help needed urgently

Question
please help.. i have 5 koi carp fish had them for about 2 years now..one of the fish the largest 1.. I have seems to be a bit unwell..he has a black spot on his forehead..is this serious and what can i do to help him

Answer
Hi Marie,
 The answer depends on many things.  Is the fish indoors or is it outdoors?  

 If it is outdoors then it is subject to many more possible parasites than it would be in an aquarium.  

 There is a parasite called "black spot" that at first looks like a black dot on the fish, but upon closer inspection, you can see that it is actually a black bump.
This parasite is a common parasite in North American waters and isn't terribly damaging.  Many, many native fishes carry large loads of black spot with few other symptoms.  If I had a fish with black spot, I would not treat it -- the treatment would probably be more dangerous than the parasite.

 That said, there could be other things wrong with your fish unrelated to the black spot.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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