OVERVIEW OF CHEMICAL PREVENTATIVES AND TREATMENTS

Since the beginning of using chemical treatments for aquarium and ornamental pond fish keeping in Europe and America, the primary chemical preventatives and treatments have included some of the predecessors of those that are listed below for Kordon products.  There have been major improvements over time in chemical ingredients which have been incorporated in Kordon's chemical products in order for them to be the best chemical forms for use on fishes. 

These include the derivatives developed from special forms of the following chemicals:  formaldehyde (diluted as stable formalin), malachite green, methylene blue, acriflavine, and potassium permanganate.  The forms used by Kordon are the special forms developed for aquaculture and professional aquatic use and meet the general standards set by the U.S. Pharmacopoeia Reference Standards for effective treatments.  The Kordon products should not be confused with inexpensive products using industrial grade ingredients that are not sufficiently efficient on fishes and that should not be used in aquarium and pond keeping. 

The advantages of Kordon chemical preventatives and treatments are that they are powerful and effective.  The disadvantages are that they require extensive water changes between treatments and should not be used in the presence of aquatic invertebrates (snails, shrimp, anemones, coral, crabs, etc.).  Also, care needs to be taken that the chemical treatments are not harmful to the fishes, such as by overdosing. 

Most chemicals should not be used on freshwater "scaleless" fishes, which are those fishes with minimal scale growth so that their skin (epidermis) is exposed to the treatment.  Fishes in the category of being considered "scaleless" are catfishes (such as Corydoras), Asian clown loaches, South American knife fishes, electric eels, small characins (tetras), and African elephant-nosed fishes.  Instead, organic herbal treatments should be used (see "Overview of Organic Herbal Treatments"). 

Since most coral reef fishes are wild caught and susceptible to be carrying serious infections from their natural habitat, they can harbor diseases that are too far advanced for successful treatment.  All new fish should be treated in quarantine before being put in a community aquarium with other fish.  See "The Importance of Quarantining New Fish Arrivals Intended for Community Aquariums Or Ponds".  Also see the Kordon Articles under "Fish Health" on the Kordon home page.  Among the coral reef fishes most likely to be seriously infected are the tangs (surgeon fishes, acanthurids), and special care needs to be taken in keeping them.  See Kordon Article " What Marine Aquarists Need to Know About Tangs".

Internal Versus External Treatments: These are the two primary divisions in treatments for fishes, the former for internal diseases and parasites inside the fish, the latter for external diseases and parasites outside the fish.  This means that chemical treatments put in the water are generally for outside of the fish.  The only exceptions would be chemicals that are absorbed by the gills or skin (epidermis) of the fish into its bloodstream, and thereby are distributed through the body.  Chemical treatments injected into the fish or put in their food would be considered internal treatments. 

None of the Kordon chemical or organic herbal treatments are considered to be internal treatments, although there can be some absorption in the fish's skin (epidermis) and by its gills.  The Kordon treatments are all to be put in the water for treatment mainly of external infections.

For internal infections the use of injections is usually impractical.  Therefore treatments in the food are needed.  This can be done by purchasing medicated foods, or by putting the medications in the food yourself.  The main Kordon product that can be put in fish foods is Trifon.  It is recommended that small amounts of Trifon are used for this purpose.  The main hindrance is that sick fish often do not eat the food offered to them, negating being able to treat them in this way.

Novalek has a professional division, AquaVet, that has internal treatments in antibiotics that are absorbed from the water through the gills and into the bloodstream of the fish.  It is recommended to go to the AquaVet site to see the descriptions for these products for further information on this subject.  As explained in the Kordon Article "What the Beginning and Advancing Aquarist Absolutely Needs to Know..." , there are serious limitations in using antibiotics in fish keeping, which needs to be understood before attempting to use them. 
 
Copper Treatments:  One of the most used of chemical treatments has been copper ion and chelated copper solutions.  Their use has been extensive in public aquariums, as well as in home aquariums and ornamental ponds.  However, recent scientific research has shown that the use of copper is decidedly detrimental to fishes.  Kordon has withdrawn from supplying any copper treatments for general use.  They are only available by special order on NovaShop.  For further information see "The Importance of Removing Heavy Metals From Aquarium and Pond Water".  When considering the use of a copper treatment, see "Copper Ion vs Chelated Copper Treatments in Aquariums and Ponds.  It should be mentioned that all of the Kordon NovAqua products, as well as Fish Protector, and PolyAqua remove heavy metals, including copper, from the water.  They are highly recommended for use in water conditioning.

Organic Herbal Treatments:   Considering some of the drawbacks of chemical treatments, Kordon has been active in developing alternative treatments, based on the use of organic herbal naphthoquinones with other organic herbals compatible with them.  They do not require water changes, except as suggested to be made when the treatments are ended.  They are compatible to be used with aquatic invertebrates and bacteria  -- both gram negative and gram positive bacteria.  They are fully effective on external protozoan, dinoflagellate, and fungal infections of fishes.  They are recommended for use on all fishes, including "scaleless fishes," and can be used in multiple doses per day for treating extensive infections.  See the section on the Kordon home page on Organic Preventatives and Treatments for these Kordon products, and the article "Overview of Organic Herbal Treatments".      

As a brief overview on the Kordon chemical treatments, the following is important to know. 

