I understand about the firm answer thing, and I appreciate your opinion.  I'll go with it and see how it helps.


Thanks for the warning.  I'll definitely use the plant basket and maybe try a loosely woven filter and check it often and see how it goes.  Again, many thanks for all your help!!

The paper test strips do not tend to be as accurate as the liquid test kits.  Since you should be checking ammonia, nitrite, KH and pH on a regular basis, it is good to invest in liquid test kits for these.  GH and nitrate are important, too, but they do not change as rapidly as the others, so they can be measured far less frequently.

As long as nitrite is present, you need to add enough salt to keep the salt concentration in the 0.10% to 0.15% range.  (Remember, that you only need to add salt for the volume of water that is being replaced - not for the total volume or for water that is added to compensate for that which was lost to evaporation.  Salt is not removed from the pond unless you remove water - evaporation does not count.)  To determine whether you should be adding anything else other than a dechlorinator to the water will depend on the GH, KH, and pH of your source water.  Let us know what those are, and we can advise whether anything else is necessary.

Stress and water quality can contribute to the red streaks on the fin.  From your size estimate and the photo of your pond (excellent photo, BTW), I would estimate the volume of the pond to be between 350 and 450 gallons.   The minimum recommendation is 250 gallons per koi and a minimum depth of 4 feet.  Overcrowding will cause stress for the fish.  At this point, the best you can do is to maintain pristine water by regular water changes and, as Kathy has recommended, vacuuming any debris from the bottom of the pond.

Thanks again for your help. 

My wife had the water tested again at the local Petsmart, it seems the ammonia is between .25 and .5 mg/L based on the color changing strips.

I will begin partial water changes weekly.  Other than adding a de-chlorination, should I be adding anything else to the water when I perform a change?

The Koi seems fine other than the red streaks on the fin, how concerned should I be at this point?

Thanks,
Steve

Thanks Rick,

That clears it up for me. FYI-Fish have been moved to newly lined home, got rid of one more fish (a 10" butterfly..) salted to .15, no more Debride, no plants right now...they seem happy!! Fingers crossed!

Judy

The only dumb question is the one that is not asked. 

Adding salt to water does create saltwater; however, the point at which it is considered "saltwater" depends on the amount of salt that is added. True saltwater (as in sea water) has a salt concentration of 2.72% to 3.37%.  A concentration of 0.15% salt is still considered to be freshwater.  There are very few fish species that can live in both saltwater and freshwater and a few others that are adapted to brackish water (salt concentration of 0.7% to 1.4%).  Most saltwater species, however, will die if the salt concentration falls below 2.5% for any length of time, and most freshwater species will die if the salt concentration stays above 0.6% for any length of time.

Hi Judy,

 As a pond cycles, the salt will help in the nitrite phase.. keep it around 0.1 -0.15% until ammonia and nitrite read 0.. 

 

Hi Schicks,

 Salt is a medication and should be treated as such. Generally there is enough natural salt in water to carry it between water changes. WC's should be 10% or more weekly..   Rocks trap debris and fish doo, this can add to the ammonia & nitrite levels. Do you have a shop vac? Don't stir it up, just remove it..     A good ammonia binder/dechlor will also help, which reminds me, do a PH reading from your tap please. 7.0 is a bit low for the filters bio bugs to work well.  We may want to bring you up some but would like to first see the source numbers.

Melafix.. I don't have any thing against Mela, however, the word Antibacterial is greatly misused and abused. There's a time & place for it, and this isn't it.  Keep in mind here, LPS & LFS's are in business to sell - something they are really good at.  We do recommend keeping salt on hand, along with other items in the fish medical cabinet. However, at this point do not use the melafix.  We do not want any hindrance of the gills 02 uptake.   

With a slight nitrite level showing, the salt isn't going to hurt but rather help in this case since it will help prevent brown blood disease.  Need to get that ammonia & nitrite to 0..

Then remove salt through water changes once the numbers are controlled, if you freeze & have snow, the salt is a no no..

Here's a couple of articles you can read that fill in the gaps from the best of forum :

http://koivetforum.com/index.php?topic=31.0

http://koivetforum.com/index.php?topic=26.0

Thanks Kathy,

I don't have a regular water change schedule, but I would say 25% once a month.  We have had leaks in our pond, so I do frequently add water.

I am adding salt based on a recommendation from a local Koi shop, I choose to use salt that is for home water softening systems.  It is my understanding that salt is beneficial to water quality and Koi health.

We bought MELAFIX antibacterial treatment, but have not used it yet. 

Thanks,
Steve

Hi Lotusman,

Again, thanks for the information. I didn't know/think about the food possibly/duh killing the good bacteria in my filter. I am giving them the food due to the loss of the 2 other fish. I totally get the "fix the water quality first, medicate only if you know what you are dealing with mantra." I hadn't read all the posts regarding over medication and the hazards of creating super bacteria. I am more confident at this point that all my fish aren't going to die from whatever killed my other 2 fish so I will stop the medicated food if that would be the best course now. Same goes for the salt. I was always told to salt to destress, not neccessarily to kill bacteria. Should I remove salt at this point or leave it in as the new pond cycles?

As far as the saltwater vs. freshwater, am I to understand that the concentration would never be high enough to constitute being saltwater or is it that you don't make saltwater by adding salt to water? Sorry for the dumb question?

I really appreciate your taking the time to work through this with me. I am afraid I am in for another bumpy ride as the pond cycles.

Judy

Wow, it's hard to catch a spry koi. He has quite a vertical jump, too. We were not successful in catching in him tonight, we'll have to try tomorrow.