It has been a wet and cold winter and pond temperatures have rarely budged any higher than 5°C for some time. I’m sure that most of you haven’t really been outside to visit the pond too much over the last few months. The odd handful of food thrown in now and then and a quick check to make sure the fish are still doing okay.

It’s now February, temperatures are looking a bit warmer and the fish are beginning to feed with a bit more confidence. We are beginning to introduce a bit more of the standard floating pellet into the diet. This will help keep the immune system high which Is essential for this time of year. We like to use the 3mm Floating.

As the water temperature warms, everything comes back to life. It’s a critical time of year as its when the fish are most vulnerable to parasites. The immune system of the fish is still pretty low. Now is the time to make sure that the fish are being monitored. There are a few steps we would advise to help make sure the fish are in the best condition to deal with this time of year.

The first and most basic is keeping a keen eye on the pond, this is probably the easiest way of monitoring the fish health. Watching the way the fish behave, how they are feeding and if they have any cuts or abrasions on them. Spending 10 minutes, sat back from the pond so the fish are unaware of your presence. Watching and looking for signs of ‘’flashing’’ or ‘’rubbing’’. This is an early indicator that there may be something wrong and the fish may be irritated by some sort of parasite. They are also known to flash when the water quality is not exactly where is should be so this is a great time to use your API Master Test Kit and take some sample readings.

If all levels are correct and fish are still displaying the rubbing and flashing behaviour then we would suggest a skin scrape. This is a procedure whereby a small sample of mucus is gently taken onto a glass slide. The mucus is then examined under a microscope. The two main early spring parasites include Chilodonella and Flukes. Both can cause huge skin abrasions and in severe causes, left untreated, will lead to mortality. Chilodonella especially, is a parasite which multiplies rapidly between 5-10°C. 

It is critical that you do not add any treatment to the pond without diagnosing the problem first. This can cause more harm than good so its important to take the time to get a skin scrape carried out. Each treatment contains different chemicals and therefore adding the wrong one can be detrimental to the fish health.

Okay, so you’ve noticed that the fish are not acting normally. You have tested the water and all the readings are exactly where they should be. You have managed to scrap a few sample fish and have noticed some flukes on the microscope slide.

What to do now?
Colombo have a fantastic product called Lernex which is specifically designed against Flukes. It comes in different sized bottles and can be dosed directly into the pond. Correct dosage calculates to 20ml per 500L of pond water. It’s important to get the dosage correct so take the time to calculate the pond volume correctly. We would also advise turning any UV off whilst treating.

Once treatment has been added its important to that the fish are kept as stress free as possible, try to avoid netting or moving the fish. Continue with feeding as normal for the time of year.
We like to monitor the fish for the first 7 days before re-scrapping. Same situation with the first scrape, take a small sample of mucus and examine under the microscope. We have great success with Lernex and we find that one treatment dose is effective. A secondary treatment may be advised if you are still struggling to remove the parasites. 

The fish should respond well to the treatment and the clinical signs of parasites should subside. You will then have happy and healthy fish to enjoy watching all year.

Obviously, at the Carp Co, we are always happy to help if and when you need it. Just give us a call or drop us a Whatsapp.