Ok, So I’m pretty sure I know what’s wrong with him and I’m pretty sure it was a direct result of over feeding. I’ve looked at the info I can find and I’m pretty sure the poor guy is just constipated. I love the hell out of this 3 year old black moor though, so I just wanted to get others opinions or verifications.

Mr. Googly is in a150 gallon pond with one fan tail and two smaller black moors( Mr. googly has become a gentle giant in comparison) that cycles with a 500 gallon koi pond with 10 small koi (most of them under 5 inches, 2 that are about 7 to 8 inches). The pump cycles 1200 gallons per hour through both ponds which I know is about half what it should be, but the biological filter is cleaned every 2 to 3 days religiously. I have had the water tested frequently and it is spot on, no problems with water quality.

I have been feeding the big black moor large sinking pellets 3mm, and feeding the smaller fish 1mm sinking pellets. This has been the main staple of their diet since last winter. I ran out of the big pellets a week and a half ago, so I fed the big guy the smaller pellets for a few days. When I got the big pellets, I’m pretty sure I put to many in the pond. I noticed a day or so later that Mr. googly was not as active as he usually is(he was not swimming around, exploring or doing summer salts and dives like usual. I figured he was just being shy or something, but after the second day of not seeing him swim about the pond as usual I brushed aside the water hyacinths and found him lying on his side at the bottom of the pond. This is not normal at all for him. He takes naps, but not on his side. I gently lifted him off the bottom a few inches and he was immediately responsive. He has no signs of wear or tear. His belly is a bit bigger on one side than the other, but barely enough to notice. He can maintain buoyancy and he can right himself, but for the past week, he always sinks to the bottom and lies on his side. I check on him daily and he is still strong and responsive. He is not tucking his fins and does not appear to be getting any worse. Every day I check on him, he is in a different spot in his pond, so I know he is moving around. I stopped feeding him pellets and put him on strict diet of peas once a day. I have been feeding him that for a bout a week. His poo which was intermitant earlier in the week has turned from orange to green, but at least he is pooing. He is however not righting himself yet. I’m still a bit worried so I thought I would check with the pros.

Any advice or input would be greatly welcomed. Thanks

Hi Nanzer ,

Is Mr Googly pooing ? is it bright green ?

If it is , then the peas have cleared him out and i would suspect that he isn't constipated ...

If his abdomen is swollen , it's possible he could have an internal bacterial infection or swimbladder problems , this may be why he has decided to sit on the bottom of the pond .

I wonder if he has gorged himself on the pellets if you put too many in , and has got food rotting in his gut and this is affecting his swimbladder ( i'm just thinking out loud here ) .

Have you tried fasting him for a few days ? this can help .

Do you know your actual water readings , i know the filter is big and works well , but it's possible that you maky have a spike if you have overfed badly. Fancies can have buoyancy problems if the nitrate levels rise.

I will ask a coldwater advisor to have a look at the thread for you , but it may not be until tomorrow i'm afraid.

Best wishes to you and Mr Googly.

H

Hi. I'll get you the exact reading tomorow, but I know the water is spot on, we reduced what the koi were being fed weeks ago because the amonia was a smigen high. We've had an abnormally cold and dry summer here in Michigan which has reeked havoc on maintaining good water quality (algae blooms, shade vegetation like lily pads and water hyacinths growing extremely slow)but i have really kept the pond in good condition and have been monitering the fish since we put them out in late May. Googly's behavior started after I over fed him. I knew at the time that I had put to much food in, i just didn't think he would get sick from it.

his poo is a dark turquoise color. I just started fasting him today and plan to keep fasting for about a week while monitoring his condition closely, unless some one here thinks that is to extreme.

thanks for the response

I don't know. I don't imagine he is constipated or that he has a problem with undigested food stuck in his gut, as you have seen the different coloured foods pass through him. I have looked back at your pictures from last year and you can see in the final picture taken top down that even then he was just a little lop-sided.
Having said that a fish of his size should easily manage a week without food, so try it and see.
What has the temperature of the pond during the day and night been recently?
Can you get any more photos?

Hmm, difficult to know what is wrong. I agree with Cathie to try fasting him. It would be interesting to know the temperatures as well because if they have suddenly changed recently or are swinging a lot from day to night then that may be affecting him. If you need to, do you have a seperate tank you could treat him in? I'm thinking that a 'prophylactic' treatment with a wide spectrum med might be good if he doesn't improve and the source of the problem can't be found. Something like Myxazin if you can get it?

I have already purchased a fluval 405 canister filter, I am awaiting the order of a 55 gallon tank, As soon as it comes in, the fish will be moved indoors. This was their last summer outside....

The temperatures have been dropping from about 70 degrees during the day to about 50 degrees at night.

I should have a camera later today and will take photos.

thanks again for all input. It is really appreciated...

hi

Is Mr. Googly definately a male and not a female? lol because if he/she is a female, he/she maybe full of eggs which would indicate why he/she is swollen to the left side??

Well, i hope that he gets better anways!!

Dan

He is a male. This is a bad photo, from months ago, but you should be able to see his mating tubercles on his fins. They are very prominant, much more so than in this photo when he is in muster, or what ever you call it when a male fish is in mating season.

Ok, here are the photos. And probably should have said this up front. you will notice the translucent edges to his tail. I was worried he had fin rot, so i went around to all the good fish people i know and they all assured me it wasn't disease, that he was just catching up with his growth spurt. he has grown a lot in the past few months. I was still skeptical and planned to treat him for bacterial, fungal and parasites as soon as I could get him in his new aquarium. it will be very difficult to treat him while in the pond because of the volume of the water. His tail has looked like that for about a month now, long before the current issue. These are the best photos i could take, hope they help.

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