Dips and Baths:  Chemical treatments for fish in dips and baths have the greatest advantage over herbal treatments in dips and baths.  The reason is that with a concentrated chemical treatment in the water that kills the external parasites within minutes, the dip and bath treatments can be short and decisive.  In some respects this is the preferred treatment for fishes with harmful external multi-celled parasites, such as worms, flukes, leeches, lice, etc, which are digging into the flesh of their host and harming them.  As short a time as possible for getting rid of these parasites has merit as the preferred treatment. 

For the hardiest of parasites, two or three baths or dips may be needed on successive days or over time to be sure that all the parasites are killed.   The recommended Kordon chemical products for dips and baths are particularly the Kordon Formalin-3 (fresh or salt water) , Malachite Green (fresh or salt water), and Permoxyn (potassium permanganate -- only to be used in fresh water).  Chemical baths and dips mainly are to be used for lice, flukes, worms, leeches, fungus, and other external multi-celled infectors, while they are also effective on exposed external protozoan and dinoflagellate parasites. 

Single Or Daily Treatments:  All of the Kordon chemical treatments can be used as a single dose or daily in regular dosages.  the only exception is in using Kordon's Trifon, for which its instructions should be read. 

A primary concern is that before each successive treatment a water change of about 25% of the water is made, as well as a day after the last treatment.  These water changes are to keep toxins in the treatments from building up in the water.  The daily treatments are especially needed for white spot disease (Ich, named after one of its genera Ichthyophthirius) that hatches out on successive days, requiring continued daily treatments until all of the "white spots" are completely eradicated (see "The Life Cycle of Ich". 

Treatments For External Viruses:  None of the Kordon chemical or organic treatments are effective against viruses.
Hopefully, Kordon will have some good news in this regard about a new product in the not too distant future.

Treatments For External Bacteria:  All of the Kordon chemical treatments will kill both external gram negative and gram positive bacteria.  This includes the beneficial nitrifying bacteria, so filter materials containing these bacteria need to be removed during treatment.  Because these chemical treatments are not specific between gram negative and gram positive bacteria, they are.not generally used for the purpose of eliminating external bacteria.  Kordon's organic herbal treatments do not affect bacteria sufficiently to be a problem, so they can be used without eliminating  the beneficial bacteria.

Treatments For External Protozoans and Dinoflagellates:  All of the Kordon chemical treatments, except Trifon,  are effective for these single-celled infections.  Particularly recommended for velvet or coral fish disease is Kordon's Acriflavine (fresh and salt water), including for the dinoflagellate Oodinium (=Piscinoodinium, and Amyloodinium), and as a disinfectant for eggs and fry.  Particularly recommended for white spot disease (Ichthyophthirius, Cryptocaryon), is Kordon's Rid-Ich+, a special combination of Kordon's Formalin-3 and Malachite Green that was primarily developed to handle this infection.  Malachite Green is also recommended for eliminating Costia, Chilodonella, Epistylis, Ambiphyra, Trichodina, dinoflagellates, etc.  Also see the "Overview of Organic Herbal Preventatives and Treatments) for helpful information.

Treatments For External Multi-celled Parasites - Lice, Worms, Flukes, Leeches, Fungus, etc.:  When used as a dip, bath or treatment, Kordon's Formalin-3, Malachite Green, and Permoxyn (freshwater only) are recommended.  For one of the strongest one-time (or few times) treatments Kordon's Trifon (trichlorfon) is recommended.  For further information see the products about their uses.

The Importance of Correct Diagnosis:  One of the greatest difficulties in fish keeping is in diagnosing correctly when something goes wrong with them.  Often It is difficult even for the expert to determine what the infection is (or infections are.  Often when the fish's resistance is down, there can be multiple kinds of infections).  Unless the anchor worms can be seen imbedded in the skin of the fish, they may be overlooked.  Unless the tiny white spots of white spot disease (Ich) are outside on the head, body, and fins (rather than inside the mouth and nostrils of the fish), they can be completely overlooked.  This inability to see the real infection often happens. 

And, after all, many of the infections are gong to be in the internal organs of the fish, out of sight.  A primary problem is that it is not possible to see those infections, or to talk to the fish about their symptoms.  Fortunately, the behavior of the fish can often be of help.  Close observation of how the fish is acting can provide some clues.  Also, see the Kordon Articles under "Fish Health" and "Beginning and Advancing Aquarists and Pond Keepers" for further information. 

The clues to infections may be one of the following for the fish:

• Scratching its body on surfaces
• Shaking its head and body
• Not eating
• Skulking when it normally is around and about
• Gasping in the water, or for air at the water's surface
• Agitated swimming, leaping out of the water
• The skin has red lines that are burst blood vessels
• The skin has a velvet sheen or mottled colors
• Changed body and head color
• Frayed fins, shredding flesh
• Bloodied gills, mottled red and white
• Body swollen, scales extended out from body
• Defecation containing living organisms, such as worms
• All the usual signs of infections: sores, open wounds, etc.
  
  

And the list goes on.  Many of the above signs cannot be taken for granted as being an easily identified cause for a specific infection.  Some can be viral, bacterial, single-celled, and variously multi-celled organisms involved.  Often a microscopic examination is needed.  If it is viral, an electron microscope with 2000X power might be needed to determine the cause of the infection.   In many cases, do not expect that a description by telephone call is going to provide the answer.  For further information see Kordon Article "What To Do When Your Aquarium Or Pond Fish Are Sick".