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jetman73
Here is a couple of pics of my new shiro utsuri. As you can see it has a pretty nasty bacterial infection. This is the reason why ALL NEW fish should be quarantined. If something is going too go wrong, quarantine is where you want it too happen.
jetman73
Another
PeachesCat
Thanks for the reminder! I hope your fish gets better!
Scott
Rob,

Your forgot to tell us what you are doing to get rid of the problem, for this fish? The poor thing it doesn't look very good. I'm guessing you are going to raise the temp to 86 for a few days? Salt bath?

Anyhow, thanks for posting this. We can't be reminded enough about the importance of QT. Plus someone new to all this may not know about it, I know I didn't when I first started out. This last spring was the first time I quarantined because I had just learned of it. I am so glad I did, as you and everyone else know what happened to my new fish. I had a pond for 7 years and none of the people I bought fish from suggested qt, NONE. I paid 200 dollars for my blue koi and the lady I bought her from didn't say anything about QT. I've boughten fish from a koi farm in Boise, on two different occasions, the guy there never said anything about QT. I learned about QT from the Koivet message board.

We live and learn and this is one thing that will never be posted enough on. Infact I would suggest that this thread should be marked to stay at the top. That way all new people to fish can see it and learn the importance of it.


I had my fish in QT for a month and a half. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how long the average should be for fish staying in QT? I've asked this question before and got several different answers. Certainly there should be a good set time? I also know that when Bonnie from Bonnies Plants says that she treats for everything when she puts her fish in QT before she'll sale. Then she suggests that the buyer keep the fish in QT after they get them, just in case. YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO SAFE.

Here is what Bonnie states that she does after she recieves her fish that she is going to sale;

QUOTE
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.


Click here for what Bonnie says about QT. I trust her, she knows what she is talking about. She helped me save 4 of the fish I ordered from someone else. I ordered 7, obviously 3 died. It was an aweful experence but thank goodness I learned about QT before I bought these fish.

Anyhow, don't mean to ramble. This is an important topic though and I am glad Rob brought it up. Hopefully this thread will be marked to stay at the top.

Rob, good luck with your fish. I hope it starts feeling better soon.

Scott
jetman73
This is what my treatment protocol will be/has been.
This is a new fish that I hit with Proform C and prazi right from the start so I will rule out parasites. Unfortunately I could not get my hands on any microscope cover slips so I used the shotgun technique.
Right now I have upped the temp too 79 and salted to .3%. I am also feeding antibiotic food as of yesterday and just started debride applications today. I will keep the water parameters where they are now and continue with the medicated feed for at least 3 weeks from now.
If I could, I would inject this fish but it is so small. It is only 7", and the difference between the correct dosage and a fatal one is too close. And I do not feel comfortable in doing so with such a small fish. So I am going too stick with the higher salt levels combined with antiobiotic food and Debride applications. I will post some pics on monday or tuesday either for the better or worse. I think I can pull this one through it but you never know.
Scott,
What was the first sign you saw in the khv fish? This fish has been eating and acting fine since I got it and the shusui looks great. I think my carelessness led too the advanced state this fish is in right now.
One more tip for everyone:
When you set up a QT, be sure too monitor the conditions of the fish regularly.
jetman73
Regarding QT times:
I really don't know since there is too much advice out there. I would think that if you up the temps too the higher 70's the fish will break within time( if they got something), not matter what it is. I normally QT for around 6 weeks. So far I have never had a problem until that shiro came along.
If I can hold a fish in 77-80 degree water for six weeks with no symptoms and a clean scrape I consider it safe.
Scott
Rob,

The first fish that died just died on the day of arrival, no warning signals. Infact, the second one that died didn't give a signal either, it died withen 2 days (this was when the fish were outside in a 180 gallon troff that I was using as QT). I really wasn't able to monitor them that well in the troff since it is black and in a shady area. I was so new to the concept of QT, I still had no idea what I was doing. I called the lady that I bought the fish from after the first death, then after the second death. She sent me some medication and told me what I should do. I told her I was going to warm the water up as well and she thought that was a good idea. That was when she let me know that she had been notified that the shipment of fish she recently recieved had KHV. The last one that died had gotten a huge ulcer on it's side (infact that ulcer started out looking somewhat like what your fish has). The ulcer popped up so quickly and withen a day it was dead (I had just brought the remaining 5 fish in the house and placed them in my 50 gallon aquarium, I was going to warm the water up and medicate). Of course I did end up warming the water to 86 degrees and four lived.

If that bacterial infection turns into an ulcer put hydrogen peroxide on it. One of my Shusui had gotten an ulcer as well and Bonnie told me to put hydrogen peroxide on it. I didn't like doing it but the ulcer healed withen a day. I was shocked. It's hard to do though because the fish isn't too excited about being handled. I hated doing it because I worried about hurting the fish. If you have any questions on this you might want to email Bonnie or even call her. Her addy and phone number are on her site. She is the best source for one on one help that I've found. She is awesome.

