I was reading a recently purchased back issue of Breakthrough Magazine (issue 38 Fall 94) and ran across this formula for a fish tan under the Q&A column by Larry Goldman .
2 gallons of water
4 ounces of zinc sulfate
2 cups of salt {non iodized}
2 cups of borax
¼ cup of concentrated Lysol
1 ounce of glycerine {optional}
1.I assume that the Lysol used in this formula is intended to be a bactericide?
I also know by reading the archives that Lysol no longer contains Phenol, So I should just replace it with a bactericide like Rittle"s or Basacryl NB-KU right?
2.If the glycerine in the above formula is optional like the article said what does it do if added or not do in the above formula?
Sorry for all the questions but I was curious and hoped some of you on the forum might have used this formula in the past.
Thanks in advance for all responses.
Marty
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Minus the salt and plus a capful of Knobloch's Kemal-4. I use the "new" lysol and I have no problems. BUT, many folks believe that tanning their fish is really unnecessary anyways. I'm one of those people who believe "if it ain't broke - don't fix it" and I have not changed...
that some people dont believe in using fish tans but then again , some people believe you dont need to tan capes and hides before mounting. That being said, I use the above formula but changed it slightly. Instead of the lysol, I use antibacterial dawn and I dont use the optional ingredients. I have not had any problems to date. I use this on fish, turtles,everything of this nature.
Same formula, minus the lysol. Have used this, plus 50/50 denat. alcohol & H2O, separatly of course, and believe they both do what I intend them to do. Tan? not really, but they do preserve the skin. I do believe that the above fish mix tends to let the skin dry a little lighter than the alcohol, at least it did in my limited unscientific comparisons.
I use both mixtures too. Salmon and Trout get the Borax solution and all other fish go in the denatured alcohol solution. For me, I've found that I get less scale lifting with the alcohol - especially on Pike and Muskies...