Page 73 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 94

2. Maintain a clean environment in and around the Week seven: Reduce the temperature to the
quarantine system.
3. Frequent observation of the fish other than at
feeding time.
4. Regular maintenance and monitoring of the filtration
and water quality.
5. Regular water changes.
6. Immediate and effective treatment of any observed
health problems.
7. Only treat a problem once it has been identified and
don’t be tempted to interfere with your fish if there
isn’t a problem.
8. Ensure that temperature ramping is carried out
correctly.
9. Don’t over feed the fish before the filter is mature
enough to cope with the increase in fish and food
waste products.
10. Maintain bio-security at all times. Hands and
equipment must not come into contact with any
other pond and vice versa.
A timeline that shows what you should be looking
out for at each stage
Week one: Carry out a skin scrape to identify if any
external parasites are present and treat accordingly.
Begin raising the temperature to between 15ºC/16ºC.
Week two: Ramp the temperature up to 23ºC to 27ºC
and hold it for three weeks.
Week three: Observe the fish and treat if necessary.
Week four: Observe the fish and treat if necessary.
Week five: Bring the temperature back down to
15ºC/16ºC for 24 hours and then take it back up again
to 23ºC to 27ºC again for two weeks.
Week six: Observe the fish and treat if necessary.
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temperature of the pond that the fish will eventually be
living in.
Check water parameters weekly and if in doubt daily.
8 disease symptoms and/or behaviour that might
show themselves during a period of quarantine
1. Heavy breathing.
2. Excess mucus.
3. Flashing.
4. Clamped fins.
5. Sitting on the bottom of the pond.
6. Fish isolating themselves from the shoal.
7. Gasping at the surface.
8. Ulcers, bruising or raised scales.
Stress during transport and handling
Koi are highly susceptible to the effects of stress.
Stress can be brought on when moving Koi, both
during transport and when being introduced to a new
environment. When a Koi is stressed, the autonomic
nervous system releases adrenalin into the blood
stream. This increases the heart rate which also
increases the blood pressure, breathing and
metabolism. Continued handling prolongs the
exposure to stress and can lead to the suppression of
the immune system and susceptibility to disease. On
the other hand, it is important, since the discovery of
KHV, that the fish are exposed to controlled stress
(temperature ramping) during the quarantine process
since the KHV virus only shows itself during periods of
stress when the water temperature is between 18ºC
to 27ºC.
See ‘Jargon Busters’ on the next page.
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