John,
The big problem here is the UK (and EU) aren't telling us exactly what is going on in plain words. The whole area is a big patch of grey.
The whole issue boils down to some simple facts.
- If a substance is used to "treat" any animals (ie fish) a license must be applied for.
- Anyone receiving a license will be forced to manufacture under approved EU laboratory conditions regarding safety, storage, waste management and product control.
- Any non-exempted products will be available only with the specific written prescription from a qualified vet.
- Prescribed substances must be for a single course of treatment only with a maximum water volume of 25,000 liters.
- Any issued substance must be approved for that specific treatment or the vet is liable to prosecution.
At this point in time you can buy certain substances and use them on your koi providing you do not purchase then as a treatment for koi. Possible contenders are things like sodium thiosulfate which you can purchase at a maximum of 1 liter per time (and then walk out of the store and return to buy a second liter) unless you buy it from a swimming pool supply store
for your pool in which case you can buy a couple of gallons. KMnO4 in a maximum amount of 35 grams unless you wish to clean the canvas of your tent in which case you can buy a kilo.
At this point in time there is
ONE approved dealer in the UK for pond meds and that is British King Products which produce for the aquarium trade and are not of any use to the pond hobby.
http://www.vmd.gov.uk/ProductInfo/AuthMed/small.htm.
Tetra has also applied but has yet to be approved. Kasuri doesn't expect to get an approval and is in the process of closing down it's line of koi-med products.
Now certain products will be available through your local vet BUT there are some big problems involved here. The vet may prescribe a single course of treatment and only prescribe those drugs that have been approved for a specific treatment. Do you wish to anesthetize a fish? Then you may buy a
single treatment of MS-222. If you widh to use benzocaine or 2-Phenoxyethanol or even Eugenol, you are stuffed. While these products do an excellect job they are NOT APPROVED for use with koi. To do so would be breaking the law. The same applies for most antibiotics. If you want Nufloor, Azactam or any other in a large arsenal of antibiotics you will have to buy them on the black market because they are not approved for fish.
Topical treatments are up in the air at this point. The law states all exempted treatments must be applied through the water So if you wish to apply them directly to a wound you must go to a vet and as yet none of these treatments has been approved for fish. You can buy orthobase sealer to keep your dentures in place but don't put it on your fish, you will be breaking the law.
With a maximum treatment ceiling of 25,000 liters you will be forced to make multiple trips if you need to treat a large pond. Accordingly the price will be very high for many small treatments.
I still have a lot to find out but I'll let you know as I glean more info.
B.Scott