Scott
Ranchugirl
Scott, hydrogen peroxide is a miracle application for any kinds of open wounds, actually! I have used it before with all kinds of wounds, and it worked great...and its cheap, you can get it anywhere!! With a little dap of antibacterial cream (not ointment, cream stays on the fish longer in the water), 2-3 times a day, and you can take care of so many things, combined with medicated food.....
Rob, I was always very scared of giving fish any injections, and I still am. Only had to do it once, and Terry came over to do it for me. He showed me how its done, but I am so glad I didn't have to do it again....
I am afraid I would do more damage than good....
With the subject of quarantine, the microscope again pops into my head. With a tool like that you can exactly pinpoint the parasite, without having to use the shotgun aproach. Which reminds me that I STILL don't have one yet!! Thud.gif......
I will pin this topic on top, this is important, especially with the fact that we don't wonna lose any expensive koi or our whole collection because of that negligence....smile.gif
jetman73
Thanks everyone for the replies.
I do not advocate the shotgun method but I have found it impossible recently too find cover slips without having too order them. So I decided too hit the new guys with Proform C and prazi. That is the safest and least stressful way I know of too eliminate almost all parasites.
For the ulcer I know peroxide works great and a pp paste rub would probably work as well but I decided too use debride. And Andrea, you posted all of the reasons why I am so upset that there is not going too be a wet lab this year.
I really don't think it is khv. It looks more like your run of the mill ulcer. This fish is eating great and after taking a look at the gills they look extremely healthy. In a khv infected fish this would not be the case. I am contributing the cause of the ulcer too overall shipping stress and the fish probably damaged itself in some way with all of the jumping that goes on when they are in their new environment.
And the best way too handle the fish when you need too do treatments like this is too knock them out. Go too any health food store and get a bottle of clove oil. Add 5 drops per gallon and that will do it. I like too shake it up in an old test tube too help emulsify it. Just don't let them go too far under. Normally after about 4-5 minutes they are suitable too work on. I'll post some pics early next week for an update. Either good or bad.
Ranchugirl
Clove oil,hm? And now I can stop wondering why that fish was so calm in your hands! lol.GIF
jetman73
Clove oil works great. The stuff I use is called clove bud and it is made by natures alchemy. Just make sure the label says 100% oil.
I know that Doc J reported that it takes a long time too get them under and a long time recovery using clove oil (around 15 minutes for both parts) but this has not been my experience. Normally after 4 minutes they are sedated enough too work on and they recover quite rapidly however I have never sedated a larger fish so that could explain the discrepancy. The smaller fish that I have sedated normally upright themself within 1 minute and after 5 minutes you can not tell that they were put under.
Just don't spill any, since your house will smell like a fresh cooked ham for some time.
Scott
I feel so unsafe doing anything with the fish, when Bonnie told me to use Hydrogen Peroxide she had to talk me into it, walk me through it and if she were in Idaho she'd of had to hold my hand LOL. I don't want to hurt them. I would have used Clove Oil but I felt so unsafe about it that I figured I'd kill them. I suppose I should learn to use it though because if ever I have to do the hydrogen peroxide thing the treatment will go much more smoother with a laid back fish rather than a spastic one. And after I put the hydrogen peroxide on the fish the fish just curl up and started contracted I felt horrible and guilty. It was a bad experience for both of us.


Scott
pm94
jetman73,

Would you mind going into detail about your quarantine
procedure? Or anyone else for that matter. Kinda
interesting to see how people QT fish. What I'm wondering
about is time(yours 6 weeks), types of food, any meds,
do you add salt, stuff like that.

There were some new terms/ med names being used.
Could you explain these so people(at least me) sort of
understand the verbage being used--shotgun technique,
Prazi, debride, SVC, KHV.


