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Ponds & Aquatic Plants

Treat the pond or treat the fish or both?

sleeplessinftwayne

16 years ago

I'm pretty sure some of my fishies have accquired parasites and as I ran through some web sites to find what I would need it occurred to me that I didn't know if I should treat the whole pond or simply treat the affected fish. It would be much easier to do the whole pond but should the fish that don't have parasites be treated with what is essentially a poison? On the other hand, catching one 8" comet out of 20 in 1000 gallons plus could cause serious emotional trauma to the other fishies making them more likely to be victims of the parasites which are already picking out the more tender areas to bite. Does anyone have any advice on this chicken or the egg question? Sandy

Comments (4)

horton
16 years ago
Sandy, a few years ago I had the same situation, one fish was contiually doing the flipping and rubbing of it's body, intimating a possible parasite problem.
I used a parasite treatment made by Interpet, which did the whole pond and all the fish, over a five day period.

The treatment comes in a self measuring bottle, no muss, no fuss. Just mix the prescribed daily dose with a gallon of pond water and disperse it around the pond.

I dose my pond with the same treatment in the fall each year, as a prophylactic against parasites infecting them over the winter.
"Horton"
kalevi
16 years ago
I had a similar problem. I bought a large bottle of Quick Cure (malachite green + formalin) and dosed the pond for about 4 days. It got rid of the parasites. The only catch is you need to know how much water your pond holds to be able to apply the right dose. Too little won't work and too much might be bad for the fish.
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surfhead
16 years ago
If you have parasites in the pond then you need to treat the pond. If any of the fish have ulcers, fin rot, or other infections, then you need to remove them and treat with antibiotics. But the pond itself needs to be treated for parasites. I like Proform C myself. But it really helps to know which parasite you are dealing with. Any chance you own a microscope and know how to use it? Or by chence you you belong to a koi club that has member who could help out? If you have no way to determine which parasite you have then you need to treat for ALL parasites. Malachite Green and Formalin will treat many, but not all. I would also use PraziPond to treat for flukes. If those two treatments don't work then we need to step it up a notch.
sleeplessinftwayne
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the answers. I will be treating the water. Horton, the only sites I can find for the interpet posts their prices in Pounds and is tagged as UK. Do you have a specific site?
Surfhead, do you really empty the pond by 50% to use the ProformC and then refill it in 45 minutes for 4 days? That what the instructions on one site said.
Kalevi, I may not be able to find that brand here but I'll look for it. I'm sure there is the same combination out there under another name. Sandy

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