[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Fungus on eggs
Hello,
You are absolutely right, that it is very easy to overdose. The common
"wisdom" -- if one drop is good, two will be better -- stil prevails!
The final solution in which eggs are incubated should be about 2
parts-per-million in acriflavine. That is NOT much, 2 mg/L. It imparts a
very light yellow color to the water.
For the DIY crowd -- there are several kinds of acriflavine! Select the
"neutral" kind (NOT hydrochloride!). Eastman Kodak sells it in 50 gram
quantities as #18843 (or used to sell, since I have not bought it in
quite a while). 50 grams of acriflavine will last you a lifetime!
Because it is impractical to weigh out 2 mg, make up a 1,000 ppm stock
solution by dissolving 1 gram of acriflavine powder in 1 liter of
(distilled) water. Use 2 mL of this stock solution to prepare 1 liter of
the "working" solution. You can experiment a bit on the concentration,
to suit your conditions, but, as "Uncle Scott" warns -- do not go
overboard. (I know that 4 ppm is not lethal.)
At 2 ppm acriflavene is about 90% effective in retarding fungus. The
infertile(?) eggs will not fungus, just turn milky and stay that way for
several days -- then fungus. So it is essential to keep an eye on them,
acriflavine, or no acriflavine!
As soon as the egg starts developing, remove it to plain water. Although
I have not noticed that fry hatched in 2 ppm acriflavine are any less
viable (I have not done any comparative experiments!), it can not be too
pleasant for them to swim in it!
Best,
George
uncle scott wrote:
>
> Something which all those who have mentioned their favorite fungus
> retardents (including mardel's marycin (sp?.) could have mentioned is that
> it is possible to get carried away and overdose. One should still look for
> the fungused eggs and remove them (with an eyedropper, baster, finger over a
> piece of hard tubing opened over the bad egg...)
>
> Although fungus will spread faster, it is possible to water incubate eggs
> without medicinal additives. One simply must look more frequently and remove
> bad eggs before their funguses spread.
>
> If you have eggs of an albino killie such as the gardneri, remember that
> light eggs may be that way not because they are going bad and whitening up,
> but because they have no dark pigments. :) Look closely and see if anyone
> winks.
>
> Also the eggs should be changed out of that water after a few days. This
> both removes the medicinal dyes and organic wastes building in the water
> from the developing embryos.
>
> All the best!
>
> Scott
References: