Pond Fish Parasites | Birds Using Your Garden Pond as A Bird Bath Spread Fish Pond Parasites
Have you ever witnessed your koi and gold fish rubbing themselves against the sides of the pond or rocks and other surfaces within the pond?
If the answer is yes then chances are your fish have been infected by some kind of parasitic infestation (parasite).
The problem is that many parasites can not be seen with the naked eye and to the uninitiated it would appear that perhaps this is normal behaviour for pond fish.
The flashing, flicking and jumping is common practice for the poor fish suffering from parasite infection and is their way of trying to remove the cause.
As is the case with most pond related problems heavily stocked ponds with poor water quality are much more likely to fall victim to severe outbreaks of fish pond parasites.
Birds Using Your Garden Pond as A Bird Bath Spread Fish Pond Parasites
Fish pond parasites often find their way into your fish pond via bird droppings which fall into the water and subsequently infect fish. The parasite will in the first instance infect a snail which in turn is eaten by your koi or other fish species.
The eye fluke is an example of one such parasite which may lead to blindness, depending on the extent of the infection.
Black spot disease is caused yet again by fish eating birds such as King fishers and herons who having eaten an infected fish continue the parasites life cycle by releasing eggs into the pond through their droppings.
Within a month of being released into the pond they hatch and are known as miricadia. They swim freely until they encounter a snail host. They burrow into the snail and develop. After 6 weeks cercariae emerge. These tadpole like creatures swim around looking for their next victim, a fish to infect. Once they find a host they burrow under the skin and loose their tails.
These are now known as metacercariae and as a means of defence within the fish they surround themselves with a hard cyst that contains dark pigment. These cysts look like small black spots; hence the name "Black Spot Disease".
Lasting damage is rare, although your pond fish may become blind if there is a large number of cercariae that end up in the fishes eye.
pond fish parasites treatment
In ponds on the other hand, it will probably be necessary to purchase treatment for the disease. Copper sulphate can be used to kill snails, and many commercial treatments are also available that target the parasite.
Although impossible to prevent, it is also a very good idea to scare away kingfishers, herons and other predatory fish eating birds from your pond using a Pest Repellent of some description.
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