]

Not sure I read your Stats right ... but if your Ph is 8.0 you are high Alkalinity!  Ph is different for each species but I always keep mine between Ph 5.6 and 7.0 ... 7.0 is Neutral. I will try to upload a gif ..... Ph 5.0 to 6.0 is natural Rain water.

[Debra Colvin]

No. Acid is 1 to 6. 7 neutral. 8 to 10 is base. His ph is ok, imo. Good luck with the salting. I haven't had much luck.

koi are pretty hardy, so the poor guy might pull through.

[Scott Mooney]

Black spots are usually a skin fluke infection. White spots tend to be ich.  Gently catch your remaining fish individually, examine with a good white, bright light (LED is best for this).  Any fish presenting with black spot should be quarantined and treated.  Make sure you setup your QT with bacterial supplement, and do not treat until they have been in the tank for at least a week, so your biological filtration does not get wiped out by the meds.  Good water quality is paramount with sick fish.  So be prepared for small, frequent water changes.  Then medicate according to package instructions.

Keep on the lookout for future infections, because once flukes are in the fish tank, as long as host fish are in the water, they can remain.

Hope that helps.

[TCLynx]

Oyster shells will keep pH UP.  With a pH of 8.0, you don't want to add oyster shells or any shells.

Right Scott, Ick ich generally looks like white pimples.  Ick may be treated with salt (and salt will knock back certain plants like strawberries.)  As to black patches, I have no idea so I would tend to follow Scotts advice since I don't have any, never experienced such things myself.

In any case, you want to keep water quality as tip top as you can since many diseases and infections are simply opportunistic and will attack fish when they are stressed or weak and poor water quality and over feeding are often the primary culprit in triggering a disease outbreak.  I've had experience with Columnaris outbreaks in catfish and almost always something triggered a spike in ammonia that had a chain reaction and lead to issues.

[Bob Terrell]

If you are going to treat you Aquaponics fish with salt move them to a seprate container that you can add the salt too then discard the water when you are through treating your fish.

[Tony]

Thanks. There are no white or black spots. It looks like 2 dime size red spots. Maybe blood spots. And red along the dorsal fin down to the tail. Almost like a sunburn. I live in AK so I know its not sunburn. And they are kept in my garage.

Thanks for all the help and replies from everyone.!! Good news is my first lettuce has spouted!! WOOHOOO!!!

.

TCLynx said:

Oyster shells will keep pH UP.  With a pH of 8.0, you don't want to add oyster shells or any shells.

Right Scott, Ick ich generally looks like white pimples.  Ick may be treated with salt (and salt will knock back certain plants like strawberries.)  As to black patches, I have no idea so I would tend to follow Scotts advice since I don't have any, never experienced such things myself.

In any case, you want to keep water quality as tip top as you can since many diseases and infections are simply opportunistic and will attack fish when they are stressed or weak and poor water quality and over feeding are often the primary culprit in triggering a disease outbreak.  I've had experience with Columnaris outbreaks in catfish and almost always something triggered a spike in ammonia that had a chain reaction and lead to issues.