FISH POND HEALTH

Fish Ponds & Disease

One of the most important things in keeping your fish pond / Koi pond and your fish healthy is understanding pathogenic bacteria. There are a wide variety of pathogenic bacteria that can infect your fish pond / Koi pond, regardless of the Koi pond filters, pond filters or any fish pond filter you might use.

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 in the Koi pond / fish pond is vital to controlling them.

Aeromonas and Pseudomonas cause ulcers (also known as "hole in the side disease"), fin rot, mouth rot and tail rot to the fish in your fish pond / Koi pond. If left untreated the damage they inflict will eventually kill the fish in your Koi ponds / fish ponds.

Many hobbyists believe that their fish ponds / Koi ponds do not have either of these bacteria when the fish in their fish ponds are not currently experiencing any of the above symptoms. This simply is not true. Aeromonas and/or Pseudomonas exist in almost every fish pond / Koi pond the world.

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 the fish in your fish ponds / Koi ponds appear healthy. This can change quickly. The big question is: How much Aeromonas and Pseudomonas can a Koi be exposed to without getting sick?

In 2000 when Lymnozyme was first introduced as pond supplies to the Koi hobby, many hobbyists and dealers conducted their own tests to verify Lymnozyme did what it claimed. Conducting these tests were relatively simple. A sample of fish pond / Koi pond water prior to dosing with Lymnozyme was sent to a lab to determine how much Aeromonas and Pseudomonas was present.

The fish pond / Koi pond was then treated with the five initial treatments of Lymnozyme. Once these treatments were completed, another fish pond water sample was sent to the lab for testing.

To accomplish rising the ability of the fish to tolerate pathogenic bacteria, water quality in the fish pond must be kept as high as possible. Check ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels of the fish pond / Koi pond In order keeping them within acceptable limits using pond filters. 

It is easy to assume that when ulcers develop, an Aeromonas problem exists in your fish pond / Koi pond. However, if the fish pond is well maintained and the fish are well cared for, parasites could very well be the problem.