Any input would be super. smile.gif

This is like advanced fish keeping 201.
jetman73
Well everybody I am sorry too say that I lost this one today. When I left for work this morning he was doing great and when I got home he was dead. I still don't think it was khv, I just believe the bacterial infection went into the blood and without injections he passed on. Besides the ulcer there were no signs of khv and the shusui still looks great. Now I will be keeping a close eye on his tankmate who is in for an even longer quarantine. This all illustrates how important QT is, since if I introduced this fish directly too my pond I would be freaking out by now.
Pm
That is some great questions and hopefully I can answer some of them.
I don't like too medicate fish for something they MIGHT have. I like too look at a scrape under the microscope if I can and go from there. Medicating a healthy fish for no reason is only going too add too the stress. Unfortunately I was not ready for this guy and I decided too use a shotgun technique of prazi( also known as praziquantel) for flukes and intestinal parasites and proform c ( which will take care of most parasites). If you need too shotgun this would be the best 2 meds too use and I always use prazi regardless of what I see under the scope since it is so safe and can kill things that you can not see under a microscope.
I think temperature is the main part of a qt. When you get fish into the mid too upper 70's everything becomes more active, including viruses, parasites, and bacteria. The whole purpose of a qt is so you can make sure your new purchases are safe too add too the existing population. That is the reason I raise the temperature. If something is going too happen, a qt is where you want it too.
I also like too feed a medicated food right from the start, but I got lazy with this fish. I added one of my goldfish too their tank after a few days too try and calm them down and did not follow the full course of medicated food. I think this is the main reason I lost this one. Medicated food won't hurt if you only use it when you need too. And QT is when you need too.
The reason I use 6 weeks is because I keep the fish in the upper 70's the whole time. If they show nothing after 6 weeks in higher temps they should be fine. Don't quote me on that one.
And you should always have an established biofilter on there. You need too keep tip top water quality.
Salt is something I only use if I need to. The reason I upped the salt on this one was too help the osmotic regulation because of the ulcer.
KHV = Koi Herpes Virus, This is a virus that infects koi only and if you ask me there needs too be way more research on this one before anyone can give you advice on how too manage it.
Debride= Is a cream for the treatment of ulcers in fish
I hope I didn't miss anything but it has been a long day.
Scott
Rob

Sad to hear about your fish. It's an aweful feeling, even though you didn't have it for very long. I know exactly how you feel. I hate it. Good luck with the shusui. Everything sounds good so far.


If anyone had clicked on the link I gave from Bonnies plants on QT did you notice the part about KHV? She posted a link to go to on stating that KHV is no longer KHV but is now called CNGV which means Carp Nephritis and Gill Necrosis Virus;

KHV IS DEAD AND CNGV IS BORN

With that posted, I think we can probably still call it KHV and everyone will know pretty much what we are talking about. Here is what Bonnie posted on KHV;

QUOTE
Symptoms of KHV

--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



Scott
jetman73
I left work early today because the shusui was not eating this morning. Needless too say I had too put this fish down today. After noticing popeye I took a closer look and the belly was very ulcerated. The gills also showed signs of necrosis so I put it down. After what I have been through the last few days I would assume khv but I will never be totally sure. Maybe I was in a bit of denial after looking over the shiro.
I will never place blame and say that a certain dealer sells khv fish since there are too many steps along the way where they could contract it.
All I know is whatever problem my fish had was very ugly. It reared its head when heated and once symptoms were visible the decline was extremely rapid.
And if that is not a reason too quarantine I don't know what is.
Scott,
Too thank you for supplying all of that information I will attend the khv seminar at the orlando show and answer any questions too the best of my ability that anyone has about this disease.
Scott
Thats aweful! I was in hopes that it would survive, at least it wouldn't have been quite so bad. Not sure what to say, I'm glad you put them in QT though. We live and learn and hopefully this educated you a little more in some way, thus next time things might turn out better.

Scott
pm94
jetman,

Sorry about your fish. sad.gif

Thanks for the answers to all my questions. Now I've got
some more. rolleyes.gif

I noticed in your pics you've got gloves on. I'm guessing it's to
prevent passing stuff from one fish to the next? What are your
thoughts on doing a salt dip before QT? Or are you just doing
the higher temps and then deal with stuff as it comes? I know
everyone has their own method, it's just interesting to see what
everyone does and compare notes.

P
jetman73
The reason for the gloves is because I don't want too catch anything. That was an open and active bacterial ulcer and it is transmissable too humans.
The picture was actually taken over a 1 gallon bucket that I use too sedate them and I had no concern about passing it too other fish since there was only 2 fish in the QT.
I would personally not do a salt dip on a new fish since it will only stress them even more. If you are starting out with a healthy looking fish in the first place I think you should pass on the salt dip. It is very harsh on their slime coat and if you don't need it, don't do it. If you feel the need too treat for parasites there are better alternatives than salt baths IMO.
The reason I like 78-79 degrees is because after a few weeks all that can go wrong, will.
pm94
jetman,

Thanks for the reply again. So what else can a fish pass to a person?
This is a new one for me, so might as well ask. Along with that, how
does it affect someone?
jetman73
The main thing you would have too worry about is handling a fish with an open bacterial infection. That is the reason I was wearing gloves. For the bacterial infection too take hold in a human you would normally need some type of open sore or cut on your skin. And if you add in a depressed immune system you could potentially have a serious problem.
It is also possible too catch parasites but you would need too ingest some water for this too happen and is EXTREMELY rare.
I don't want too scare anyone since the chances of either happening is remote but I thought I would let everone know that it can happen, has happened, and will continue too happen.
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