Hydrogen Cyanide

[plecosword]

So I recently found out all the fish that I bouth from the LFS have been dying from Cyanide Poisoning, and I found it it is used In wars!
here is an experiment they did on shrimp
Initial result of the study on the impact of cyanide toxin on shrimp metapenaeus ensis by acute toxin experiment
as weapon
Hydrogen Cyanide
Im not sure if they are the same type of cyanide

[BoomerD]

Cyanide collection has been used for many, many years. Yes, it generally kills the fish, but perhaps of greater concern is that it also kills the reef where it's used.

It's hard to say if the losses you've experienced are from cyanide or not, but it's certainly possible.

[plecosword]

Originally Posted by BoomerD

Cyanide collection has been used for many, many years. Yes, it generally kills the fish, but perhaps of greater concern is that it also kills the reef where it's used.

It's hard to say if the losses you've experienced are from cyanide or not, but it's certainly possible.

It has to be, If not, my water is poisoned. Im going to go to a different LFS next weekend.

[sasquatch]

what country were the fish from? and what are you doing looking at weapons links lol

[rlcline76]

That's it, someone call the Department of Homeland Security!!!!!!

Glad to see that someone is reading something!

[sasquatch]

like that link isnt tagged already? we got spook guests in the house now lol

[rmlevasseur]

Are you QTing? Its easy to blame cyanide on unknown deaths, but the fact is the travel from ocean to store to tank is stressful enough. Some fish are easy enough to catch w/o the use of cyanide.

[plecosword]

I have no space to Quarantine. I already got a pair of ocellaris clowns and they are doing great on their second week. I guess it was the LFS.

[motortrendz]

i was buying fish at a lfs that they were dying after a week no matter what kind of fish i bought. but the fish ive had in my tank for months are doing fine.. i dont really understand... the wont say were the fish are from except from a wholsaler.. all my levels are fine, so i dont know y theyre dying. any ideas? i just bought a fish from another lfs to experiment... any sugjestions?

[lcstorc]

How long were the fish at the LFS before you bought them? If they had just come in, it could be stress or cyanide or any number of factors. I wait until the fish have been there a week or two and make sure it is eating before I buy it.

[mps9506]

I hate to say but in this day and age there is no reason to purchase wild caught clowns unless you are looking for something that is not bred in captivity often. Pretty much all the common clownfish species can be purchased captive bred for not much more than wild caught, and generally much healthier since they haven't spent 15 hours in a plane flying across the pacific.

[plecosword]

I guess this is a lot more comon than most of us had imagined. The clowns died BTW, but because they beated each other lol

[Basile]

Hey, guys, reading this thread and i'm lost. excuse the ignorance, but where would the cyanide come from? Am i confusing potassium cyanide. Please explain if you have time. Totally in the dark with this phenomenon.

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by Basile

Hey, guys, reading this thread and i'm lost. excuse the ignorance, but where would the cyanide come from? Am i confusing potassium cyanide. Please explain if you have time. Totally in the dark with this phenomenon.

Generally I believe sodium cyanide is used. It is put in little squirt bottles, when the divers chase a fish into the reef they squirt a little bit of cyanide stunning the fish while killing the coral head. The fish floats out and gets bagged.
The issues are obvious, coral dies, fish may or may not "wake up," and fish that do survive suffer long term issues.
The cyanide comes from the people that buy the fish from the collectors and sell it to transhippers or wholesalers.
Educating collectors on proper collection methods and ensuring they get paid fair prices for collecting healthy fish in sustainable manners are current projects in the indo pacific areas. Properly training and providing material to net capture fish is currently being done by several people.
My best advice, is to educate yourself on what areas provide healthy sustainably captured fish and support those fisheries by purchasing fish from them, buy from educated retailers, spend a little extra to support them. As long as cyanide use is profitable it will continue.

[plecosword]

Originally Posted by Basile

Hey, guys, reading this thread and i'm lost. excuse the ignorance, but where would the cyanide come from? Am i confusing potassium cyanide. Please explain if you have time. Totally in the dark with this phenomenon.

Its alright, we have all been there. Hydrogen Cyanide is a posison (gas I think) that some people use to catch fish easily. the fish will absorb it byt breathing it in and it will "float around", making it easy to catch. The thing with it is that it damages many of their organs like lungs and liver. Usually when you buy the fish, it will not eat and it will last about a week. I think this article will explain it the best.

Cyanide fishing