In a search for more effective disinfectants to combat parasitic diseases of hatchery fish, the authors report results from a series of experiments designed to determine the toxicity of varying exposures to concentrations of formalin, sodium p‐phenolsulphonate, ammonium sulphate, and sodium benzoate. Non‐toxic concentrations of these disinfectants were tested, in addition to the usual hatchery methods of salt treatment and hand dipping in copper sulphate and acetic acid solutions, on No. 1 brook trout fingerlings which had been experimentally infected with the protozoan parasite Trichodina sp. (previously known as Cyclochaeta sp.).
Of the disinfectants tested, only formalin completely removed all parasites. Salt treatment in a 5 per cent solution, by weight, as well as hand dipping in 1:500 acetic acid, failed to eradicate all parasites present, although a marked reduction in their numbers did occur. The hand dipping in a 1:2,000 copper sulphate solution was found to be without practical value for the removal of parasites.
The authors recommend a prolonged treatment for sixty minutes by recirculating a 1:4,000 solution of formalin, or, where circumstances permit, a 120‐ to 150‐minute exposure to a 1:6,000 concentration of formalin, as the most effective, most economical, and least toxic treatments for combating infections of Trichodina sp., and presumably those of other external parasites as well, among hatchery fish.
