If you have purchased fish from us, it
is not necessary to treat the fish for parasites. We
have taken care of those steps for you.
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Keep a watchful eye on the new incoming
fish.
Keep your fish from being contaminated by the new incoming
fish. All fish purchased from more than one
dealer should be quarantined in separate tanks away from
each other.
Treating a smaller tank that is used for quarantine is
cheaper than treating
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Will depend on the number of fish being
quarantined.
Stock tanks anywhere from 100 gallons up to 500 gallons
available from farm stores. Size will depend on the
number of fish.
Small fish or just a couple of fish can be quarantined in
a 55 gallon Rubber Made garbage can.
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Fresh dechlorinated water, well water or better
yet water from your pond. Small filter and pump
Heater
Small air pump
Water proof thermometer
Net to cover tank
Salt, non iodized and contains no YPS. Water softener salt is OK
if it says 99.9% pure.
Scale to weigh salt
Fluke tabs (not necessary if the fish are purchased from me.
They are treated for flukes before they leave here)
Ammonia binder like Amquel or Prime
Test kits: ammonia, nitrite, pH and salt
Buy Test Kits
Net large enough to hold the fish the size you purchased
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If you know you are going to be
purchasing fish ahead of time, set up the quarantine
tank before hand and have the pump, filter and air stone
running.
Check the pH of the water in the tank. Add regular Arm and
Hammer baking soda to bring the pH up to about 7 to 7.5.
Many have higher pH readings and that is OK. Your
fish will adjust to your pH
The temperature in the quarantine tank should be around
78*. If it is not, add an aquarium heater.
When you get the new fish home float them in the bag of
water. If your dealer cares about his customers he will
have filled the bag with oxygen at the time the fish
were put in the bag for you. You will want to float the
fish in the bag (Do NOT open the bag at this time) of
water for 20 to 30 minutes. IF the fish has been in the
bag for a long period of time or shows signs of stress
AND if the water in the tank is only a couple of degrees
difference, it might be best to skip floating the bag
and just put the fish right into the tank.
The water in the shipping bag will have a low pH.
The low pH actually protects the fish because the lower
the pH the less toxic the ammonia is. We do add a
generous amount of ammonia binder to the shipping bags.
When the floating time is over, remove the fish from the
bag and add to the pond/tank. Do not add the
shipping water. Use your hand or a net to remove
the fish from the bag.
That water can possibly contain a lot of bad
bacteria and perhaps fish feces. Just like you would not
drink from a glass that another had drank from, you do
not want to put ANYONE else's water in your pond or
quarantine tank.
About 12 hours after you have had the fish in the new
tank start add salt. You will need a total of 1 pound
of salt for every 100 gallons of tank water.
I suggest that you test the water with the salt test kit
after the first batch has had time to dissolve and
circulate through the water. It should read about 0.10%.
If it does not you may have to adjust the salt level.
But keep in mind that salt is very forgiving and you
have a lot of room to play.
About 24 hours after you have added the fish, test the
ammonia and nitrite. REMEMBER while in quarantine no
amount of ammonia or nitrite is acceptable. Read this
mean NONE. If ammonia is detected, add Amquel or Prime.
While these products will not remove the ammonia they
will bind them up so that they are not harmful to fish.
Think of ammonia in a tank like you would a baby that sits
for a long period of time in a wet diaper. Ammonia in
the tank will burn the fish's gills and skin, just like
a baby in a wet diaper. High levels of ammonia will kill
fish very quickly.
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If you bought the fish at a Koi show
chances are that it has not eaten in a few days to a
week. Fish are fasted that are sold at shows so that
they do not contaminate the water. This is not the case
if the fish are purchased at a dealer's location. Keep
in mind the smaller the quarantine tank and the number
of gallons of water in relationship to the number and
size of the fish is going to make a difference in the
water quality.
You can feed the fish a very small amount of food after
they have been in the quarantine tank about 6 to 8
hours. Keep the feeding very small and remember it is
better to feed 2 smaller portions 2 times a day than one
larger portion once a day. New fish may not eat for a
couple of days until they adjust to their new home. They
may also "hide". This is very common. Usually after a
couple of days they will adjust and come out of hiding.
You may want to float a piece of Styrofoam on top of the
water to give the fish a place to hide for this reason
alone. Keep in mind many a small fish have jumped and
landed on the Styrofoam and died. Use small pieces so
that if it does land on the Styrofoam it can flop and
get back in the water.
If you have purchased fish from me, I have included some
of the food they are used to eating. This should last
you a few days. I have found my fish do better if they
stay on the food they are used for a couple of days. The
food I feed is called Sho Koi.
A few days to a week to a couple of weeks after adding the
fish you may detect Nitrite. Nitrite poisoning
interferes with the ability of the fish to uptake
oxygen. It causes the blood to run brown. Fish can and
will die from nitrite poisoning. The salt in the tank
will kept the fish from up taking the nitrite and from
suffering from nitrite poisoning.
