Chloroquine phosphate

[rkpetersen]

I have used both human pharmaceutical grade 500 mg CP tablets, as well as pharmaceutical grade CP powder. Based on tablet weight, about 20% of each tablet (the ones I have) is material other than CP, including binders, preservatives, stabilizers and so on, as also mentioned in Goemans' book quote above. Each tablet will provide a full 500 mg of CP, same as with weighing 500 mg of pure powder, but using the tablet will also introduce these other substances into the tank. Also, the powder dissolves in seawater much much faster. Some tablet components may be minimally soluble in saltwater; they are designed for passage through the mammalian gut, a very different chemical environment. Overall, I prefer the powder as long as I can be reasonably sure of its purity. (That's one good thing about the human-grade tablets, though - you will get the amount of CP specified in each tab.)

 

[rkpetersen]

Well I do cp in qt with all new fish. They've been in it for a couple days shy of 4 weeks and my hippo tang started showing spots. So ky thought was to do hypo to help kill or weaken it and raise the cp just slightly. The goal is to not raise cp too much due to the questionable ability of hippo in cp.

Do you do water changes during QT, and if so, do you add more CP to keep the level the same?

Add any more fish or anything else recently?

Also, what kind of lights are over the tank? CP shouldn't need redosing under normal conditions but it is supposedly light sensitive and might degrade for that reason.

Personally, if I had recurrent disease like it appears that you're experiencing, during QT, I'd start the clock over and reassess my QT approach. I mean, I've had to do this several times in the past!

 

[rkpetersen]

Will CP kill tisbe copepods and freshly hatched brine shrimp? I have a pair of mandarins in QT now(n0 meds) and raise my own pods to feed them, but before I start CP I want to see if the food supply will live long enough for the mandarins to get something to eat while in QT.

That is a great question! I know I'd be hesitant to let any CP-laden QT water get into my DT when I transfer a fish, for fear of killing pods and other inverts, but this is just based on general principles, not any specific info. You could try it out, document it, and report on how it goes. Maybe even start a new thread.

 

[Brett newell]

I do weekly water changes of 50% and dose back the cp. The tank doubles as a coral qt when no fish are in there so the light is 6500 k coral t5

 

[Brett newell]

To weigh in on the pods. I made a little pod safe place out of an old fish food container so they would come out for the mandarin. The mandarin had no interest and took to frozen food pretty easy. But anyway, when he was eating frozen I took the farm out and the pods were still alive after being in there for 10 to 12 days

 

[Brett newell]

For light and cp though, I thought it was only light sensitive as a powder but stable in water. I could have misinterpreted that though.

 

[jasonrusso]

If It is bacteria is it safe to do metro with cp?

I have successfully used metro with CP (in the form of API General Care), and I also used Erythromycin with CP for a cloudy eye.

Will CP kill tisbe copepods and freshly hatched brine shrimp? I have a pair of mandarins in QT now(n0 meds) and raise my own pods to feed them, but before I start CP I want to see if the food supply will live long enough for the mandarins to get something to eat while in QT.

Yes it will. The ONLY inverts I have seen sustain CP are hermit crabs.

Do you do water changes during QT, and if so, do you add more CP to keep the level the same?

Add any more fish or anything else recently?

Also, what kind of lights are over the tank? CP shouldn't need redosing under normal conditions but it is supposedly light sensitive and might degrade for that reason.

Personally, if I had recurrent disease like it appears that you're experiencing, during QT, I'd start the clock over and reassess my QT approach. I mean, I've had to do this several times in the past!

Make sure you add the CP to the fresh water in the bucket. You don't want to drain 5 gallons out, then add 5 gallons back in because you will dillute the medication in the water. You want to drain 5 gallons. Then put CP in the bucket of fresh water, then add it back into the tank. At the end of the day, I think that CP works at lower concentrations than we think, but just to keep the concentration stable I do it this way.

 

[rkpetersen]

For light and cp though, I thought it was only light sensitive as a powder but stable in water. I could have misinterpreted that though.

I think CP is still light sensitive even in solution, although I'm not positive. If so, your T5 lighting could certainly be the issue.

 

[becks]

I have a flame angelfish and red spot blenny in qt and I decided to use CP instead of cupramine due to covering a wide range of protozoans, it’s quite unnerving using as I can’t test for it and everything looks so fine, the fish are acting normal with healthy appetites. It’s now going to be my go to qt drug, I’m using 250mg CP tablets with 155mg CP from a pharmacist, I used four for just under 60 litres.

Question, can I use praziquantel with CP? I have powdered Praziquantel.

 

[dragon99]

Question, can I use praziquantel with CP? I have powdered Praziquantel.

Powdered Prazi is fine, Prazipro (liquid) can cause problems (although I've done it with no issue).

 

[alan.reef]

been used CP for 17 days with fowleri tang and 6 lyretail anthias. all fish still eat pellet and frozen, but i see the anthias has body redness like decaying!!
should i water change 100% stop CP medication to safe the anthias?

