AboutBrigitte Expertise Pond and Water Gardening (aquatic plant selection and care, Koi and pond fish selection and care, pond and water garden building and maintenance, etc.) of all sorts.
Experience
Experience in the area: Own a Water Garden Supply Retail Store and Pond Supply Mail Order Company www.pondmarket.com
Organizations I belong to: St. Louis Water Gardening Society
Publications:
Editor of Splash! The Garden Pond & Water Garden Newsletter!
St. Louis Gardener Magazine, various internet gardening newsletters, and others
Question One of my koi fish jumped out of a temporary pond that we had them in yesterday. He was out for around 20-30 min. We found him covered in dirt and not moving. We put him back in the pond and moved him back and forth for about 20 min. He seemed better and was swimming around a little and keeping himself upright. This morning he seemed ok. He was swimming around faster and everything. Then later today we found him on his side. We thought maybe he lost his slime or something and got an infection so we got some melafix and put that in there. Maybe he's just extremely stressed? Any opinions??? Thanks
Answer Hello Melissa. At this point, commitment to the koi is your only option and it may be misplaced. Once a fish goes without air for a long period of time there is permanent damage. Adding Melafix will help with any infections, but, it doesn't do much for the slime coat. You need a sliming agent like Koi TLC. If the fish is still breathing there is still hope for the poor guy/gal - but, the longer they are on there side the less the chance of a full recovery. This brings me to my next suggestion. If you have an air pump or a spare water pump hook it up to raise the dissolved oxygen levels in the pond. Whenever a pond fish is sick or stressed the dissolved oxygen levels can never be too high. The salt level can be increased as well. Pond Salt helps a stressed fish breathe easier, helps battle infections, and helps with slime coat production. Concentrations should not exceed .7%. If you have plants in the pond anything above .15% can turn them brown. You may want to take them out or salt up your holding tank and let the fish spend a couple of days in that. Again, vigorous aeration will help. Aside from those things there is not much else you can do. But, a sliming agent, vigorous aeration, and salt works wonders. I hope this helps Melissa. Good luck!
