How many koi do you have in 220 gal.????????
I have a small pond also and reading your post IMO with the fish load
you have the changes in your water quality are so fast that any
treatment is too little too late. With that many fish even a short
power failure will kill all your fish. It happened to me with only 2
koi and some GF last year.(Of course the GF which started as feeders
lived) IMO and I hope for your sake I'm wrong, all your problems are
stress related and will continue until the load is reduced.

Think of the bright side ......... It's time for a bigger pond.
I wish I had the room.

"GACinMass" wrote in message
...
I've read several books on koi diseases, parasites, etc. All of
them emphasize
the importance of sending scrapings/samples to a lab or having a
microscope in
order to properly identify the culprit and determine the appropriate
course of
treatment.

OK, time for a reality check: First, the only way I have ever been
able to net
a koi in my pond is to nearly drain it. This stresses the fish so
much that I
will not do it again. In fact, the last time I did this, for a full
year
afterward they would run & hide when they saw anyone at the pond's
edge. So I
will not be able to get a scraping or sample of any kind.

Second, I do not have a microscope or a lab nearby so I'm forced to
guess what
the affliction is and what treatment to start.

I tend to start with Potassium Permanganate, treating the entire 220
gal pond.
If I don't see improvement, I try Formalin. If that doesn't work I
try
Limnozyme. I know this is a wasteful "shotgun" approach but it has
worked
somewhat. Last year I lost 2 koi to some kind of ulcer/fungus thing
before I
was able to get it under control.

Here's my question: If you can only guess at what the ailment is,
how would you
treat it? What meds in what order? Is PP the best place to start?
My fish
have just been through a spawning episode and several are now
showing whitish
bumps on their fins. One has skinned his nose pretty seriously. I
started the
PP yesterday and have my fingers crossed. Any advice would be much
appreciated.

~ Gary
Zone 6b