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AQUI-S Products

Improving Aquaculture & Enhancing Welfare

Improving Aquaculture & Enhancing Welfare

AQUI-S Aquatic Anaesthetic

AQUI S bottleAQUI-S® is mixed directly with water to form a stock solution which is then dispersed in the water column. Handling applications require an AQUI-S® concentration of between 15 and 20 mg/L in an immersion bath to achieve anaesthetisation.  Lower doses (~4 mg/L AQUI-S®) are used for light sedation, which is ideal for disease treatment and transport applications. Increasing the dose will result in a more rapid induction. Induction responses will also be somewhat dependent on the species, the age, level of fatigue and condition of the animals, and environmental factors.

Well rested salmon (Salmo salar and Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), for example, will take between 5 and 8 minutes of exposure to 17 mg/L of AQUI-S® before showing signs of loss of equilibrium, and most husbandry practices can be carried out after 12 to 15 minutes exposure. Much shorter response times, approximately 2 to 5 minutes, can be produced when a higher working concentration is used.  Fish that are not rested will often have a faster response to the anaesthetic.

In commercial applications, the AQUI-S® concentration can be adjusted to achieve a response time that matches the ability to handle the animals. Handling systems have been designed to handle up to 10 tonnes of fish per hour with treatment response times of 10 to 20 minutes.

Advantages of AQUI-S®

  1. AQUI-S® is approved in Australia, Chile, New Zealand and Vietnam with a zero withholding period. This makes it the only aquatic anaesthetic that can be used for harvesting fish in those countries.
  2. AQUI-S® is also approved in Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands but not currently with a harvest claim.
  3. Fish and crustacea sedated/anaesthetised with AQUI-S® have rapid induction and recovery times.
  4. AQUI-S® is effective at mitigating a physiological stress response even at low concentrations (~5 mg/L AQUI-S®)).  At this dose sedative effects and behavioural changes can be easily recognised.
  5. The concentration required to achieve handleable fish can be up to twenty times less than that of other anaesthetics.
  6. AQUI-S® has a wide margin of safety, meaning fish can remain in the treatment water for relatively long periods of time without fear of mortalities.  This is oblviously somewhat dose dependent.
  7. AQUI-S® can be diluted directly in water (seawater or freshwater) and does not require the use of hazardous solvents.
  8. AQUI-S® is cost effective. Typical application costs to harvest fish are between 1 to 2 cents/kg.  The cost to dose transport or disease treatment water is ~0.16 cents/L.
  9. AQUI-S® is gentle and humane in action. Fish will not show any adverse responses to being placed in a working solution of up to 20 mg/L AQUI-S®. 

For more information please contact AQUI-S New Zealand Ltd or our distributor in your country.

PDF Downloads:

Regulations New Zealand - Safety Data Sheet (SDS) Regulations Australia - Safety Data Sheet (SDS)
Regulations AQUI-S® Tech sheet Regulations  AQUI-S® bath preparation



Norwegian AQUI-S documents:

  https://www.msd-animal-health.no/prosedyrer-og-dataark-version/

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