| QUOTE |
| Hi I'm hoping you can give me some advice here. I've had a situation where my saltwater fish was showing symptoms of having a fluke worm (or some kind of parasite). I was advised to use the above product. After flushing the tank and then adding the Para-Cide (carefully measured) according to the directions, about two thirds of the fish in the tank died within a very short period of time. I managed to remove the remaining third to a fresh bucket of water where their colour (for most of them) returned immediately. It was most distressing to see the fish turn from relatively healthy to dying in bulk in so short a space of time. The product is the only thing I can put this occurrence down to. Which leads me to my question: Would you know how long it takes the trichlorfon (active ingredient in para-cide) to dissipate in the tank so I can reintroduce the live fish I have left? I have a large saltwater tank. Kind Regards, Annonymous |
| QUOTE |
| Hi Annonymous, Sorry it took me so long to respond, I had to do a little research on this first. Trichlorfon (aka Anthon, Bovinos, Briten, Chlorophos, Ciclosom, Dylox, Dipterex, Ditrifon, Dyrex, Equino-Aid, Foschlor, Leivasom, Neguvon, Masoten, Trichlorophon, Trinex, Phoschlor, Proxol, Trichlorophene, Totalene, Tugon and Vermicide Bayer 2349) is actually supposed to be used as a bath rather than a tank additive, if you added it as a tank additive with the dosage prescribed for a bath, then it would explain why the fish started dieing. The recommended dosage for Trichlorfon is between (0.25 mg/L for 1 hr. every 5 days) and (0.5 mg/L for 1 hr. every 5 days) OR (2.0 mg/L for 1 hr., ONCE). This is because Trichlorfon is highly toxic to both cold and warm water fish; its acute toxicity to freshwater fish is between 1.67 and 180 ppm with death occurring after approximately 3 hours. The problem with letting the Trichlorfon dissipate naturally is that in breaking down, it produces a byproduct that is a teratogen, which is to say that it can cause birth defects or sterility, so if you are planning on breeding any of your fish, you should do a few large water changes over the course of a week to diminish these effects. Also, the breakdown time is fairly slow (complete breakdown in 526 days in neutral water at 20 degrees C). Increasing the pH, temperature, and aeration can greatly diminish this time period, however, given the circumstances, I don’t think you would even want to wait more than a few days at most, not to mention the fact that the large pH swing would also take a heavy toll on your surviving fish. So the best course of action would be to do an immediate 95% water change, with an additional 50% water change within a week. You should be able to re-add your fish immediately after the water change as long as you have proper biological filtration. Hopefully you already have an RO filter to make water changes much less expensive than buying distilled water at the store. Also, for future reference, trichlorfon is a carcinogen that can be very toxic to humans. If you get any on your skin, you should wash it off immediately with soap and water, and if you inhale or digest any of it, you should seek medical attention. If you have anymore questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Best of luck to you and your surviving fish. Sincerely, Sergeant Major AquaTopiaForum Staff |