Comparison of ozone,hydrogen peroxide and removal of infected eggs for prevention of fungal infection in sturgeon hatchery

ABSTRACT:   The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of ozone, hydrogen peroxide and removal of infected eggs (five times per day) on prevention of fungal infection on Iranian sturgeon Acipenser persicus . The effects of 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15 p.p.m. of ozone, and 500 and 1000 p.p.m. of hydrogen peroxide in two different egg disinfection procedures (with and without removal of infected eggs) were examined on hatching ratio. Egg disinfection by 1000 p.p.m. hydrogen peroxide (with removal of infected eggs) resulted in the greatest hatching ratio (78%) among all treatments. Among ozone treatments, 0.15 p.p.m. (with removal of infected eggs) showed the highest hatching ratio (76.4%). The hatching ratio of the control group (without disinfectant and removal of infected eggs) was 34.4%. Removal of infected eggs increased the hatching ratio by 16.1% compared to treatments without infected egg removal, and there was a significant difference ( P  < 0.01). Ozone is preferred to hydrogen peroxide because a lower concentration of ozone is required to disinfect the culture medium; consequently, environmental pollution will be decreased. A low correlation ( r  = ?0.35) was observed between hatchery water temperature and fungal infection percentage in the control.