First
off let me say the biggest mistakes made by koi pond
owners are as follows. #1
mistake is not quarantining new koi upon arrival #2
mistake, #3
Mistake Did
you know that most koi farms have a CONSTANT fresh
water supply at all times? Understanding
Pathogenic Bacteria
By
Tom Holder
One
of the most important things in keeping your pond and
your fish healthy is understanding pathogenic bacteria.
There are a wide variety of pathogenic bacteria that can
infect your pond. By far the most common are Aeromonas
and Pseudomonas. These two bacteria kill more koi each
year than all the other pathogens combined. Understanding
how these pathogens live, eat and attack your koi is
vital to controlling them.
Aeromonas
and Pseudomonas cause ulcers (also known as ćhole in the
side diseaseä), fin rot, mouth rot and tail rot. If left
untreated the damage they inflict will eventually kill
the fish. Many hobbyists believe that their ponds do not
have either of these bacteria when their fish are not
currently experiencing any of the above symptoms. This
simply is not true. Aeromonas and/or Pseudomonas exist in
almost every koi pond the world. You must understand that
it is possible for koi to be around these bacteria and
NOT be infected. Koi have a defense mechanism that helps
protect them against these bacteria. This defense
is made up of primarily their slime coat and their immune
system. It is important not to have a false sense of
security because all your fish appear healthy. This
can change quickly. The big question is: How much
Aeromonas and Pseudomonas can koi be exposed to without
getting sick?
In
2000 when Koizyme was first introduced to the koi hobby,
many hobbyists and dealers conducted their own tests to
verify Koizyme did what it claimed. Most of these people
were kind enough to share their test results, as well as
information on the condition of their fish at the time of
testing, with Koi Care Kennel. Conducting these
tests were relatively simple. A sample of pond water
prior to dosing with Koizyme was sent to a lab to
determine how much Aeromonas and Pseudomonas was present.
The pond was then treated with the five initial
treatments of Koizyme. Once these treatments were
completed, another pond water sample was sent to the lab
for testing. A comparison of the before
and after test results verified a significant
reduction in Aeromonas and Pseudomonas. At Koi Care
Kennel we reviewed test results from around the country
and found some most interesting information. One pond
that was tested had 22,000 C.F.U.s (Colony Forming
Unit) of Aeromonas prior to dosing with Koizyme. Most of
the fish were experiencing various degrees of ulcers or
fin rot. In this particular pond 22,000
C.F.U.s of Aeromonas were enough to cause problems
in the majority of the fish. Another pond tested had
86,000 C.F.U.s of Aeromonas prior to dosing with
Koizyme. All the fish in this pond were healthy
with no signs of ulcers of any kind. From this example,
it can be seen that there is no set level of Aeromonas
that will cause ulcers. Other factors can enter in
to the picture here, such as the virility of different
strains of bacteria, etc., however for the sake of
simplicity, what is most important to remember from this
discussion is that the overall health of the koi plays a
huge role in how much pathogenic bacteria a fish can be
exposed to and not get sick.
In an
effort to help you manage Aeromonas and Pseudomonas in
your pond, I have come up with some terminology that will
hopefully help you to visualize the relationship
between pathogenic bacteria and koi health. Let me
emphasize that this is NOT some scientific theory based
on mounds of research, but a simple explanation meant to
help the hobbyist understand some basics.
If
you had your pond tested for Aeromonas and Pseudomonas,
you would get back from the lab a C.F.U. count telling
you how much pathogenic bacteria was in your pond. Imagine
this number as a RED LINErepresenting the pathogenic
bacteria level in the pond posing a threat to the fish.
As mentioned earlier, fish have a defense mechanism
against pathogens. Each fish has its own individual
tolerance level to the RED LINE based on the
condition of its slime coat and the strength of its
immune system. Now take a number of C.F.U.ās that
represents the highest level of pathogenic
bacteria that an individual fish can be exposed to without
getting sick. Imagine this number as a BLUE LINE. To
have a totally healthy pond with no sick fish, each
individual koi would have a BLUE LINE higher
than the RED LINE of the pond. For example, if an
individual koi had a BLUE LINE of 25,000 C.F.U.ās (the
highest level of pathogenic bacteria he could withstand
without exhibiting symptoms) and the pondās RED LINE was
18,000 C.F.U.ās, the fish would remain healthy and safe.
On the other hand, if this individual koiās BLUE LINE was
15,000 C.F.U.ās, it would be sick because it could not
tolerate the 18,000 C.F.U.ās in the pond.
