Friday, July 16, 2010

Appropriate Koi Treatment Methods

By James Field
  • Appropriate Koi Treatment Methods
  • Koi Treatment Options and Solutions
Maintaining a koi pond does not only mean feeding the fish but includes as well properly treating them when they catch diseases. Koi fish infected with a disease can easily contaminate the water and also affect the health of other fish. It is important that koi owners immediately treat those that are ailing.

Proper Ways of Treating Koi

There are a number of ways of administering treatment to koi with health problems. Mostly, the type and appropriate treatment will depend on specific health problems. Some known methods of koi treatment are:

1) adding chemicals to the pond. This is perhaps the most convenient way of treating the fish.

2) here is what is known as tropical treatment. This is the kind of treatment required when the koi has open wounds.

3) in cases when the fish has systemic bacterial infections, you can administer and inject the correct antibiotic.

Important Considerations in Koi Treatment

Some of the more important considerations in koi treatment are symptoms, and the integrity of the biological filter system of the koi pond. Observing symptoms is especially important. You have to observe the symptoms since appropriate medication will depend on the kind of symptoms exhibited by the fish.

The owner must also conduct a water pH test since some symptoms are more or less similar to those shown by fish in poor water conditions. They should also pay attention to the effects of these chemicals on the biological filter system in deciding the kind of treatment. Some of these chemicals can damage the filtration system.

Sometimes you'll need to add medication directly to the pond. This in effect will treat all the fish in the pond, including those that do not require it. Undue introduction of chemicals in the pond will cause damage to the biological filter system. It can also cause ammonia levels to rise, depending on the type of the chemical being used.

When chemicals are put in the pond, it is important that you do not feed the fish while the chemicals are still present in the water. You can also start cleansing the pond of the chemicals by changing water as often as possible.

In most of the cases, chemicals can deoxygenate the water. Hence, additional aeration may be needed in order to safeguard the overall conditions of the pond.

There is also a treatment system known as a "dip". This is done by putting the fish in a small bowl containing chemical treatment, for short period of time. This treatment is particularly effective in dealing with new koi afflicted with an ailment. Before placing the koi in the pond, you must ensure that it is free from parasites and other illnesses.

Koi and the Isolation Box

Another great way of treating koi with poor health conditions is putting it in an isolation box. An infected koi can infect other koi in the pond. To avoid this infection, take out the ailing fish and put it in the isolation box. By putting it in quarantine, the others are spared from exposure to the infection.

To isolate the koi fish, you will need to:

• Get an isolation box. A separate aquarium or a fish bowl will do.

• Clean and disinfect the box in order to avoid further injury to your fish.

• Apply chemicals or make appropriate treatment to the koi fish.

• Oxygenate the water to make the fish comfortable.

• Avoid feeding the fish during treatment.

• Ascertain that the fish has completely recovered before putting it in the pond again.

Appropriate Koi Treatment Methods, Koi Treatment Options and Solutions Article Source : Ezinearticle