Chloroquine phosphate

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey @Jay Hemdal

I learned a lot from this thread

I am planning a large tank upgrade - 120 to 180.

Since I'm already going to be doing a massive breakdown + rescape + fragging off all my corals to migrate to a new system etc. - I want to eradicate ich and whatever else might be in my tank.

I have too much lifestock to dump into a QT system, I think - 3 tangs, copperband, mandarin pair, clownfish, and misc other fish like a six line, couple jawfish, some gobies, springeri damsels, and a gramma.

I thought I could maybe do a tank move, set up the new tank, and then use my current tank as a QT system while I run the new tank with corals and inverts only fallow.

But it sounds like from what you're saying , that wouldn't work reliably due to absorbtion and difficulty of maintaining therapeutic levels - so now I'm stumped.

How would you approach this problem, minimizing systems? (I don't think I can have tons of tanks littering around the house for 70 days)

If the fish are long term captives and are not showing any signs of disease, do you even need to treat them? If there is some issue, chloroquine can help against protozoans, but be aware that CP will kill most of the algae and all micro fauna in a tank. The biological degradation of CP is slow enough that you can usually complete a treatment with just one dose (say 30 days or so).

 

[ReefED!]

If the fish are long term captives and are not showing any signs of disease, do you even need to treat them? If there is some issue, chloroquine can help against protozoans, but be aware that CP will kill most of the algae and all micro fauna in a tank. The biological degradation of CP is slow enough that you can usually complete a treatment with just one dose (say 30 days or so).

I know the system has ich - managed - and I’d like to start the new system clean

Which means going fallow with corals and inserts and QTing my current livestock - so that I can introduce them ich free

I thought I’d just use the old DT for this but it sounds like the rock and sand would just absorb the CP and nullify my treatment

So it sounds like I’d need 3 systems - my current , a QT tank to sterilize , and the new system - and slowly migrate the fish through a QT protocol after the fallow period

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I know the system has ich - managed - and I’d like to start the new system clean

Which means going fallow with corals and inserts and QTing my current livestock - so that I can introduce them ich free

I thought I’d just use the old DT for this but it sounds like the rock and sand would just absorb the CP and nullify my treatment

So it sounds like I’d need 3 systems - my current , a QT tank to sterilize , and the new system - and slowly migrate the fish through a QT protocol after the fallow period

That seems like a lot more work and stress on the fish that it needs to be. Setting up a QT on the fly can be stressful on the fish if you don't control the ammonia very closely.

There may be a mix up of terms here: this thread is about chloroquine phosphate. Do you mean that or do you mean "CP" as in copper power"? I ask because twice you've expressed concern about rocks and sand absorbing "CP" and Copper Power does that, but the other "CP", chloroquine does not. Chloroquine gets broken down by bacteria, but slowly enough that one treatment is often sufficient to eradicate ich.

 

[ReefED!]

That seems like a lot more work and stress on the fish that it needs to be. Setting up a QT on the fly can be stressful on the fish if you don't control the ammonia very closely.

There may be a mix up of terms here: this thread is about chloroquine phosphate. Do you mean that or do you mean "CP" as in copper power"? I ask because twice you've expressed concern about rocks and sand absorbing "CP" and Copper Power does that, but the other "CP", chloroquine does not. Chloroquine gets broken down by bacteria, but slowly enough that one treatment is often sufficient to eradicate ich.

Thanks for the response Jay

I'm referring to Chloroquine - which I'd use over Copper due to having mandarins.

I read earlier in the thread that Chloroquine had the same issues as Copper when running in DTs and getting broken down to sub-therapeutic levels.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the response Jay

I'm referring to Chloroquine - which I'd use over Copper due to having mandarins.

I read earlier in the thread that Chloroquine had the same issues as Copper when running in DTs and getting broken down to sub-therapeutic levels.

With 88 pages to this thread, I imagine I already posted a link. but in case you missed it:

Aquarium Fish: Chloroquine: A “New” Drug for Treating Fish Diseases

While not a panacea or miracle drug, chloroquine is experiencing resurgence in popularity for use in fish-only aquariums and quarantine systems to treat a variety of problems ranging from Cryptocaryon to Aiptasia anemone infestations.

reefs.com

I'd love to update that article, but I don't hold the copyright to it and I also have not used CP since Covid (we had to destroy all of our CP after my article got pushed out into the news as, "people using an aquarium cleaner to treat Covid" . The "aquarium cleaner" aspect was evidently because I said it kills algae. Our director was worried that our supply (close to being out of date any way) would be diverted to use in humans, so we sent it to a chemical waste company.

I ran into some issues with CP towards the end of my using it - unusual mortality in wrasses and lionfish was seen. Lowering the dose to 12 mg/l limited that issue but also reduced the drug's effectiveness.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I don’t know if this has been discussed, but have put considered using Hydrogen Peroxide in your display tank to deal with ich?