Try not to leave Formalin in a system unless you have to. Don’t use formalin in very warm, or very cold water. Don’t use formalin unless you accept the consequences, or unless you have expert assistance on hand.
How to use Formalin:
Research has shown that the fish need only be in the Formalin at 25 ppm for a mere 2 (TWO) hours to benefit from the parasiticide. I usually recommend that folks leave the formalin in for 6 hours, then do a 50% water change and replace the filtration to the system. Give the fish a day off, then repeat the treatment, two more times, total treatment period is 9 days. (Here is a proprietary Formalin, please use it per label instructions)
Simplified:
Day one: 25ppm Formalin added to the system, after filters have been removed to isolation.
Day two: (12 hours after primary treatment) Large water change, then the replacement of the filters into the system.
Day three: No treatment
Day four: Repeat day one. And so on for three rounds.
Formalin has also been used as a dip, prior to, or after the sale of a fish. I discourage this. Doses of Formalin required to clear surface parasites in short periods of time present a great stress to an already stressed specimen. Gills that may have been damaged by pH and ammonia stress in the shipping bag cannot easily adapt to being further burned by formalin. In truth, the treatment is fairly effective, but salt dipping is sometimes preferred, and less toxic/caustic to the fish.
If you want to use Formalin as a dip on a fish that has NOT been shipped or severely stressed, I would recommend a mere 50-100 ppm (2-4 cc per 10 gallons) for no more than 1 hour, much less if respiratory difficulty is seen. This is stressful and may singe the fin tips.
Common Questions About Formalin:
Question: How will Formalin affect my filter? I cannot remove the media!
Answer: Formalin may kill alot of the filter bacteria, causing ammonias, and then nitrites, to accumulate in the system. It depends on how long the system has been operating and how much ‘filtration overkill’ there is. One thing you can do to reduce this is to remove the ‘stacks’ from the under gravel filter, or in some way abbreviate flow of treated water through the media, and also to abbreviate feeding to one, small feeding per day. One problem with this: If you are combatting a pathogen like trematodes (flukes,) then the obstruction of the flow through the gravel may spare the filter bacteria, but also may spare the lives of the developing eggs or embryos of these parasites. This is the reason for repeating the treatment cycle three times. To intercept the different life cycles of parasites that may have survived the previous rounds.
Question: What signs should I look for to tell me the fish are in trouble?
Answer: Signs of respiratory distress are suggestive that the fish are in trouble. You should do an immediate, partial water change with dechlor, or better still, remove the fish to a remote system at the first sign of real gasping. The fish do not have much time when hanging on the surface, and there may have been some miscalculation in the system volume, the dose of formalin, or the temperature may not have been considered.
Question: How toxic is formalin to me? How long does it last in the system if not changed out?
Answer: Formalin is a known carcinogen for humans, if contacted long enough. It is also a skin sensitizer, causing eye and throat irritation when in contact with these surfaces. Obviously, you don’t want to drink it. Formalin’s dissipation from a system is governed primarily by the amount of organic material in the system, in other words: In a glass jar of clean, non-agitated water, the formalin would stay in solution for a long time, but in a mud bottomed pond, would be bound out within 2 days.
Question: I heard that Formalin cannot be used with salt. If I treated with salt first, do I have to remove the salt before using Formalin?
Answer: I have treated a large number of fish with salt. In two years of practice, but I have only used not quite one gallon of Formalin. Does that tell you something about the utility of Formalin, when salt is available? To answer your question: EVERY time I used Formalin, (and this would be echoed industry wide), I have used it concurrently with Salt. No problem. I am NOT saying that the combination is safe, I am just saying that I have ONLY seen this problem in print, not in practice. There is a difference.
A theory exists that in very hard water and water with high carbonate alkalinity the combination of salt and formalin was toxic in some author’s hands. I have not had that problem. Still, some judgment is needed and I might recommend a partial water change to remove some of the salt, but just as importantly, to cool the water before applying any formalin. Do not use Formalin in water over 78 DF.
Question: When DO you use Formalin Dr. Johnson?
Answer: In ponds and tropical fish tanks I kind of like it. It’s clean and quick and I always have more filter surface area than I need to killing off half my filter bacteria still leaves plenty.. I would use it when the client had a priority on plants, and could not, or would not use Salt. I would use it when I was combating Flukes and did not want to use an organophosphate or praziquantel. I would also use it if I wanted to clear Oodinium, which is often salt resistant, but only if the fish was not too badly eroded, dermally. I would not use it when the fish were ulcerated.
