Help, my Koi has gone CRAZY !!!

[staceypooh]

I am new to the site and really need some help. I have a 40 gallon tank with 2 koi, about 5 inches each, one small goldfish my son brought home from school about 5 months ago, and 2 sucker fish.

At about midnight last night one of my koi got completely spooked and started to swim into the glass and straight up into the lid of the tank. After several strikes on the lid of the tank, it finally managed to jump out of the space between the filter and the top and landed on the floor. This was all at 2am. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night. I checked the ph levels and such and all seems to be OK. There is nothing new in the tank, but this one koi keeps getting spooked and swimming at the tank lid or at the glass sides.

I looked for any kind of thing like ich (sp?) or any other sickness and there appears to be nothing wrong.

I now have books on top of the lid and covering the space it jumped out of last night. I am at a loss as to what is causing this fish to act so crazy.

Any suggestions ??

[roark fishies]

U said u checked ph. What about ammonia and nitrites? Goldfish are nasty little buggers and produce alot of ammonia. If there is ammonia in the water that could cause a reaction like that.
If it's not that then I'm not sure what it could be. Could any kind of toxin gotten into the water? Bug spray, windex, etc?
A partial water change would always be beneficial. See if that helps.

[staceypooh]

Thank you for the info.

I just rechecked the Ph, and nitrate and they are both way off in the unsafe zone. I will have to run out to the store and grab some more chemical neutralizer for my tank. I have been using Cycle and I haven't had any problems so far. Any reccommendations ?

[ladymaiden]

My biggest suggestion is change part of the water. No matter how much chemicals you put in the tank, being that goldfish are some of the nastiest fish, you will always have trouble with ammonia. Plus water changes are cheaper than chemicals IMO.

[misterking]

Definately do a part water change I'd say. Also, a 40 gallon isn't a good long-term home for koi as I'm sure you know, as they eat like an aquatic horse and can cause a right mess, and some varieties can reach 3ft. It is possible that in terms of water quality, rather than fish quantity, the koi and goldfish have effectively rendered the tank "overstocked" due to their size and nature, and cause the ammonia and pH spike.

[roark fishies]

I agree. Water change is what they need right now. Do about 50% and then retest.

[FishGeek]

I think it was just a spooked fish. Id be worried about your water with koi in a tank that size as Im having trouble with mine, but the reason he jumped was because he spooked. My koi freak like this from time to time too. It just depends.