Why Klin-ik?

Klin-ik, a Laboratory Formulated Fish Care Product

As little as twenty years ago well meaning anglers literally used to play with fire in order to help the fish. There were not many products commercially available to treat fish other than a few very old fashioned remedies as were used in the trenches in WW1 as a cure-all. The medics used them because they had nothing else, it was kill or cure.

Two of these products, which I believe date back at least to the 19th century, were Gentian Violet and Malachite Green. (Both of these products come under the category of aniline dyes that are highly toxic to tissue and in their concentrated state have known carcinogenic links!) Hence the reason why the skull and crossbones logo appears on the packaging.

For MG the minimum recommended dosage dilution ratio is 2mls per 100 litres of water. One manufacturer recommends 1mm per 80 litres of water! As you can see the product is extremely highly concentrated which is why contact with skin should be avoided.

In the past MG has been used for all manner of things water wise, dying wools and synthetics, de-scaling stew ponds in an effort to kill harmful bacteria, kill weed and probably everything that lived in it, plus a whole host of heavy-duty aquatic maintenance jobs. Like DDT which is now banned worldwide, it was used back then simply because there was little knowledge and very few options, basically nothing else, and you could make gallons of the stuff for next to nowt.

As a kid I remember the council flushing bright coloured liquid down the drains, my mum asked, “Will it kill the smell?” “It’ll kill everything luv, rats as well!” came the reply.

To treat a poorly fish the subject had to be quarantined in a tank and the diluted liquid was applied to the water on days 1, 3, 5 and 7. Therefore a 50-litre tank requires 1 ml.

Moving back in time when Walker and pals led the great masses to specimen hunting…yeah I know you’re all called “specialists” now, but they were hunters then wearing big daft hats. As the mad hatter population grew, so did thoughts of fish welfare. Gone was the gaff and knotted nets were fast disappearing, fish conservation became all-important. A few anglers even used to treat the fish.

Our well-meaning hero used to wet his finger, dab it in the neat toxic powder or concentrated liquid and rub it directly onto the damaged area of the fish! Feeling proud of helping his quarry he then celebrated by picking up a cheese butty and using the same fingers consumed it with great relish!

He didn’t attempt to wash the vivid day-glo green or violet from his fingers because past experience taught him he couldn’t. The stuff remains on for day’s, even weeks! Later making his way home after a good days fishing, possibly with a warm inner glow, looking forward to a hearty meal and maybe thinking what the wife would be wearing… (We won’t go down that road, especially with those hands)!

All manner of potions were practiced by some of the guru’s high priest and witchdoctors on the bank. Bleach, mustard powder, vinegar, linseed oil, ointments, as well as some dubious industrial products, which were harmful to the fish and also to them. I fished with a guy who worked for the parks department and if you caught a fish in less than pristine condition he was like a man possessed and would be onto it in a flash. Out would come the bottle and the missing scale of the four-ounce Roach was treated. Albert had greener fingers than Percy Thrower.

On a small syndicate water in recent years a number of fish caught appeared to have mysterious visible burn marks on their body. It’s similar to a milky virus patch as found on tropical marine fish when you introduce them to a tank and you have not balanced the saline content and water temperature correctly. This was a puzzle, it had never happened previously and the majority of the fish were in stunning condition.

The case was solved when a new member was spotted rubbing his “home cure” onto the fish. It must have been better than Fiery Jack and probably killed 99% of household germs as well. Any solution, which causes burn or blemishes on fish, should be seriously questioned. The angler was quickly admonished without sentence but genuinely pleaded he thought he was helping the fish, cos he read it in an old angling book. (The Compleat Angler?).

The watchwords are, if in doubt don’t use it, simple. You may laugh but this situation is still going on to this day, and remaining unchecked could lead to unnecessary problems. In short this is one of the main reasons why we introduced our fish care product to the marketplace.

what is Klin-ik?

It is a totally safe, approved laboratory formulated anti-bacterial treatment suitable for all coarse fish.

“What’s in it?”

Hmmmmm! And…. Err, it’s got a Green colour to it!

I’m not telling you, but within the solution you will find ingredients which are found in an operating theatre, a dentist and a vets. A team of specialists in their fields, following lengthy consultation with MAFF, eventually arrived at the formulation. 50% of the contents are produced from natural ingredients and it contains the most powerful anti-viral agent known to man. It also contains anti-bacterial, fungal and parasitized agents.

A great deal of time research and effort went into the making of the formula with the directive that it be “totally safe to both to man and fish”.

Therefore, I don’t think it would be a wise move to reveal it, do you?

“What does it do?”

When we remove a hook we leave behind a puncture hole. In certain cases that open cavity could lead to secondary infection setting in. The treatment is purposely designed to be an extremely searching liquid that immediately seeps and travels in a capillary action down to the base of the wound instantly cleansing and sterilizing the immediate area. The medication is rapidly absorbed into the blood cells and this is where the other ingredients kick in, speeding up the healing process and helping the regeneration of tissue. Thus giving the fish a flying start on the road to recovery.

This applies to hook holds, spawning lesions, recent missing scales, torn fins, etc. The treatment is not as effective on older wounds, which have partially healed.

“Would you then use a sealant or gel?”