Let
me give you a classic example of how this relationship
works. This example may also help some koi dealers and
hobbyists the next time a dealer is blamed for selling a
Īsickā fish. A hobbyist weāll call ćJohnä has had
his pond for some time and for the past three years all
his fish have been healthy with no infections or
problems. John decides it is time to finally go out
and buy that Īspecialā show quality koi he has always
wanted. He visits his friendly koi dealer, looks around
and sees nothing but healthy, beautiful fish. He feels
confident in spending the money for the koi he has always
wanted. He buys it, takes it home, and quarantines
it for three weeks. Lets say he even treats it for
parasites and flukes during the quarantine period. At
last, he puts it in his pond and it gets sick with ulcers
and fin rot. How many times have you heard John say it
was the dealerās fault. Johnās collection has been
healthy for the past three years. His pond is not the
problem, just look at his healthy fish.
Lets
take a look at what could have happened: Johnās
pond had a RED LINE of 40,000 C.F.U.ās. All his
fish were healthy. They had BLUE LINESof lets say, 45,000
C.F.U.ās. Now,
lets look at the dealerās pond. He works hard to
keep his ponds clean and healthy. When tested, that
show tank had a RED LINE of 10,000 C.F.U.ās. The
fish John bought had a BLUE LINE of 20,000 C.F.U.ās. It
was healthy in that show tank when it was sold. But what
happens when that fish with a BLUE LINE of 20,000
C.F.U.ās is put in a pond with a RED LINE of
40,000 C.F.U.ās? It gets sick because it cannot tolerate
that level of bacteria. Obviously,
this scenario does not pertain to sick fish being bought
and sold. But it is easy to see what can happen with the
red line and blue line when moving fish from one pond to
another without knowing what the RED LINE value is in
each of the two ponds. Even if you did know the
pathogenic bacteria levels in the two ponds, it how do
you determine the BLUE LINE of the fish being
moved. What can you do?
Fighting
the battle on two fronts
Keeping
your koi healthy and your pond healthy is a battle. And
itās a battle you want to fight on two fronts. On the
first front you want to work on lowering the RED LINE in
your pond. That is, you want the pathogenic bacteria
level as low as possible. You do this by focusing on good
mechanical filtration to remove the koi waste as quickly
and as thoroughly as possible. Use Koizyme to combat the
proliferation of Aeromonas and Pseudomonas. At the same
time you want to work on the second front, raising the BLUE
LINES- the ability of the fish to tolerate pathogenic
bacteria. This means raising the overall health of
your fish, and strengthening their immune system. To
accomplish this, water quality must be kept as high as
possible. Check ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels
keeping them within acceptable limits. Do periodic major
water changes. Diet is very important to the overall
health of the fish. They are what they eat. Feed a
quality staple food, and vary their diet. Feed collard
greens, kale, romaine lettuce, citrus fruit, watermelon,
and defrosted frozen peas. Adding a Īpaste foodā as a
way to get extra vitamins and fatty acids in your koiās
diet is always a good idea. See our website for a paste
food recipe that the fish love! (www.Koizyme.com)
Another
factor that can dramatically affect the relationship
between the RED LINE and the BLUE LINEis parasites.
In fact, it throws the red line/blue line relationship
right out the window. Parasites can bore through the
protective slime coat of the fish allowing any existing
opportunistic pathogenic bacteria to cause ulcers
regardless of the BLUE LINE . Even with an
extremely low RED LINE in your pond, the moment
parasites are introduced, secondary infections from the
existing pathogenic bacteria no matter how few can occur.
Keeping your pond parasite free is critical to
maintaining healthy fish. It is
easy to assume that when ulcers develop, an Aeromonas
problem exists. However, if the pond is well maintained
and the fish are well cared for, parasites could very
well be the problem. A microscope is needed to
confirm the presence of parasites. If you donāt yet have
a microscope, you really ought to get one. It is a
necessary tool in the koi hobby. Check with your local
koi club to see if you can get a member with a
microscope to help you take a scraping of your koi. If
you donāt have access to a microscope, then it may be a
good idea to treat for parasites anyway. Use a safe and
effective parasitic treatment such as PROFORM-C. This
product can be used in water temperatures as low as 50
degrees (F).
Ultimately,
the main goal is to get the RED LINE as low as possible
and the BLUE LINE as high as possible. Good
mechanical filtration to remove koi waste and the
use of Koizyme is the most effective way to lower
the RED LINE in your pond. Raising the BLUE LINE of
the fish is achieved by giving attention to providing
a healthy diet and insuring the best water quality
possible. Keep in mind stress will lower the BLUE LINE of
a koi quickly, and remember that as the seasons change
and water temperatures fluctuate, the koiās immune
system is affected, thereby lowering the BLUE LINE of the
fish as well. The bigger the margin between the RED LINE and
the BLUE LINE the better the chances the fish have of
staying healthy. You can win the battle against pathogenic bacteria if you fight the battle on BOTH fronts . |