About 40 people attended this MKPC event hosted by Pam & Derek Francis.
The speaker was our club’s own Koi expert, Mickey Stonepainter.
We were lucky to have a wonderful sunny day, and a tent was set-up to protect the fish from the direct sun while the lecture was being conducted. Mickey first did a short lecture on the types of infections that fish may develop and causative agents. He had examples of the most common treatments including Potassium Permanganate (PP), betadyne, iodine, and topical ointments such as Debride. Pam had put together a handout for the participants that included articles on “Principles of a good koi pond”, How to properly treat with PP”, and “Using topicals effectively”.
After the lecture portion, Mickey told Pam to catch a couple of her fish so he could demonstrate the proper way of “putting fish to sleep” in order to examine &/or treat them, and then more importantly, how to wake them up! Pam chose two fish out of the goldfish pond (for some reason, she didn’t go to her Koi pond???).
Mickey had a large tank filled with pond water with a large aeration stone running, and several smaller “blue tubs”. He put one of the goldfish in a blue tub and then added several drops of Oil of Cloves (pure essential oil). When asked how much do you put in, he answered, “until they quit swimming around”. When the fish was quiet, he was able to pick it up and show the fish to the crowd, describing the specific features of the fish, anatomical features, scalation, etc. It was very interesting, as most people never see their fish from the side after they purchase them and put them into their ponds.
Mickey demonstrated how he would have applied a topical ointment or cream and then put the fish into the aerated tub. He showed how someone must assist the fish to swim, to push the water through the gills until the fish is fully awake and swimming on its own. He then examined the second fish and repeated the demonstration. There were a few tense minutes when he was worried that the second fish may not “wake up” as it had been in the clove water for a longer period of time, but due to the persistent assistance of Mike & Sylvia Paddy’s granddaughter, the fish was saved. She stayed with that fish, assisting it to aerate his gills and to swim. THANK YOU!!
Club members viewing... |
Members, with Sylvia Paddy... |
Goldfish pond |
Koi pond |
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