This morning I found a dead koi at the bottom of the pond. When I scooped her out I could see no damage or disease or infection of any kind except for a very bloated belly. I decided to do an autopsy and found that she died from being eggbound. The eggs grew to such an extent that it squashed all her internal organs. Have a look at these photos I tood during the disection.

Beautifull 56 cm Kaneko Kujaku - notice the bloated stomach



One side flap cut open to reveal the organs and the egg pouch.



Other side flap cut open.



Now I removed the egg pouch. You will notice almost all the internal organs squashed up against the upper part of the body



Once the egg pouch came out there was almost nothing left of the fish.



Hope that your Koi do not become egg bound like this. In the 8 years or so that I have been keeping koi, this is only the second time it has ever happened. First was in my 30 000 l pond and now in my 8 000 l pond.

Thanks for posting this, it's always nice to see what goes on exactly inside with a fish with regards to egg retension.

Unbelievable to see how the whole belly is consumed with eggs, yet when you remove the eggs there is nothing left of the belly.

I am sorry for your loss, but grateful for the education.

Hi Koibooi

Many thanks for this posting it is very informative and exactly the reason why I am trying to spawn all my females at present.

hi guys this was also a koi of mine that died of eggs being stuck,
at the time i didnt know it was eggs, I tought he just eat to much...

and he was growing so fast ..

Is there anyway you can help the koi to prevent it from becoming egg bound ?

Hi Mario

Yes apparently there is, I am not sure of dosages and the long term results though. But apparently an strong dose of Acriflavine will sterilize her and it won't happen again. Please ask Pieter Odendaal, I am sure he will be able to tell you.

Mario,

I think there is a misunderstanding about Acriflavine in this regard. The precise working of acriflavine on pathogens in a koi pond is not known but what is known is that it interferes with the DNA of pathogens, especially the DNA of a virus. One of the side-effects of an Acriflavine overdose on koi may be that it can become sterile. I would not recommend that you experiment with that! Sorry

Regards

Thanks Pieter

That answers that, I like to use Acriflavine, but was once told that I am running the risk of sterilizing my fish. Well then what would be an answer to the question asked by Mario, or does one just have to assist by spawning in a separate facility when things don't work naturally.

Hi,

Pure Acriflavine will sterilize your Koi when overdose!
(Do not use the combination of Malachite Green and Acriflavine)

A normal dose is; 100ml/1000lt and up to 3-5g/1000lt for a limited time.
But if you dip the Koi at a dose of 1g/1lt water for 30 minutes, it will sterilize the Koi, beware that it could damage the slime coat!
If the Koi starts to stress or flip over, it should be removed immediately and place in a bucket with clean water and plenty of oxygen.

thank you for the advice guys.