 

[alan.reef]

been used CP for the 17days mark on fowleri tang and 6 lyretail anthias, all still eating pellet and frozen.
but see few anthias has body redness like decaying. should i water change 100% to safe the anthias?

 

[sensei]

@Humblefish

I watched episode 2 of R2R and you said that CP was not enough to treat a fish with velvet. You mentioned that you needed fresh water dips and an antibiotic for the 1st week.
that video is 2 years old. Is that still how you think now days??

I treated a puffer for velvet at 80mg/g for 30 days and he was cured

also I am using CP as preventive for velvet at 40mg/g for 30 days in fish with no symptoms.

please let me know what you think for treating velvet in both fish that have and fish that does not have symptoms

2.- I have treated 2 banner fish twice with CP at 40mg/g as preventive. The first time I lost both fish due to bacterial infections.

Now I am treating another 2, after 15 dyas they started figting so I moved them to sepparate tanks, but 1 lost appetite and is not eating any more . I am not sure what to do?
I already did TTM, 3 shoots of prazi and 15 days of CP
should I move him to hospital tank with no CP to see if he starts eating??

Thanks a lot

 

[Humblefish]

been used CP for the 17days mark on fowleri tang and 6 lyretail anthias, all still eating pellet and frozen.
but see few anthias has body redness like decaying. should i water change 100% to safe the anthias?

It sounds like the anthias are developing a bacterial infection. I would move them to a separate QT and treat with antibiotics: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/antibiotics.283711/

 

[Humblefish]

I watched episode 2 of R2R and you said that CP was not enough to treat a fish with velvet. You mentioned that you needed fresh water dips and an antibiotic for the 1st week.
that video is 2 years old. Is that still how you think now days??

Chloroquine only eliminates the free swimming stage (which prevents reinfection), so I feel a fish with velvet still needs IMMEDIATE RELIEF to have a good chance for survival. Therefore, before going into a QT predosed with CP I recommend:

1. A 5 min FW dip to remove 80-90% of the parasites (Noga 2000 and Noga & Levy 1995): https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/
2. Immediately afterwards, a 90 min acriflavine bath to prevent a possible secondary infection. I prefer to use Ruby Reef Rally for this purpose: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acriflavine.282887/

You still might need to dose antibiotics in QT; however I have found the two antiseptics found in Rally to be highly effective to ward off the possibility of infection.

 

[sensei]

Chloroquine only eliminates the free swimming stage (which prevents reinfection), so I feel a fish with velvet still needs IMMEDIATE RELIEF to have a good chance for survival. Therefore, before going into a QT predosed with CP I recommend:

1. A 5 min FW dip to remove 80-90% of the parasites (Noga 2000 and Noga & Levy 1995): https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/
2. Immediately afterwards, a 90 min acriflavine bath to prevent a possible secondary infection. I prefer to use Ruby Reef Rally for this purpose: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acriflavine.282887/

You still might need to dose antibiotics in QT; however I have found the two antiseptics found in Rally to be highly effective to ward off the possibility of infection.

Thanks for your answer Humblefish,

1.- if CP targets the free swiming stage that would mean that velvet would be cured in 6 days after fish is in CP becuase of the life cycle of the parasite correct?

2.- does CP increase the chance of a bacterial bloom in the water?
I ask because IME I have lost severalfish due to bacterial infections when doing preventive treatment with CP
do you recoment using an antibiotic at the same time when doing CP??

Thanks again

 

[Barlan]

Hi @Humblefish, @Christoph, All

Fellow reefer from South Africa here, i havent been able to track down CP, but i spoke to my pharmacist today and she gave me Chloroquine Phosphate Monohydrate. Its a capsule so i can open it up and pour the powder into the QT. Would this be equivalent to using Chloroquine sulfate? as discussed a few pages back.

Any help would be really appreciated, dont want to kill the PB im picking up on sunday.

 

[Humblefish]

@sensei A fish in CP for 6 days would be protected from reinfection, but I would still treat for 30 days in total to be sure all the dinospores are gone (before lowering the medication). CP, in & of itself, does not increase the chance of a bacterial bloom unless it is mixed with another medication. And I would only use ABX on an as-needed basis, if symptoms of an infection present themselves.

@Barlan Welcome to R2R! I’ll defer to @Christoph on using Chloroquine Phosphate Monohydrate.

 

[Christoph]

Welcome to R2R!

Chloroquine Phosphate monohydrate is fine to use! Dosage would be a little bit (3%) higher, compared to CP, but that is not relevant in practice. Just use it like ordinary CP.

Best,
Christoph

 

[Barlan]

@Christoph, thanks so much for the clarification. Just need to confirm what value i use for calculating the dose, each capsule contains 200mg Choroquine Sulphate Monohydrate, equivalent to 150mg Chloroquine base.

Greatly appreciate the help