Hello again my extended family. I really am gaining more common sense mixed
with the valuable knowledge that is slowly osmosing into my brain - but once
again I am clueless. As some of you may remember I have been having an
ongoing battle with getting my pond bad bug free. Most recently I have been
attempting PP treatments suggested because some of my comets were developing
white breaks in the skin sores = probably bacteria. I ordered and started
feeding Medi Koi. That part seems to be progressing well. Several are
healing very rapidly.

My problem now is my favortist fishy a 4-5" hybrid of a pearlscale and
oranda I would guess. He is very lethargic, tends to hover around the top,
though mid and bottom of the pond have also been seen, has always been
something of a loner and definitely does not swim around with any vigor. He
still seems to wander over during feed times but is not eating. He has
always tended not to get in the middle of the food frenzy and instead go
find leftover food after the initial rush. I doubt that he is foraging food
after I quit watching and if I drop it on him he still doesnt react much
although he is looking up at me and doing that 'time to eat sucking thing' .
He doesnt have the sore some of the others have but his 'skin' is quite
different. I have noticed a new area near his tail fin which sounds exactly
like one of the things I read on PP treatment, namely a dime sized darkend
area near his just before his tail fin starts. The article said 'great this
is evidence of parasites having been there' (the operative word been) and
this is a PP stain which should disappear quickly with 1/2 cup/1000 gal -
H202. It has not, but because he doesnt seem to have traditional scales
perhaps it will not disappear as quickly or that isnt what it is. I dont
think I have injured him with the treatments because I have been very
conservative with mostly 2 ppm treatments. In fact I have still not
completed the treatments, between fighting algae bloom and waiting out H202
or dechlorinater deactivation and most recently chickening out and halting
my first 4 ppm treatment because I wasnt comfortable with the way the fish
were acting. I did have another Fancy Goldfish (small lion head) die about
3 weeks ago with dropsy like symptoms. The pearlscale is different or hasnt
progressed that far. Water is fine except on hot days it is already around
80.
I guess the bottom line is I would feel much better that help was on the
way if he were eating the Medi Koi. He isnt and I dont have knowledge or
access to shots. He probably is one of just a few in the pond I could
actually catch. I have considered a hospital tank but dont know how to
properly set one up, especially as far as cycling without taking weeks to be
ready or of course the obvious - what to do if I know for sure he isnt
eating the Medi Koi.

Soooooo any ideas? He is my favorite and I would hate to come out one day
and find him floating - which is the direction I think he is heading.
Thanxx
Bill Brister - Austin, Texas