I just want all taxidermist to note: do not use formaldyhide it is not necessary it is harmful to health...people get headaches from it.Use Van Dyke D.P. or use borax.If you skin your fish out properly and cut tongue and gills out you shouldn't have any problem with preservation...with borax alone.The right way to skin a fish is like this:cut the gills and tongue out were they meet at lower jaw...and cut gills out at just behind brain cavity this will expose brain cavity...that is behind eye at top of fish...the lower jaw will and should have the fishes tip of tongue incl. in the skin after skinned
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Formaldehyde is no more carcinogous than many other chemicals we use in our homes. Gasoline is, lacquer thinner is, Drano is deadly, Chlorox can turn on you . Formaldehyde has been played much like the satanic use of heroin. We once thought methadone was the answer to heroin addicts until we realized that IT was addictive as well. MS Contin was another. Formaldehyde does LOTS of things the "generic replacements" can't and if you use good safe shop practices, it's your best choice. That means you can't use it downstairs in the basement or in a small enclosure, but I assure you that the symptoms you worried about can be duplicated by using DENATURED ALCOHOL which is also deadly poisonous. So if you're looking to avoid all inherent dangers, being dead is probably the only place and I ain't looking forward to being there quite yet.
Cousin Perch;
I don't know about anyone else, but I don't remove the gills or the tongue from my fish. Unless it's a cold water species like trout or salmon. Where I cast the head and mouth interior. And then I take out the gills and dry them, and replace them when mounting the fish. Stick with denatured alcohol. 50/50 mixture of alcohol and water, If your afraid of formaldyhide.
Coyote
I use the 50/50 formula but I add Solubor (a borax product that dilutes 100 percent in alcohol or water) sold in Plant nurseries as a natural insecticied , I use 99 percent pharmaceutical grade, Isopropyl free because of what George said about denatured alcohol.
Denature alcohol when injected or soaked in a specimen will eventually turn into Formol which is whre formaldehyde is made from and the fumes will linger in a room . and it is highly carcinerous. hope this helps.