Habitat - Outdoor

Hi. I recently went thru 2 very stressful weeks of sick koi in pond with my turtle. She was in pond when dosed with melafix but I removed her when koi took a drastic turn and before I added Bifuran to cure a severe internal bacteria infection. I recently got a few new koi and pond plants and not sure where the disease came from. I know it was not caused by water quality or turtle because I shared the new fish and plants with my parents and their pond got sick too. - talk about exspensive to treat 2 ponds. A total of 4 good size koi were lost. My turtle has been residing in her winter kiddy pool and is not happy. She did lay her eggs outside 2 days before I brought her in. She is eating and basking, eyes look ok but I keep checking and over analyzing. I want to make sure she is healthy before I put her back in pond. And I need to do it before the temperature difference is too drastic. I had no luck finding out which meds where safe for turtle so best to not chance it. My question is can she show no signs of illness/ bacteria but still carry it on her and give it back to koi? Is there something I could treat her with just to be on the safe side? I don't want to ever go thru that stress again and have learned my lesson about QT tanks. Is there a website or list that says what chemicals and medicines are safe for bot koi and turtles? Do you know any chemicals and meds that are definitely not safe for turtle? I've never had an issue like this before and was at a total loss as to how to fix. Local koi store saved my koi but don't have knowledge about turtles.- not where I bought new koi. Can I salt her pool? I add some salt to pond but never a heavy amount considering the size. Any knowledge and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

You'll get loads of answers on this. Most with no scientific proof. One thing when I had my in ground pond I did not use chemicals , medications... all natural ! Nature does not have a drug store and nature does very well with out one. Prevention is key. See you found out about quarantine tanks !!! A healthy RES is very hardy. Now one with poor diet and issues that's another story. Yes they can , bad bacteria is bad bacteria.
Large ponds are hard to dose , some say little extra can't hurt but it does. Melafix over dose can hurt there eyes. As far as bifuran its ok with turtles , frogs , snails ... and was great for slime coat on koi. Most over stock there ponds. A good quality female koi can reach 36" if well taken care of , being 1000 gallons for her and I used 500 gallons for each male. You will hear other , then it's your call ! Then you will always have someone say one more won't hurt. I call that the "one more won't hurt syndrome" for fish and or medications !
Salt now , you will hear yes and no. Found this may want to read : http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article22.html
RES and salt I used it in baths for treatments only and works. But RES's do not like brackish water ! For decades have not seen much evidence adding salt permanently having any benefits.

Thank you for your insight and the good read. My koi are a lot better now and I was going to add salt but I think I will just make sure the water is as clean as possible. As for turtle, I wish I would have asked this last week when I was dosing the bifuran. I do have a little left so I think I will add a bit to her pool to be on the safe side. You'd be suprised how much I looked this up and could not find out if it was safe for her. Nor could I find the dosage amounts that was stated on the jar of bifuran at koi store- they sold it to me by the cup because I needed it asap. Thanks again

I have also been feeding the koi medicated food, medfinn to be exact. Can my turtle eat this also?

Today you are lucky with medicated foods . Make sure you read any chart given for size of fish. It should go by pounds? Yes it has approved antibiotics by the FDA. Do not use as a everyday food. It is only meant to be used for I think 10 days at the amount on any chart provided ! To much too long fish can build up a resistance to antibiotics.
"This is just Me" , I would keep turtle in another pond or indoors for the 10 days or maybe two weeks until koi are well. Personal I do not know exactly what's in medfinn food . Myself I would not feed it to him , someone else may say go ahead. I do not have enough info to feel good about it , it's your call and do more homework on it. Isolate the turtle , quarantine it so you can monitor him good , observing is the key anytime !

You will have to cross reference some sites regarding medications safe for both... maybe start here: http://www.anapsid.org/resources/rxdose.html
I would also contact the manufacturer as many of them are helpful. In general, what's safe for fish is safe for turtles but some interesting points are brought up.

If your parents have a pond too, could someone take the koi temporarily?

Habitat - Outdoor :: Can res get bacteria infection that my koi had?

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