bigcheese
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Does anyone have experience using Halamid (aka Chloramine-T / Chloramine Trihydride) for prophylaxis or dip treatments on reef fish?
Asking for a friend...
Seriously though, been doing a lot of research lately into potential Formalin replacements. Something easier on the fish (and reefkeepers) while still being at least as effective as Formalin. I was headed down the Glutaraldehyde route, but it just didn't seem there was enough current evidence pointing towards its safety at therapeutic concentrations (and it's now banned in a couple EU countries).
I ran into Halamid- a now fairly-well researched biocide commonly used in the freshwater hobby (Koi, mostly) with lots of safety studies on commercially-significant species like trout, salmon, lobster and shrimp (including brine and mysis). There are some studies that speak to its efficacy in getting rid of ciliate parasites, dinoflagellates and bacteria in sea bass, sea trout, lobster and atlantic salmon- in saltwater environments- but the majority of the literature focuses on FW species. Government-wise, it's been approved by both the USDA for a variety of uses in farming and recently by the FDA for use on fish destined for human consumption, same as the EU/CAN/AUS/NZ.
It does look promising... pretty wide therapeutic range (further enhanced in an alkaline pH), safe for inverts (at least the species of pods, snails and shrimp they tested against), similar effects across a wide range of water parameters (so no dosage change because of salinity / temp / alk, etc.), and similar effectiveness as formalin for ich (yes, c. irritans) and dinoflagellates (admittedly, no studies on oodinium, so the jury is still out on Velvet).
Chemically, it's *not* Chloramine (which is uber toxic). It does break down to produce free chlorine which does the dirty work, but the reaction is slow and self-limiting. Existing chlorine tests will detect it. Given some of the FDA literature, I'd think a 60-minute dip in 15 ppm Chloramine-T with at least a pH of 8.0 and normal salinity, might be a great start as a protocol.
I'd love to hear what some of the pros here think, and how we can test it.
Bonus: Here's the best and most thorough writeup I found: https://animaldrugsatfda.fda.gov/adafda/app/search/public/document/downloadEA/81
Asking for a friend...
Seriously though, been doing a lot of research lately into potential Formalin replacements. Something easier on the fish (and reefkeepers) while still being at least as effective as Formalin. I was headed down the Glutaraldehyde route, but it just didn't seem there was enough current evidence pointing towards its safety at therapeutic concentrations (and it's now banned in a couple EU countries).
I ran into Halamid- a now fairly-well researched biocide commonly used in the freshwater hobby (Koi, mostly) with lots of safety studies on commercially-significant species like trout, salmon, lobster and shrimp (including brine and mysis). There are some studies that speak to its efficacy in getting rid of ciliate parasites, dinoflagellates and bacteria in sea bass, sea trout, lobster and atlantic salmon- in saltwater environments- but the majority of the literature focuses on FW species. Government-wise, it's been approved by both the USDA for a variety of uses in farming and recently by the FDA for use on fish destined for human consumption, same as the EU/CAN/AUS/NZ.
It does look promising... pretty wide therapeutic range (further enhanced in an alkaline pH), safe for inverts (at least the species of pods, snails and shrimp they tested against), similar effects across a wide range of water parameters (so no dosage change because of salinity / temp / alk, etc.), and similar effectiveness as formalin for ich (yes, c. irritans) and dinoflagellates (admittedly, no studies on oodinium, so the jury is still out on Velvet).
Chemically, it's *not* Chloramine (which is uber toxic). It does break down to produce free chlorine which does the dirty work, but the reaction is slow and self-limiting. Existing chlorine tests will detect it. Given some of the FDA literature, I'd think a 60-minute dip in 15 ppm Chloramine-T with at least a pH of 8.0 and normal salinity, might be a great start as a protocol.
I'd love to hear what some of the pros here think, and how we can test it.
Bonus: Here's the best and most thorough writeup I found: https://animaldrugsatfda.fda.gov/adafda/app/search/public/document/downloadEA/81