Some believe in water changes if you have ammonia or
nitrite in the water. While you may want to do small 10%
or so water change once a week I do not recommend larger
water changes. First of all it slows down the nitrogen
process and you will find that even with an 80% water
change the ammonia or nitrite level will be right back
to where it was before you finish adding new water. Not
only that, large water changes are stressful to the fish
and the last thing you want is a stressed fish in
quarantine.
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There are many thoughts on this topic. I
would say the very minimum would be 3 weeks. I quarantine for at
least 30 days and monitor the fish daily . Many say 6 to 8 weeks. A
proper quarantine will include observing the fish, checking for
parasites. If you do not have a microscope, you may want to
follow the protocol found on the link
Koi Parasite Treatment
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Not measuring ammonia and nitrite level. Any
ammonia or nitrite level other than 0 (ZERO) is NOT acceptable
Tank is not big enough
Not netting the tank. A fish that has been
moved is very likely to jump, not only from
the quarantine tank but from the pond once
it has been put in the pond. In time the
fish will adjust to its new home. In the
mean time keep a net over the tank
Not carefully observing the fish. The
quarantine is a time to watch and see if the
fish will develop any problems. You can not
just put the fish in a container of water
and wait out the required time. This is the
time to treat the fish for parasites and
keep the water premium. Premium water means
NO ammonia or nitrite.
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SVC and Koi Herpes Virus are real. Many have
lost entire ponds of fish this spring because they did not
quarantine their new incoming fish. Granted, if your fish has
SVC or KHV you may loose them but why take a chance on loosing
fish you have had for years?
There is no cure for the 2 Viruses. Any fish that contacts the
virus and survives will be safe BUT it will be a carrier,
meaning it can pass the virus on to other fish and not show any
effects of the virus itself. Because the virus is heat triggered
you must raise the temperature in the quarantine tank to at
least 78 degrees. The virus will be dormant in cooler water and
will strike once the water temperature goes up.
Once again any fish that survives SVC or KHV will be a carrier and
could contaminate other fish. That fish should be destroyed and
a bleach solution should be run through the entire tank/pond,
filter and any other thing that has come in contact with said
fish including nets and tubs. There is NO cure for SVC or KHV.
PLEASE be assured we have put our fish through a cold water
treatment then a warm water treatment at least 2 times and then
a second cold water treatment to assure that our fish do not
have either KHV or SVC
Read more about
KHV
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-Behavioral signs--
Fish congregate in areas of low flow or lie on
bottom or in abnormal
positions
Uncoordinated swimming
Rate of respiration, response to stimuli, and
swimming are progressively
reduced.
--External signs--
Darkening of the skin
Fluid accumulation in the abdomen (dropsy)
Exophthalmos (pop-eye)
Hemorrhages-skin, gills, eye
Pale gills
Protrusion/reddening of the vent
Feces- long, white/yellow, mucoid
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--External signs--
Darkening of the skin
Fluid accumulation in the abdomen (dropsy)
Exophthalmos (pop-eye)
Hemorrhages-skin, gills, eye
Pale gills
Protrusion/reddening of the vent
Feces- long, white/yellow, mucoid
But KHV also has this symptoms:
Skin and gills exhibit decreased mucous
production and hemorrhages in fins
and body Read more about
KHV
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Know your
dealer. Ask specific questions. Don't settle for "my fish
are clean or they don't have parasites". Sure, some things
can go undetected at a reliable dealer but if they have
treated the fish, they will say so. And a reliable dealer
will be on top of what is going on in his tank or pond at
all times. Questions to ask the dealer: Have the fish been
treated for parasites? What kind of parasites? What was the
course of treatment? Finally ask the dealer if they have a
microscope. Chances are that if they have a microscope they
know how to use it. IF they do not have a microscope DO NOT
buy fish from them. If they care about their fish and their
customer they will invest in a microscope and know how to
use it. What seems like a good deal on a fish may be a dead
fish in a short period of time. There are
There are NO real bargains in life, especially when it
comes to fish. Some unscrupulous dealers will pass off sick
fish to cut their loss.
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All fish
sold are fully quarantined and treated for parasites and
bacterial infections as needed. In addition each fish sold
has been put through a period of cool water treatment for
SVC and a warm water treatment for KHV and then a cool water
treatment and then back to warm. Please do not add any
treatments to my fish without checking with me first.
I do not recommend adding any treatment to the Q-Tank unless
you notify me first and I will will guide you on what to do.
I scope a few fish from every tank here on a weekly basis.
And if I find a problem the whole tank gets treated and fish
are on a self imposed quarantine until the problem is
cleared.. All fish shipped are thoroughly checked by me the
day of shipping.
If your fish is being shipped, I will tell you the
temperature and pH of the fish tank that the fish were in at
the time of shipping so that you may duplicate those
conditions in your Q-Tank. Fish will adjust better if you
can match those conditions. I feed Sho Koi fish food and I
recommend that you feed the fish the same food they are used
to eating.
At the end of your quarantine I strongly urge you to add an
expendable fish from your pond to the Q-tank for a couple of
weeks to make sure that everything is OK. Or you can also
quarantine a fish from your pond at the same time as the new
fish.
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