while doing my daily 2 hour pond stare I noticed one of my koi doing side flips on the bottom of the pond.......was swimming around on the bottom and would then sort of flip onto it's side, sort of like bending it's body into a side flip and then carry on as per normal.......I carried on watching and it only did this for a while and then didn't see it do it again, will carry on checking tho.

Just wanted to find out if this is normal, just never seen any do this before, hope it's just happiness from being in a new pond!!!

It's called - flashing.
Could be just to stir up the macro-organisms - did the fish turn around and swim back over the area?

They flash sometimes after a feeding to dislodge food particles in the gills.

They play this way some times (and jump out the water).

Then it could be parasite - but if was an occasional thing do not go and throw chemicals in the pond to treat for parasites. Only when a number of koi become agitated and flash you need to take action - preferably after looking at a scrape through a microscope.

Chris

cliff wrote:

hope it's just happiness from being in a new pond!!!

Hi Cliff
Chris could the flashing not also be due to New Pond Syndrome? Also check PH fluctuations, Amonia Nitrite and Nitrate.

Hi Chris,

Was watching again now, the one fish that did it earlier on in the day did it again now once over the 10 minutes I was watching. He did it again at quite a steady pace over the area, then turned around and seemed to sim over that area again, another fish tho seemed to approach that fish specifically as well......

The fish are constantly at the bottom of the pond and that's only where this takes place....they have only been in the pond for a week now and they seem quite content, yet during the day I can safely say I have never seen them come to the top. If I feed them they feed off the bottom and when this "flashing" does this flashing move it seems to swim deeper to do it.

I bought that blue (stains your fingers) bacterial liquid which I treated the pond with during the initial run in stage whih was 2 weeks ago and treated it again yesterday evening.

Very intermittent, it's a new pond with not much if any "growth" in it so would these organisms the fish is trying to break up on that actual fish or part of the pond.

I really hope it's not a parasite.....do you suspect a problem???

Or just a playful koi???.....

I did a PH test which was around the 7.2 mark, before I put the fish into the pond I ran it for 2 weeks, on my old pond I had 2 gravity filters where I removed the one filter and emptied all the bio material, basically tippld it over into the new filter and then ran it for 2 weeks like that. Then on the day I moved the fish over I emtied all my old pond water into my new pond and then transfered the fish.

Cliff,

Did this flashing occur before or after adding the new fish?

never noticed it before

http://www.koi-bito.com/forum/main-forum/10255-koi-flashing-water-parameter-question.html

I've never noticed the flashing before, was checking again tonight and in the hour I was watching, the fish in question did it once, this was after I fed them, other than that they're very active and all over the place. They also don't like coming to the top, I fed whole wheat bbread with garlic which they very cautiosly swam below but only ate it as it dropped down, they've been inside for over a week, is this just a precaution they're taking?

I've done alot of reading up and have read that flashing could be due to parasite, or dislodging food from their gills, spike in nitrite, spawning......so really could be one thing of many........fish does not do it alot at all, like I said only noticed it do it once in the hour I was watching and it did it mid way in the pond, not on the floor or sides, so not like it was trying to scratch on a surface.

Parasites are normally not very active this time of the year, but due to the fact that you added new fish, it might be.

You also have a new pond, and your ammonia and nitrites might jump up and down, which might also be the cause.

It might be nothing, just a bit of irritation.

My suggestion is, test your water regularly for Ammonia and Nitrites (and PH because your pond is new) If there is a problem, rectify immediately. Give very little food until your pond is more mature.

Invest in a Microscope. They are very cheap in comparison with the cost of your pond and fish. It can eliminate the possibility of parasites immediately or you can treat timeously.

Monitor your fish carefully on a daily basis, new pond syndrome can have serious effect on the health of your koi.

Because your pond is new and you added new fish to your collection without following QT procedures, add salt to a level of 3-4 kg/1000 liters.

Topic moved to Koi Health / FAQ

Thanks Paul, will do so

Are fresh water fish really ok in that much salt

I have a feeling it must be ammonia, just everywhere I have been going to buy a kit I cannot find one......been testing my ph with the hth test strips, just cannot find a ammonia test kit any where!!!

They are quite happy with a concentration of up to 5kg/1000 liter(for serious cases)

It helps them to settle in, sort out most parasites, creates a mucus coat for protection and prevents the negative effect of Nitrite spikes.

Once settled, you can gradually do away with the salt through normal backwashes.

Hallo Cliff

I did not take advice to QT my Koi (to much ‘work’ to start up my old pond again) and at first I had no troubles but within 108 days after introducing the new Koi I had three dead fish. In my case I believe it was filter problems that kick started al the trouble since I fiddled too much with the system before it settled in.

Little history:

4 April – cleaned out filter system. Stupid idea
5 April – Introduced 5 new Fish
7 May – Tancho died without any external signs (33days after I worked on filter)
14 -18 June - Started up my filter system again after modifications on chambers and fitment of my last filter sheets ( filter not working for 4days waiting for cement to dry)
21 June – Sanke died – ulcer on body but noticed to late (45 days after 1st death)
18 July – 3d fish died (30 days after starting up my filter again)
18 July - started PP treatment and added more salt to pond

I had a huge nitrite spike about 21 -25 days after each ‘’me fiddled again’’ episode.

Since I am new to this I made many mistakes, so it is good to take advice from people with years of experience.

You can introduce all sorts of baddies into your pond when adding new fish and plants. The other thing to remember is that each pond will have a certain amount of bacteria / parasites and your fish might be adapted to a high amount of these baddies but the new fish will get sick if they come from ‘ a better managed pond’ with a lower bacteria count.

ok....shot out quickly and bought a 25kg bag of pond salt and chucked the bag in just like that into my 7500lt pond.

I dont think I have a problem, this is however just preventative. Funny how you mind starts playing tricks on you and making you see things that aren't there.......i hope

As the good old saying goes, prevention is better than cure.

Some experts say you should always increase the salt gradually over a period of two or three days to enable the fish to get used to the salt.

However, I believe it is not that important and I have taken the shortcut on numerous occasions without problems.

http://www.koi-bito.com/forum/main-forum/10694-ph-issue.html