Ornamental

1 in 10 families around the world have an aquarium at home

Aquariums range in size from small glass bowls to outdoor ponds and immense public aquaria housing entire ecosystems.

All aquariums regardless of size require ongoing maintenance. This maintenance often causes severe stress to the housed animals including fish, crustacea (crabs and shrimp) and molluscan (snails) species.

AQUI-S^® is the ideal fish anaesthetic for reducing stress in your aquarium. You can purchase AQUI-S from our distributors or directly from AQNZ.

Preventable Aquarium Stressors

• Water Changes
• Handling
• Acclimation
• Transport
• Disease Treatment
• Stress in Aquarium Fish

Small amounts of stress in fish can be harmless or even beneficial, but high levels of stress or prolonged periods of stress can create severe health and breeding problems. Stress arises in fish when the animal experiences alterations in its immediate environment such as:

• Chemical changes - contaminants, low oxygen and acidification
• Physical changes - handling, capture, confinement and transport
• Perceived changes - startling or predators

Fish respond to stress with a release of hormones into the blood which triggers several physiological responses including an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar. These in turn lead to reduced growth rate, decreased disease resistance, reduced breeding success, altered behavior and reduced survivability. Whilst stress will never be entirely eradicated, it can be minimised with the correct management.

For more information go to the Stress Management section.

How to Minimise Stress in Your Aquarium

The fish anaesthetic AQUI‑S^®  is an ideal tool for reducing stress. AQUI-S is a liquid sedative for fin fish, crustacea and molluscs widely used for maintaining a good quality healthy aquaria. AQUI-S effectively works by sedating the fish and minimising the release of cortisol, thereby preventing any negative physiological responses.

The dose of AQUI-S will depend on the maintenance activity and the desired level of sedation.

Euthanasia

Euthanasia is an unpleasant but sometimes necessary aspect of animal healthcare. Euthanasia is used for two main purposes: to relieve the suffering of severely ill fish and to humanely destroy severely injured or deformed fish, particularly fry.