Quarantine tanks offer a great way to treat sick and damaged fish, it is always a good idea to isolate and sick fish. It is not ideal to add medications to a pond just for one isolated koi. Also the stress of catching a fish in a large pond may make matters worse. Using a quarantine tank you can keep a close eye on any infected fish, alter the water temperature easier. Koi repond much quicker in warm water as the healing process speeds up considerably.

Click image to view our wide range of quaranteen tanks

KHV is not the only reason to quarantine new arrivals, prior to adding any new arrivals to your pond you should always quarantine if possible to prevent parasite outbreaks and the pread of bacterial disease.
It is also worth noting that if your koi are kept in less than perfect conditions they can adjust over time to the poor conditions. Any new fish added may find the adjustment to stressful and the obvious reaction is to blame the supplier.

A reasonable quarantine procedure is to introduce any new arrival to a suitably sized quarantine tank with a couple of resident koi for a period of time.

The water should be gradually heated to 23C and held at this temperature for one month, the water should then be gradually cooled to the temperature of your pond at which point the fish can be introduced to you pond.

Some koi may be carriers of disease and show no signs of ill health, this is why we recommend keeping some resident koi with any new arrival as if one of these becomes sick it may be worth investigating further.

The above procedure is not full proof and many believe a quarantine procedure should be longer.

QUARANTINE (note from KHV expert Paula Reynolds - Lincs Fish Health)

KHV is not the only serious disease currently causing concern in Koi and it is now vital to isolate all newly purchased Koi to protect your existing pet fish from all types of disease including KHV. There is no foolproof method of initiating disease during quarantine however heat cycling is the best possible safeguard. The water temperature at the outset of quarantine will vary with the ambient temperature depending on the time of year but the need for heating equipment is unavoidable. The difficulties of achieving low temperatures in summer are obvious and for most hobbyists this will require frequent water changes via purification equipment. However the lower temperature is critical. The drawback is that the Koi must be constantly monitored no matter how gradual the temperature changes are carried out to ensure parasites such as whitespot are not becoming a health problem. Many Koi naturally carry whitespot without any sign at all until a change in temperature acts as the trigger for an outbreak.

At the outset of quarantine the water temperature should be held at 15/16C for 24 hours then very gradually increased over approx 7 days to a minimum of 23C maximum of 27C and then held for 3 weeks. The temperature should then be taken back down slowly to 15/16C for another 24 hours and again with care not to stress the Koi taken back up to a maximum of 27C and held for another 2 weeks. If disease of any kind has not developed in that period it is possible that the Koi have never been exposed to serious disease such as KHV. If hobbyists are still concerned enough to want to repeat the process let the Koi recover for a few weeks first. Ensure they are free of parasites and well fed before carrying out the cycle again.

There is no time scale for the quarantine period as it will vary with the Koi-keepers ability to control the temperatures and the health status and reaction of the Koi. However 3 months is considered viable. On the day the quarantine period is finally over it is vital to ensure that the water parameters in the quarantine facility mirror those of the pond, the p.H and temperature are especially important. Having taken the Koi through a potentially stressful quarantine the move to the main pond must minimise the stress associated with any change of environment.