Disinfection for fishkeepers

Many disinfectants can be used but most carry risks of toxicity if not rinsed out of the system. Specific benzalkonium chloride molecules eg ARK-KLENS are particularly suitable for use in fish as a treatment for bacterial gill disease and external myxobacterial disease and are also suitable for use as routine disinfectants on nets etc or, even the drained pond where small residues are not likely to cause toxicity.- However this is always an area that demds care. In general we do NOT recommend the use of disinfectants in ponds, if using ARK-KLENS as a treatment then it should only be done in a treeatment bath/tank NOT the pond.

VETARK also supply TAMODINE-E, recommended by us for use in footbaths etc as a precaution against transmission of Spring Viraemia of Carp (SVC). This is toxic to fish and should not be used close to the pond where spillage could result in pond pollution.

The main known hazards are Spring Viraemia of Carp (SVC) and Koi Herpes Virus (KHV). The latter has now appeared in Japan and caused major losses, this means that both koi producing regions are affected. Israeli fish may present a threat due to their system of vaccination.

Everything used on a fish site should be physically cleaned first using a hose.

If necessary use a solution of Ark-Klens to clean away large amounts of physical contamination - I daresay this won't be necessary as routine since koi systems rarely generate that much in the way of difficult organic waste.

Ensure run-off does not go back into the pond

Chloramine T as routine disinfection at a dose of 0.5% (5g per litre) or 1 x 50g pot per 10 litres, sprayed onto surfaces etc. on site. This is antiviral and biodegradeable.

Nets present special problems of disinfection due to the weave. These have been shown by CEFAS to require special effort, fish mucus has a way of entering the weave of the net as it moves under the weight of a fish. This can take pathogens with it and then they can be effectively hidden from disinfection. Since nets can be brought back to base we suggest after treatment on site like everything else that they be dropped into a tank at the office and left overnight in a combination of Ark-Klens and Tamodine-E.

Ark-Klens & Tamodine-E
Here the Ark-Klens is used to enhance the tenside included in Tamodine E already, to help it penetrate the woven fibres of a net.

The Tamodine-E standard dose of 5ml/litre ie 50ml/10 litres should produce a kill in a few minutes of simple viruses such as SVC, however KHV is a herpes virus and as such is fairly resistant. No actual data ia available but a compromise would seem reasonable - since a long exposure time (overnight) is to be used then a reduced dose of 20ml per 10 litres combined with a similar dose of Ark-Klens could be usefully used.

This mixture should be well rinsed off at base before nets are taken for use since iodophors like Tamodine-E are toxic to fish.