I would never use a gel or ointment. If I use a gel following hook removal I am sealing in the wound. Unless the hook was sterilized, which they cannot be after lying in silt or decaying matter, the puncture could already be harbouring harmful micro-organisms or any micro parasitic nasty leading to infection. The last thing I want is to lock in anything that could cause harm especially in an environment that has not been thoroughly cleaned.

Always apply Klin-ik with the cotton buds supplied to ensure excess fluid goes only on the wound

Once the area has been totally sterilized it should be left open allowing the water to circulate and reach the base of the cavity. The fish is then allowed to recover under its own natural healing process. When you grazed yourself as a kid your mother cleansed it and left it open to let the air get to it to make it scab up quickly. Cut your finger and put on an Elastoplast, keep it on for five days and the cut remains open, it requires air to heal. Fish live in water; they are the opposite of us. If I believed a gel would aid the fish any better than Klin-ik then we would sell a gel.

If it really does make your conscience feel better then use a gel but make sure that you have sterilized the area before hand with a safe searching antiseptic.

For cuts to ourselves we are told thoroughly clean the wound and then use a proprietary cream and if required a light breathable dressing. How can you thoroughly clean a puncture hole without a searching antiseptic? Gels and ointments will not penetrate down to the base of the wound such as a puncture. Some gels do nothing more than numb the tissue for a short period of time. Gels cement the wound preventing water from reaching surface and internal areas, which require healing. Regeneration of missing scales start by scabbing over, the scab or soft tissue is the birth of a new scale, which requires water to flourish without anything impeding the growth.

“I have noticed the odd fish flinch when I have applied the solution. Why?”

That is the signal that the solution has penetrated to the base of the wound, it only takes a second and then the fish calms down. Its similar to a cut finger, apply Dettol or TCP and it instantly stings as it sterilizes, but there is a lot more in Klin-Ik than just antiseptic. It contains an anti-parasiticide to ward off parasites that feast and breed on newly exposed tissue.

Two years ago I landed a Ribble chub that was in very poor condition. The creature was heavily infested with argulus, there must have been 30 or so feasting off its flanks. They leave behind a tunnel as they burrow through the upper layer of tissue. A drop of solution was placed at the tunnel entrance and rapidly seeped through. Boy, do those critters scuttle, and they don’t like it.

Anglers say the treatment washes off after a period, that’s why they use gels.

They think it does but that is only the visible carrier that washes off. Because it is water based product the essential ingredients are delivered immediately and absorbed into the cells/bloodstream. In the few seconds it takes to apply it will totally cleanse and sterilize the immediate area. There is no long or short-term advantage for the solution to remain on the fish, the job has been done within a split second and the fish’s natural healing process will now get underway. Once it’s sterilized it’s sterilized, period!

It has been said that most fish will recover under their own natural healing process without medication.

That is perfectly true but what about the odd fish, the one in a hundred, the one in a thousand even. That particular fish could have the potential to reach a record-breaking size, it could be the fish of a lifetime. Some of you may be nodding your head saying yeah, but that’s not the point; if that fish only grew to a maximum of 5lbs it still deserves a chance.

We don’t know which particular fish will recover, nobody does, so why not treat every fish? All it takes is a couple of drops and it’s nice to put something back into angling. In over 50 years of angling I have seen some sorry sights, horrendous growths not only around the mouth area but also body and fin infections. Science has come a long way since those early days so for the sake of a couple of drops or a quick wipe with a cotton bud why risk potentially unnecessary trauma, especially with potions from the dark ages?

“How long will a bottle of solution last and what is its shelf life?”

In one bottle there is enough medication to treat hundreds of fish, I have seen well meaning anglers literally swamping and almost bathing the fish in the solution. There is no need. All they are doing is wasting the product. The fish will come to no harm using excessive application, but in areas where scales and surface tissue remain undamaged and intact there is no requirement for treatment of any sort.

Shelf life is dependent on storage. As long as it is kept in cool conditions, fridge, garage floor, etc, it should remain effective for at least a couple of years.

Finally “Is there anything dangerous or harmful in it and why the green colour?”

The product is totally safe and environmentally friendly. Only a few weeks ago a very worried angler phoned me saying his toddler had just drank about a third of the bottle. Obviously being a concerned parent he was nearing a state of stress. We immediately assured him there would be no ill effects and instructed him to get his child to drink water, as in many cases this is normal practice. We then faxed his local hospital with a (C.O.S.H.H.) statement, which identifies the ingredients. The doctors assured him there was no undue cause for alarm. The only damage done was to leave a nasty taste in the mouth. Bet his little bread snatcher did not come back for seconds.

The greenish colour comes from our updated version, which contains the powerful anti-viral agent, which is all-important. One of our customers is the Environment Agency who buy it and issue it to their bailiffs to treat fish on public and private waters when on license checking duty. They also use it for obvious reasons to heal damaged and torn fins, lesions, etc, when netting is taken place. We also sell it to koi importers who often treat damaged fish especially following transportation from overseas.

There are no aniline dyes contained in the solution, there is not a single trace of malachite green or gentian violet in Klin-ik.

Regardless of market forces and the ever-changing pharmaceutical directives coming from Brussels we purposely keep down the price of the solution. The low price (which it is, if you knew the cost involved) of the product has been maintained over a ten-year period. That’s my way of putting something back in the sport that has given me so much pleasure. We sell tens of thousands of bottles each year world wide without advertising; therefore we do not have to promote the product.