Aquaculture Disinfectants: Types and Uses

Disinfection is a common disease management tool for aquaculture sector. It can be both a routine bio-security practice
to prevent specific diseases or a routine sanitation process to reduce overall occurrence of diseases that may lower farm
productivity. The nature and mode of disinfection greatly varies with the specific reason that leads to disinfection
practices. The most commonly practiced approach is chemical treatment in specified doses and for sufficient retention
periods to destroy pathogenic organisms that would otherwise access the water systems repetitively.
In aquaculture systems, the threat of cross
contamination is prevalent between fauna
in the same tank as well as between water
holdings, both in fish and crustacean
farming. In addition, use of disinfectants is
not possible in open systems owing to
environmental impacts of chemicals in
natural waters and in case of seawater;
there is risk of residual oxidant byproducts due to chemical reactions with
salts in water. Thus disinfectants can be
applied safely and most conveniently only
to hatcheries and incubation tanks.
Since most aquatic species are highly
sensitive to toxic chemicals and the disposal of such waters threatens to contaminate natural water bodies, it is highly
needed that a safe product be used for disinfection. The term safe implies to toxicity tolerance by farm as well as
wild aquatic organisms. Thus only a few chemicals can truly adhere to the properties of ideal aquaculture disinfectants
in real practice. Some disinfectants are effective against a large range of microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, fungi and
parasites. In addition some chemicals are selective biocides to certain strains of exotic eutrophic microalgae. While some
disinfectants can work on a short term before the microbes grow resistant to them. Thus the choice of disinfectant and
methods of disinfection should be based on the spectrum and ease of application as well.
Requisites of an ideal Disinfectant are summarized herein:

Should have a wide spectrum antimicrobial activity

Should not be irritating to aquatic organisms or humans
Should have minimal toxicity to non target organisms
Should have high penetrability
Should be active in presence of Pus and Necrotic Tissue
Should be non-interfering with normal immunity of fishes
Should be cost friendly
Should be non corrosive and non staining
Should be highly stable
Should be biodegradable with nil/minimum bioaccumulation potential

Disinfectants can be classified based on their mode of activity as:

1. Oxidizing Agents
2. Reducing agents

3. Detergents
Oxidizing Disinfectants can again be of two types:
a) Those that oxidize without releasing oxygen, most common being Halogen bleachers and Potassium
Permanganate and Peracetic Acid
b) Those that oxidize by release of nascent oxygen i.e. Peroxides
They are mostly used to control phytoplankton, pathogens and bottom soil oxidants. Most oxidizing agents are irritant
to skin and eyes in high concentrations and except for chlorine, most dont have long bioaccumulation potential thus
non contaminants to food.
Reducing agents consist of organic aldehydes like Formaldehyde and Glutaraldehyde that are popular general
disinfectants used as germicide, fungicide or as preservatives in industries. Their main mode of action is by formation of
covalent bonds and disruption of functional groups in cellular proteins. They are thus target specific and can be easily
applied in selective removal of microbial contaminants. Aldehyde disinfectants are non-irritant, readily biodegradable
and do not possess bioaccumulation risks.
Detergents or popularly referred to as Cationic detergents are Quaternary ammonium compounds (Benzalkonium
Chloride) that are used I hatcheries to eradicate aquatic insect larvae and nematodes. They are active in disruption of
cell membrane and destruction of cytoplasm and cell nuclear material. They are highly active against Gram negative
bacteria. There are no known records of reactive products not degrading or chances of bioaccumulation in environment
as of yet.
Irrespective of the mode of application and action most aquaculture disinfectants listed above seem to be highly
effective in their respective treatment domain but choice of the same lies totally on the users end needs of disinfection
and the type of pathogen to be controlled.
ChemEqual is a vast online chemical B2B marketplace and various grades and compositions of specific Aquaculture
Disinfectants and Biocides can be searched here.