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Parasites of Koi, Pond Fish and Goldfish
Parasites exist in almost every body of water that contains fish. They are almost exactly like fleas on a dog or cat. Rare, in fact, NOT to see them. They're diagnosed by skin scrapes and biopsies viewed under simple microscopes. Nothing fancy.There are about seven common parasites which will be discussed here. Parasites vary in their size, shape, behavior and pathogenicity. They ALSO vary in what it takes, to kill them.

Chilodinella
Chilodonella is a small parasite famous for rapid springtime kills. Fortunately it's easily cleared with salt.

Costia
Costia is responsible for a lot of the recent fish mortalities we've seen after Japanese style shows.
There are several reasons for this, which I wanted to discuss here.

Flukes (Dactylogyrus / Gyrodactylus)
Flukes used to be the worst parasite facing Koi because they are so COMMON, but they required barbaric methods for eradication. That's all changed...

Hexamita
First, don't live in fear of this. It's rare. But it tears them up when it makes its apperance. Fortunately, Metronidazole is a quick fix.

Ich - Ichthyophirius
Ich is, perhaps, the most common fish killer at the wholesale and retail level. Tropical fish hobbyists all know the disease. Normally it causes white spots in affected fish, but not always. How is it treated?

Trichodina
A saucer shaped parasite ringed on the out edge by cilia, it's a fast moving parasite that can cause a lot of flashing and itching in icy, temperate and warm water. COMMON!

Argulus
This disc-shaped parasite is a blood sucking crustacean parasite that is easy to identify once you suspect it's there.

We have movies in Koivet.com that you can look at and even download.



HELP! Sick Fish!
Twenty Steps to fish health. You LITERALLY can solve almost any Koi or Pond health outbreak with these twenty diagnostic steps and nothing's hard. But it's not "here's your pill" either. Downloads are available.
DrJohnson.net
More than koi health, this site spans all things animal, by a real veterinarian who shoots you straight.

Fishdoc.co.uk
By Frank Prince-Iles. A UK authority who put this site together some time ago and which is still relied upon as a major source of good Koi and pond fish information

If you need pet information AND Koi pondfish and pond information you might like DrJohnson.com which has everything from pet info, to vet info, to koi and pond fish. It has it ALL! Pet Information.

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