Chloroquine Phosphate for Lockjaw

Azreefr

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When my Melanurus Wrasse contracted lockjaw I spent a lot of time searching for cures online but all I found were articles about clown fish, feeding too much krill, or that it could be a temporary condition. I wanted to share my success with the community in hopes of helping others in a similar situation.

I've had uronema marinum in my tank since adding 1/2 dozen chromis ~4 years ago. Fortunately the couple times my fish started showing signs of infection feeding fish food mixed with Metronidazole always solved the problem. I don't think I ever read anything connecting lockjaw to uronema. But based on my successes in the past when my wrasse got lockjaw my 1st reaction was to try Metro. After a week with no positive results I stopped feeding the Metro. He was still eating and I hoped it was just a temporary condition.

When his breathing became more rapid and he stopped eating I knew I needed to try something else. I moved him to a 10 gallon hospital tank and dosed him with ~70 mg/gal of chloroquine phosphate. He spent most of the time buried in a small container of sand or in a pvc pipe for 6 or 7 days. During which time I noticed his jaw was back to normal. Finally after 8-10 days he started eating. I left him in for a couple more weeks at a dosage of 40-50 mg/gal and returned him to the display.

I'm not sure what caused the Lockjaw. But after about 8 months it returned. The CP was successful once again. I doubt I found the cure-all for lockjaw. But it may be something you want to consider.
 

Gmj4409

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When my Melanurus Wrasse contracted lockjaw I spent a lot of time searching for cures online but all I found were articles about clown fish, feeding too much krill, or that it could be a temporary condition. I wanted to share my success with the community in hopes of helping others in a similar situation.

I've had uronema marinum in my tank since adding 1/2 dozen chromis ~4 years ago. Fortunately the couple times my fish started showing signs of infection feeding fish food mixed with Metronidazole always solved the problem. I don't think I ever read anything connecting lockjaw to uronema. But based on my successes in the past when my wrasse got lockjaw my 1st reaction was to try Metro. After a week with no positive results I stopped feeding the Metro. He was still eating and I hoped it was just a temporary condition.

When his breathing became more rapid and he stopped eating I knew I needed to try something else. I moved him to a 10 gallon hospital tank and dosed him with ~70 mg/gal of chloroquine phosphate. He spent most of the time buried in a small container of sand or in a pvc pipe for 6 or 7 days. During which time I noticed his jaw was back to normal. Finally after 8-10 days he started eating. I left him in for a couple more weeks at a dosage of 40-50 mg/gal and returned him to the display.

I'm not sure what caused the Lockjaw. But after about 8 months it returned. The CP was successful once again. I doubt I found the cure-all for lockjaw. But it may be something you want to consider.
Thanks for the information and welcome to reef2reef!
 

Humblefish

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@Azreefr Thank you for that information! It makes sense that lockjaw could be a symptom of uronema (see dead chromis below). Also, I find it amazing that you were able to treat a Halichoeres wrasse using CP. :eek: I haven't had very good luck with that. May I ask where your CP was sourced from?

deadfish.jpg
attachment.php
 

melypr1985

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Very interesting!
 
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Azreefr

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Thanks. After having success for the second time it’s going to be my go to in the future. I bought my CP on eBay over a year ago after speaking to a local club member with a 900g display. He has been using CP to qt all his fish for probably 1-2 years and had never had any issues with wrasses. I was definitely concerned about the purity and age of my CP. I bought it on eBay and it has an expiration of 7/18. But I have to conclude that it is still working.
 

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