pH Crash | Koi Herpes Virus | |
New Fish Required | Nope | Yes. KHV Can't hide through active temperature range. |
Water Temperature Requirement | None. Any Temp Okay | 70 to 80 DF |
Primary Symptom Peeling Skin | YES | YES |
Listless Disoriented Swimming | YES | YES |
Sunken Eyes | YES | YES |
Weakness, Laying Over | YES | YES |
Fish Dying in Bunches | YES | YES |
Will Kill 90% Of Fish Without Applying Remedy | YES | YES |
Seachem Neutral Regulator Completely Prevents This | YES | NO |
Stringent Quarantine Completely Prevents This | NO | YES |
Losses Stop When You Apply PH Buffer | YES. Immediately | Nope |
Losses Stop After Heating to 84 DF | NOPE | YES, the next day in fact. |
Condition looks a LOT like Costia or Hexamita Crisis | YES very similar | YES very similar |
HOW TO FIX | Add SeaChem Neutral Regulator | Heat to at least 84DF for 72 hours |
Figuring out pH Crash is as easy as testing the pH. You can use dry “strip” tab tests and get a “pretty good idea” of “Generally Acid” “Fairly Neutral” or “Rather High” but I wouldn’t put my initials on a numeric result. For that, the API Drop type test kits are superior HOWEVER it’s easy to mess them up and MOST people are too lazy to test regularly if it’s “mixing shite in a test tube and holding the tubes up against the reference charts you already lost.”
Fixing a PH Crash is as easy as adding SeaChem Neutral Regulator. On the Interwebs it’s stated “Don’t change the PH too quickly. A point-per-day is a good rule of thumb”. NOPE. When the PH is crashed, like 5.5 to 6.2 RAISE TO NEUTRAL NOW. IMMEDIATELY.
If you keep soft water wild caught Symphysodon (Discus), you KNOW I’m not talking to you. Hahahahaha
When the PH is crashed, like 5.5 to 6.2 RAISE TO NEUTRAL NOW. IMMEDIATELY.
Koi Herpes Virus is to be HIGHLY SUSPECTED when the FOLLOWING THREE CRITERIA ARE MET
- New fish without quarantine
- Fish just transitioned from water temperatures under 67 DF to 71+ DF.
- Fish are dying in bunches with peeling skin, mucus strands and sunken eyes.
There are four different things to do in order to protect yourself and others from Koi Herpes Virus.
- Lengthy Quarantines in the activating range of water temperatures. If you bought “winter fish” and are wondering what Spring might hold for you, heat some up to 72 DF for a week and see what happens.
- Heat the fish to 83-84+ DF under high aeration for at least 2-3 days. Fish treated this way have gone on to live complete lives without transmitting KHV later.
- Give the fish a full-season quarantine with a “60’s up through the 70’s” water temperature cycle. The following spring, put “never-infected” fish in with the “suspect” carriers and look for symptoms in the 70’s as water temperatures climb
- TESTING the Koi is the most definitive way to gain confidence. Here’s where.