For routine health assessments, the best time to check in on koi health is during the Spring and Autumn (pre and post winter) when the disease risk is at its greatest. For the best management of fish health year round, biannual consultations are recommended. This service although designed for koi is suitable for other pond fish species such as goldfish and sturgeon.

What to expect
All consultations will start with an in-depth discussion between you and the vet, covering all the relevant history as well as pond husbandry routine and filter maintenance. This will be followed by complete water quality testing and the examination of 3 koi of your choice.

All fish will be sedated and examined under a light sedation to reduce handling stress. Samples of mucus from the skin and small collections of gill tissue will be analysed under the microscope for parasite and health screening.

Based on the results of the diagnostic tests and physical examination of your koi, a health report will be created detailing relevant husbandry recommendations and treatments if required.

What to Prepare
For biosecurity reasons you will need to provide your own set of nets for the consultation. We strongly recommend having a koi sock for medium to large sized koi, landing net and seine nets (large ponds/lakes only) on hand.

You will also need a koi bowl or suitably sized container for the examination. No koi bowl? large storage containers can work very well here.