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Costia in
Koi |
| Costia is a killer, a very fast killer. In most
cases one does not even know that costia is even present until the fish is dead.
There are usually but not always no signs of this parasite on the fish. The fish
looks normal and healthy but is dead.
Costia is hard to see on the microscope.
It is the smallest of all parasites that attack fish. Even for trained and
experienced folks, it can still be missed. Costia is patchy, meaning it may be
on one spot on the fish and no where else. So unless you scrape every inch of
the fish which is not practical, you could still miss it.
The problem with costia, once you find it,
it is too late for the fish unless you discover it while the numbers of costia
present are real low. Left unchecked you can expect more fish to die fairly
fast. I have seen whole tanks/ponds wiped out in just a few days from
costia.
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The above spider webbing, red veining seen in the
pictures of the above fish are an indication of Costia. Keep in mind that
you will also see these marks on fish that do not have Costia. Ammonia can
cause the red veining. So can handling from shipping and stress in
general. like trying to catch the fish, chasing it around the pond with a net.
If you have checked the water parameters and the ammonia is 0 (remember none is
acceptable), have not been chasing the fish excessively with a net, your best
option is to think Costia.
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