R            EADING  Stewart  Bennett’s  very  moving
           articles  in  the  Koi  Times  led  my  fingers
           towards the keyboard once again. But before
diving  into  the  subject,  I  think  it  is  important  to
applaud Stewart for baring his koi keeping soul. It
takes  a  brave  koi  keeper  to  ‘talk’  personal  koi
keeping health problems for the benefit of others.
In one article I warned fellow koi keepers that the
effects  of  metals  on  koi  is  my  pet  hobby-horse.
Hobby-horse riding begins now! Many years ago, as
an  amateur  koi  keeper,  I  wrote  for  the  B.K.K.S.
Magazine explaining why I have such deep rooted
concern about the effects of substances in water on
koi. With pond Mark four, we lost over 23 koi due to
high levels (for fish) of copper and zinc in the water. Decimated pond Mark four. Hardly any koi left and no algae or blanketweed.      Our  fish  went  through  the  same  horrendous
journey as Stewart’s. The simpler health problems
were  such  things  as  tatty  fins,  raised  scales  and
lethargy.  It  took  approximately  three  months  for
the more serious indications to start showing. Small
wounds  started  appearing,  they  were  difficult  to
heal.  Some  wounds  failed  to  heal  and  ulcers
developed.  Bacterial  invasion  occurred  as  bacteria
found a lovely open door through the kois’ wounds
and  ulcers.  “Goldie’s”  gills  were  so  damaged  that
she  suffocated  to  death.  We  went  to  an  Essex Fish test kits do not show metals in pond water Section barbecue and when we got home we found
four fish had died during the evening. By this stage
I felt I was a murderess and was very close to giving
away our few surviving koi and filling-in the pond.      The  hardest  part  was  that  no-one  knew  what
was   happening   to   our   fish.   Pond   water   was
independently     tested     for     the     fishkeepers
parameters (ammonia etc.) - they were spot on. Fish
scrapes were taken for parasites, a few were found & Koi A   L U R K I N G   P R O B L E M By  Ann Telford Part 1