Hi Mindy,
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Myka
Where do you get the info that Formalin is worse for fish than copper?
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Compare the health effects of Formalin(burns, blindness etc) to the health effects of copper(irritation etc). Here is some info from the MSDS for 37% formalin.
ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS
Swallowed:
Toxic if swallowed.
Will cause burns to the mouth, mucous membranes, throat, oesophagus and stomach. If sufficient quantities are ingested (swallowed) death may occur.
The methanol stabilizer in solutions is a cause of visual impairment and possible permanent blindness.
Eye:
Will cause burns to the eyes with effects including: Pain, tearing, conjunctivitis and if duration of exposure is long enough, blindness will occur.
Skin:
Toxic by skin contact.
Will cause burns to the skin, with effects including; Redness, blistering, localised pain and dermatitis.
The material is capable of causing allergic skin reactions and may cause skin sensitisation. Toxic effects may result from skin absorption..
Inhaled:
Toxic if inhaled.
Will cause severe irritation to the nose, throat and respiratory system with effects including: Dizziness, headache, in-coordination, chest pains, coughing, respiratory paralysis and or failure.
It only takes 60 to 90ml of it ingested to kill a human.
When you do a Formalin bath on a fish you are burning off the protective slime layer, burning it's eyes, mouth, gills, throat and stomach.
With a FW bath non of these things occur.
With a copper treatment the fish is exposed to 0.26mg/l of ionic copper. Fish can survive exposures over 0.45mg/l of ionic copper.
Something else to consider is that 75% of the fish in this hobby have been cyanided when caught... so their lives are already shortened considerably. Exposing them to a little copper for a short time is not going to do to much, a lot less than the damage inflicted by the parasites. The problem with copper is that people don't generally have a reliable way of testing the concentration so they over/under dose. Sadly the fish usually dies either way.
Cheers,
Tim