Fish Care - Disinfecting Nets, Mats & Slings

[johnplumb]

If you google virkon there is a Wiki page on it ,from what i can tell it will work for up to a week and then needs to be changed and i fear that will be the biggest problem - fishery owners keeping the tanks clean and replacing the liquid every week . My guess is it will cost around £15 / week

to buy the amount of virkon required .

Yes, I have seen that one but £15.00 might not be cost effective for fishery owners who have to provide multiple tanks, plus there is all the hassle of servicing them every week. They might just as well do as Les Kaolins do right now i.e. supply the gear and prohibit anglers from using their own stuff.

Virkol is produced by Dupont and it contains their Oxone + other chemicals. I use Dupont Oxone + Sodium Bromine to shock (sanitize) swimming pools and it does not even cost £15 for 50,000 litres.

One problem could be that the water has to be correctly balanced but that is simple enough and all pool owners have to deal with it.

Another is that they may not be able to chuck it on the grass after use.

Then the concentration has to be correct.

What I do know is that this sanitizer kills, ALL bacteria, viruses, fungi and algae in seconds but, within 30 minutes, the water is safe for people to swim.

Possible problems could be -

a) They may need two tanks. The first with a detergent to remove the dirt because otherwise a lot of the sanitizing power would be lost.

b) It might not penetrate porous surfaces such as landing-net fabric.

Lets see what Dupont say, they put me on the right track before.

 

Hi Mike , from what i can see the stuff is around £10 /kg lets say a 100l tank @ 2% solution = 2kg of it so around £20 below is where i got my info from .

The problems i can see with dip tanks are will everyone use them and does the chemical affect the fish if the nets are not rinsed properly ,

Supply nets and slings and matts , that has to be the way to go .

 

It is sold as tablets or powder which dissolve readily in water. It is intended to be mixed with water to form a 1% to 3% solution (by weight, i.e. 10g to 30g per litre). The pink colour is useful in that it helps gauge the concentration when preparing the Virkon, and importantly, as the Virkon ages it discolours, making it obvious when it needs to be replaced. The solution is generally stable for five to seven days.

[grangemilky]

I would say birds and wildlife spread more diseases then an angler's net.

 

I personally dont use the dips at any lakes and the reason for that is my net and weigh sling is always washed out and left soaking in bath for a short while at home with disinfectant and then is hung up in shed to thoroughly dry before next session it stops them stinking and i very much doubt anyone can find any bacteria on my net and weigh sling.

 

 

Unless you are using neat F10 disinfectant, i wouldn't bank on it killing everything.

 

UV light, or a bath full of Ozoneated water is your best bet IMO.

[onefishmike]

I would say birds and wildlife spread more diseases then an angler's net.

 

I personally dont use the dips at any lakes and the reason for that is my net and weigh sling is always washed out and left soaking in bath for a short while at home with disinfectant and then is hung up in shed to thoroughly dry before next session it stops them stinking and i very much doubt anyone can find any bacteria on my net and weigh sling.

I agree with you about birds and wildlife. Nevertheless, until it is proved that nets etc. do not spread disease, then the issue has to stay on the table.

As far as your gear is concerned I have two thoughts -

1. You should be congratulated for taking care and I wonder how many of our comrades do the same, so we still have to either to ban anglers own gear or provide dunking tanks.

2. How can you be sure that simple washing and drying is enough? Perhaps you use Dettol, or similar, but how can you be sure that it works.

[onefishmike]

If you google virkon there is a Wiki page on it ,from what i can tell it will work for up to a week and then needs to be changed and i fear that will be the biggest problem - fishery owners keeping the tanks clean and replacing the liquid every week . My guess is it will cost around £15 / week

to buy the amount of virkon required .

Yes, I have seen that one but £15.00 might not be cost effective for fishery owners who have to provide multiple tanks, plus there is all the hassle of servicing them every week. They might just as well do as Les Kaolins do right now i.e. supply the gear and prohibit anglers from using their own stuff.

