Koi health is of paramount importance if you want to appreciate your fish for a long time. Koi fish are known to live for decades even though the average life span is 20 to 30 years. Koi are hardy and tough; however, they can get sick. Their life expectancy depends mainly on genetics and living conditions.

The modern day koi are resilient but they have lost much of the resiliency of their ancestor, the magoi carp. They can flourish in the poorest water conditions and stay unaffected by the presence of parasites. This is because of the inbreeding process that started from way back when nishikigoi was first being established. Breeders needed to pair koi with parents and siblings to get the ideal body shape, intense colors and beautiful patterns that make the present koi so admirable.

Nonetheless, the koi of today hardly ever get sick and if they get sick or perish, you can trace the underlying cause to water quality problems. Other threats to koi health are parasites, ulcer disease, predators, medicine overdose, jumping out of the water, virus infections, toxic pesticide sprays, and tumor.

Water Quality

Poor water quality is the main cause of koi death. You will have to watch out for the pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and oxygen levels in your pond. Even small alterations in their levels can adversely affect koi health. PH pertains to the acid and alkaline content of your pond. Koi need a pH of 7.0 through 9.0. Ammonia is formed by your koi in the form of waste. It can be extracted properly by using biological filter system that takes advantage of the nitrification cycle.

Bacteria will transform ammonia to nitrites. However, nitrites are still toxic to the koi and must also be converted by other bacteria into nitrates that are comparably safer to the koi. Nitrates, in turn, are absorbed by the plants as well as algae in the pond. You already know how oxygen is required to sustain life. As your koi grow larger, they will require more dissolved oxygen. To Make sure that there is a lot of oxygen in the pond water install a waterfall, jets or air pump, or put air stones to add more oxygen to the water.

Parasites, Ulcer Disease and also Bacterial Infections

If the koi fish die or exhibit irregular behavior despite the good quality of your water, you could expect the cause to be either parasites or bacterial infections. Parasites such as anchor worms or fish lice can be harmful to your fish. The early signs are red or white pimples that quickly change into sores. The ulcer can get into the muscles of the fish so you need to discover the disease during its early stages.

You will have to keep you koi free from parasites. Hold the infected fish in salted water and feed with medicated food. You can swab the sores using betadine to help them recover. Consult with a veterinarian on how best to cure your koi.

Quarantine

You will need to isolate any brand new fish for at least three weeks before adding them to the pond. During this period, you will have to treat the fish for parasites. If you don't have a separate quarantine tank, be sure to purchase your koi only from reliable dealers that guarantees their fish to be parasite-free. Also carefully select the plants for addition to the pond which also has to be parasite-free.

Overcrowding

If you keep on having koi health problems (such as stunted growth or perhaps erratic behavior) even if your water is of top quality and you bought only parasite-free fish, you may want to check your koi population. Your fish may be experiencing stress as a result of overcrowding.

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