I’m Stressed about Stress – 1

Overview

In this series of articles, we examine a very important part of koi keeping – stress.

Stress in koi is very real and can lead directly to disease out breaks and the health of your collection.

Something which causes stress is called a stressor. Koi have adapted to survive in a range of water parameters and situations. They are more than capable of adapting to changes in water quality etc – provided these changes are not too sudden or too great.

The general physical response of koi to threatening situations, is referred to as stress. Koi have a stress response that begins almost immediately it is aware of a stressor.

In the vast majority of cases of disease outbreaks in collections you can be sure some form of stress is involved.

The sum total of stress responses varies within individual Koi because an individual koi can be stronger that others in the collection and often there are several causes of stress.

A fundament Concept of Koi Keeping is - prevention is better than cure.

Fish have evolved and live in a relatively stable environment. Their stress responses are consequently better at handling short-term problems. They are not as well-suited to long-term environmental stressors.

Short-term and long-term stressors can cause complications.

Rule of Thumb - Less stress = less disease.

Koi disease is multifactorial. (Disease = the relationship between the environment (the stress) + a pathogen + the host (koi)).

In other words, disease is usually the result of a number of interrelated causes. Koi are normally not diseased – they are normally healthy creatures. Disease is an abnormal condition characterized by a gradual degeneration of a fish's ability to maintain normal physiologic functions.

I am Stressed about Stress – 2 follows