Page 64 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 94

ensure that they have done everything that they can to
QUARANTINE –
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK
Mark Davis, Cuttlebrook Koi Farm.
Quarantine is enforced isolation, usually to contain
the spread of some kind of disease considered
dangerous. The word, which comes from the Italian
quaranta giorni meaning forty days, originates from the
40 day period of isolation of ships and people before
entering the city of Dubrovnik in 1377 and was to
prevent the spread of the plague, or Black Death.
The quarantining of new Koi has always been a
recommended practice as prevention against the
spread of common parasitic and bacterial infections
Mark Davis. and has become even more important in recent years
since the worldwide spread of Koi Herpes Virus (KHV).
Koi, like all animals, can suffer from and carry disease
and an apparently healthy fish may be harbouring some
form of disease that may pose a risk to any existing
population.
A good quarantine regime is as important, if not more
so, to Koi breeders and dealers as it is to hobbyists. All
Koi farms need to bring in new brood stock to continue
the improvement of the quality of the Koi they produce.
For this reason they need to follow the same basic
quarantine procedure as any hobbyist. Farms which
buy fish in to grow on and resell at a later date need to
be doubly sure that these new fish are free from
disease, as they will most likely be mixed with existing
stock before being sold on. Dealers have the same
responsibility to their customers as breeders do to
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provide properly quarantined fish that are as disease
free as can be reasonably expected and should always
carry out their own quarantine regime every time they
bring in new fish to their establishment.
In an ideal world, every Koi keeper would have their own
quarantine facility and would quarantine every new fish
they buy before introducing it to their pond. If money
and space were no object, a hobbyists quarantine
facility would consist of a separate insulated building
housing a dedicated quarantine tank of approximately
2,000 gallons (this would comfortably cope with any size
fish that would be purchased), including a bottom drain
leading to a more than adequate filtration system. The
filtration needs to be able to react to large fluctuations in
fish stocking density and medications. The system
should include a UV to help reduce the bacteria count
within the circulated water and there should be a
dedicated air pump to provide adequate aeration during
medication procedures. Ideally, the pump should be
drawing air from outside the building. Either the air
inside the building or the water should be heated
(heating the air reduces any condensation in the
building). The building should have its own water supply
and be equipped with its own nets and bowls. Gloves
should be used at all times when handling fish, water or
equipment in the building so as to reduce the risk of
transferring any disease to any other ponds. The system
should have some naive fish (healthy fish not previously
exposed to KHV) ‘Canary Koi’, which serve the purpose
of keeping the filtration system active, provide company
for any new fish introduced and which also act as
indicator fish should any viral disease be present in the
introduced fish.
For the great majority of Koi keepers however, the next
step down from the full quarantine building would be to
have a dedicated tank of 500 gallons or more and filter
system that can be insulated to enable temperature
ramping to be carried out. The drawback is that the tank
will have to be covered to retain the heat and therefore
observing the fish’s normal behaviour becomes more
difficult. The other alternative would be to buy a
collapsible tank. This has the advantage that it can be
stored away when not in use.
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