Common Carp injury

[Merlin]

Ok this happend a few weeks ago and as the forum has had a few probs I have not been able to post.

As I have decided that my pond was over stocked I decided to have a clear out, two of the fish that were going to good homes were the two Common Carp I rescued from a pond that was far to small for them.

On neting the one in the pic, I found that he had torn part of his skin, now bearing in mind these are leather back carp the only way I can describe the damage, would be to say that he had peeled back the outer layer of leather.
it actualy looked worse than it was.

I decided that I would not let this fish go to it's new home until I was sure it was ok. I have been treating it with Nt labs Ulcer swab and Nt labs wound sealant, and have been lucky to see no sign of infection. As I wanted to put the temp pool the fish were in away, I moved him back to the main pond.

This was not a good idea, as trying to net him in there to continue his tratment is a pain in the you know what. :( . The one thing I did notice this evening was further damage :(. It would seem that he has a dislodged scale near his tail, but the scale is raised from front to back :-? I am going to have to net him because I can not understand how this damage could of happened, he would have to have been swimming backwards to catch a scale that way.

Will photo as soon as I manage to catch him, despite the damage he is first up when I rattle the food container on the side of the pond. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/Chateauwizard/000415045956.jpg

[Jackie Ramo]

Merlin, I hope its not as bad as it looks cuz it looks bloody awful!! Still now sign of infection. I'm not familiar with the products you are using but think that any remedy that stresses the fish by having to catch it and handle it time after time is not a particularily good one. The loose scale will either fall off or you can pull it off, fish lose scales all the time and yes they also swim backwards :lol:

If the fish is happy and eating I'd not get real excited about treatments but then I'm pretty hands off with my own fish, letting them heal and only interfereing if it seems to be getting red or not healing on a timely basis.

[Merlin]

Thanks for the reply Jackie , the treatment as per the instructions was to apply daily :-? Hmmm the only way to treat it was to knock him out, 5lb of live carp is not easy to treat when he does not want to be treated. So I have resigned to treating twice a week and knocking him out. The other damage is bugging me though :( . the scale is protruding from the front to back, in my mind that is not right . Will try to net and photo.

[Jackie Ramo]

Merlin, net the fish and pull the scale off, it will grow back or not... a little iodine and bang he is done like dinner - do not grill him, he's quite handsome. :frisbee:

I'd leave the other injury alone after this last treatment. Since you need to pull him to take the scale off treat again but I'd not put the fish through all this fuss.

[Merlin]

Hi Jackie

Well the fist injury is clearing up nicely, the second well the scale has come off by itself. He is due to be knocked out again tomorrow but I will as sugested leave the first problem alone, and concentrate on the ara of the missing scale, as there will be two of us here I will photograph and post the pics.

[Ian]

Have you any ideas what may have scratched it? If there is somthing in the pond sharp or pointed koi will find it. Most of the koi we have had damaged have been due to somthing in the pond. Most of the time no treatment is done depending on how bad it is as the koi can deal with scrapes and scratches on their own.

Regards Ian

[Jackie Ramo]

I agree with Ian, Merlin, unless there is redness or other signs of infection stressing the fish can make things worse. OTOH would like another pic to see how he is healing up.

[GregBickal]

When I was trying to heal that sick Doitsu Ochiba we had sprayed some of its wounds with that powder and spray adhesive. Big mistake. I think it only did more harm by taking off the slime coat in that area and it turned the skin a little black.

Of course, by treating the Ochiba in the first place is how It jumped out of my hands and broke its back, so sometimes, treating them is more harm than good.

[Merlin]

Hi all well the treatment was posponed anyway ( we could not catch him :smile: ) soon as he saw the net he was off. I will leave him alone as he seems to be swimming and eating ok, no red sores to be seen. If all is ok in a couple of weeks I will net and photograph him before he goes to his new home.

I found out what I believe caused the damage, while draging the net along the bottom of the pond I pulled out one of my wifes garden ornaments . a rather ghastley metal image of a heron, it must have fallen into the pond at some time or other. (I thought she had got rid of it) it was only about 10" high but it did have some nasty sharp edges on it.

[Jackie Ramo]

Well at least you found what caused the problem. Sounds like the fish is doing well though if you can't catch him. Mind those dark ones are the very devil to see in the pond anyway.

[Merlin]

Ok gonna try and catch him over the weekend, the area where the scale came off looks good, if all is ok I will let him go to his new home next week.

Yes I will photo him first and yes I will take some shots of the goldie pond ( Boat) sorry for the delay.

[Jackie Ramo]

tap tap tap.... where's the pics :frisbee:

[Merlin]

Sorry Jackie, I have been working on a new QT tank and Sue the person who is due to collect the carp has been away, so he is still in the pond. :(. I will however post some pics of my new cheap and easy QT build over the next couple of days. The carp pics will have to wait untill Sue ( his new keeper is ready to collect him) .

[Jackie Ramo]

Well as long as you are busy and keeping out of trouble, I'll let you off for now :lol: