Optional Treatment-Potassium Permanganate. A very effective alternative to Malichite Green & Formalin which many people have had very good success with is Potassium Permanganate, but it is much more dangerous than Malichite Green & Formalin and is more complicated to use. Potassium Permanganate is an oxidizing agent which means, that to kill the parasites it must first oxidize most, if not all, of the organic material in the pond. For that reason it is hard to recommend a proper dose for a pond unless you know how much organic matter is in the pond. The proper starting dose for a pond that is very dirty will kill the fish in a pond that is extremely clean. The end results that you are trying to achieve is to have the level of oxidation in the pond high enough and for a long enough period of time to kill the parasites, without killing the fish. This is not really easy, but it can be done very successfully if you pay attention to what you are doing. The following is the technique that we have tried and found to be successful:
- Remove all plants from the pond.
- Remove as much leaves or debris from the pond bottom as possible.
- Empty all skimmer baskets.
- Turn off ultraviolet light.
- Bypass the biological filter. If you cannot bypass your biological filter, do not use this process. Potassium Permanganate will kill all the good bacteria in your filter, which will cause serious water quality problems.
- Sunlight tends to break down Potassium Permanganate, so if you can begin the treatment after the direct sunlight is off the pond it can be helpful.
- The standard initial treatment dose is 1 level teaspoon per 600 gallons of pond water. If the pond is extremely dirty you can increase this dose by 25%. If the pond is brand new and has very little algae growth, you might reduce the dose by 25%.
- Potassium Permanganate is very toxic. Do not breathe it or get it on your skin.
- Salt pond to .3%
- Have some Hydrogen Peroxide on hand in case you need to neutralize it. You can find it in most grocery or drug stores
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