Virkol is produced by Dupont and it contains their Oxone + other chemicals. I use Dupont Oxone + Sodium Bromine to shock (sanitize) swimming pools and it does not even cost £15 for 50,000 litres.

One problem could be that the water has to be correctly balanced but that is simple enough and all pool owners have to deal with it.

Another is that they may not be able to chuck it on the grass after use.

Then the concentration has to be correct.

What I do know is that this sanitizer kills, ALL bacteria, viruses, fungi and algae in seconds but, within 30 minutes, the water is safe for people to swim.

Possible problems could be -

a) They may need two tanks. The first with a detergent to remove the dirt because otherwise a lot of the sanitizing power would be lost.

b) It might not penetrate porous surfaces such as landing-net fabric.

Lets see what Dupont say, they put me on the right track before.

 

Hi Mike , from what i can see the stuff is around £10 /kg lets say a 100l tank @ 2% solution = 2kg of it so around £20 below is where i got my info from .

The problems i can see with dip tanks are will everyone use them and does the chemical affect the fish if the nets are not rinsed properly ,

Supply nets and slings and matts , that has to be the way to go .

 

It is sold as tablets or powder which dissolve readily in water. It is intended to be mixed with water to form a 1% to 3% solution (by weight, i.e. 10g to 30g per litre). The pink colour is useful in that it helps gauge the concentration when preparing the Virkon, and importantly, as the Virkon ages it discolours, making it obvious when it needs to be replaced. The solution is generally stable for five to seven days.

In the swimming pool game some suppliers are wrapping up some fairly cheap chemicals and selling them at extortionate prices, which is OK for Joe Public because he does not use a lot, but on a professional scale it pays to buy in bulk.

To treat a swimming pool it costs around £12 per year for the Sodium Bromine and £8 every time you shock - that's buying the stuff in 25 Kg bags. However, swimming pool water is not drained off every time but, if it was we are talking about £20 for 50,000 litres for a 10 ppm shock.

On a pro rata basis this works out at £0.04.

OK, 10 ppm might not be enough, a 100 litre tank could be too small, we might not be able to tip it on the grass, it might not even work, a certain amount of skill in measuring is required etc. etc. Dupont will tell us - they want to sell the stuff!

Most certainly there is no need to dry off, just wait 30 minutes before contact with fish. The oxygen from the Oxone "gasses off" into the air. The residual chemical trace in Bromine Ion - sea water has between 50 and 80 ppm.

WIKIPEDIA: Virkon is a multi-purpose disinfectant. It contains oxone (potassium peroxymonosulfate), sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, sulfamic acid; and inorganic buffers.

I am not thinking that I am right about this. There must be a drawback, otherwise someone would have got onto it before me.

Lets wait for the answer from Dupont.

[onefishmike]

Rightihooooo!

I have been in touch with a veterinary supplier in UK and have all the info. This is copyright so I have requested permission to post the text here, which was specially written for leisure fisheries, and cite the name of the professor who wrote it.

Good news: 200 litres of Vircol solution costs only £10, 100 litres only half that price.

WATCH THIS SPACE

[Andy V]

On 07/08/2013 at 19:41, onefishmike said:

I am involved with a fishery in Brittany, France and we have a rule about nets and unhooking mats. Anglers are not allowed to use their own gear.

Obviously that's logical because we have to avoid all risk of infection from other lakes but I am wondering if there is another way.

Additionally these days, there is some really good carp-care equipment around and it seems a shame to deny anglers the right to use their own gear when it's better than ours.

I once belonged to a syndicate in London that provided dip-tanks for such gear at the entrance, so I am wondering how safe this method it, what disinfectant to use and what concentration.

The first thing that comes to mind is Jeyes Fluid but that may only work on bugs that infect humans.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Mike

reading the label on the Virkon disinfectant , it does say Harmful to Aquatic life, are there different types of virkon??