Chloroquine treatment in DT for Velvet

[Mako19]

Hello everyone,

In my previous post, I have been battling what appeared to be ich, but after some progression of the disease, I came to the conclusion that it was velvet.

I have been treating the DT with H202, which has slowed down the progression of losses but has not completely eliminated the problem.

I finally got my hands on some Chloroquine powder discontinued H202 and put in a dose of 60MG per Gal (15.9g) in my DT since I do not have the room to quarantine large 8-10In fish and two 2Ft moray eels.

I know, chloroquine biodegrades what is the best dosage to keep therapeutic levels ?

I have been adding (1000Mg (1g) every 2 days to compensate for biodegradation. Is this sufficient?

I am in day three of treatment and I see a big decrease in spots on the fish. How long does it typically take to visually clear the fish ?


A little refresh, my total water volume with my Sump is 300g. I rounded off to 265Gal because of rock and sand.

live stock in DT
Lionfish
Hippo Blue tang
Stars and Strips Puffer
1 Green Moray Eel
1 Zebra Moray Eel

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello everyone,

In my previous post, I have been battling what appeared to be ich, but after some progression of the disease, I came to the conclusion that it was velvet.

I have been treating the DT with H202, which has slowed down the progression of losses but has not completely eliminated the problem.

I finally got my hands on some Chloroquine powder discontinued H202 and put in a dose of 60MG per Gal (15.9g) in my DT since I do not have the room to quarantine large 8-10In fish and two 2Ft moray eels.

I know, chloroquine biodegrades what is the best dosage to keep therapeutic levels ?

I have been adding (1000Mg (1g) every 2 days to compensate for biodegradation. Is this sufficient?

I am in day three of treatment and I see a big decrease in spots on the fish. How long does it typically take to visually clear the fish ?


A little refresh, my total water volume with my Sump is 300g. I rounded off to 265Gal because of rock and sand.

live stock in DT
Lionfish
Hippo Blue tang
Stars and Strips Puffer
1 Green Moray Eel
1 Zebra Moray Eel

The eels will be your challenge with velvet but ruby rally pro addresses velvet and is milder than copper.
Chloroquine can be treated at 45-50ml/ per gallon
Any pics of livestock to confirm your hunch ?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello everyone,

In my previous post, I have been battling what appeared to be ich, but after some progression of the disease, I came to the conclusion that it was velvet.

I have been treating the DT with H202, which has slowed down the progression of losses but has not completely eliminated the problem.

I finally got my hands on some Chloroquine powder discontinued H202 and put in a dose of 60MG per Gal (15.9g) in my DT since I do not have the room to quarantine large 8-10In fish and two 2Ft moray eels.

I know, chloroquine biodegrades what is the best dosage to keep therapeutic levels ?

I have been adding (1000Mg (1g) every 2 days to compensate for biodegradation. Is this sufficient?

I am in day three of treatment and I see a big decrease in spots on the fish. How long does it typically take to visually clear the fish ?


A little refresh, my total water volume with my Sump is 300g. I rounded off to 265Gal because of rock and sand.

live stock in DT
Lionfish
Hippo Blue tang
Stars and Strips Puffer
1 Green Moray Eel
1 Zebra Moray Eel

The Shedd Aquarium did the recent study of chloroquine degradation by bacteria. I’m on my phone and can’t look it up to see if they have a rate, but if it is like with praziquantel, different tanks will show different rates, therefore I would not guess at the biodegradation rate - if you get above about 20 mg/l you will start to see toxicity issues in some species.
In the past, I would dose it one and done, and then just redose for any volume of water changes during the 30 treatment.
Jay

p.s. - long term ich often gets misdiagnosed as velvet, but chloroquine works on both.

 

[Mako19]

The eels will be your challenge with velvet but ruby rally pro addresses velvet and is milder than copper.
Chloroquine can be treated at 45-50ml/ per gallon
Any pics of livestock to confirm your hunch ?

That’s why I decided to treat with chloroquine.

here are some pictures before I started CP treatment. They are about a good 80% better now.

 

[Mako19]

The Shedd Aquarium did the recent study of chloroquine degradation by bacteria. I’m on my phone and can’t look it up to see if they have a rate, but if it is like with praziquantel, different tanks will show different rates, therefore I would not guess at the biodegradation rate - if you get above about 20 mg/l you will start to see toxicity issues in some species.
In the past, I would dose it one and done, and then just redose for any volume of water changes during the 30 treatment.
Jay

p.s. - long term ich often gets misdiagnosed as velvet, but chloroquine works on both.

So what would be your recommendation should I leave the 60Mg per Gal or should I continue to top off with small doses?

Do you think the 60MG/Gal dose will be sufficient to compensate for biodegradation?

Also, can I leave my aquarium lights on?

Sorry for all the questions just trying to get my fish the best treatment I can.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Lights are fine, just nothing in the UV spectrum.
I would just dose once, don’t guess as to the rate of degradation.
Jay

 

[Mako19]

Lights are fine, just nothing in the UV spectrum.
I would just dose once, don’t guess as to the rate of degradation.
Jay

So blue and white LEDs are fine correct ? I’ve heard a lot of talk about lights making CP ineffective.

So you think my 60MG per gal dose will be enough to eradicate it from my DT ?

Also how long should I keep them in this treatment ?

When do you think I should see the fish clear from the spots ?

Thank you for the help !

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It is sunlight that breaks down chloroquine due to the UV component. If your blue LEDs emit UV, you shouldn’t use them. I’ve never heard of any that do, but you would need to read through your manual.
60 mg/ gallon is about 15 mg/l, so about a middle range dose. I would run it for 30 days. Monitor your ammonia after dosing, there is sometimes a spike.
Here is a link to an article I wrote on chloroquine:

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

Jay

 

[Mako19]

It is sunlight that breaks down chloroquine due to the UV component. If your blue LEDs emit UV, you shouldn’t use them. I’ve never heard of any that do, but you would need to read through your manual.
60 mg/ gallon is about 15 mg/l, so about a middle range dose. I would run it for 30 days. Monitor your ammonia after dosing, there is sometimes a spike.
Here is a link to an article I wrote on chloroquine:

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

Jay

Thank you !

 

[Mako19]

It is sunlight that breaks down chloroquine due to the UV component. If your blue LEDs emit UV, you shouldn’t use them. I’ve never heard of any that do, but you would need to read through your manual.
60 mg/ gallon is about 15 mg/l, so about a middle range dose. I would run it for 30 days. Monitor your ammonia after dosing, there is sometimes a spike.
Here is a link to an article I wrote on chloroquine:

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

Jay

If I do get an ammonia spike, can I use prime or will prime make chloroquine less effective ?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

If I do get an ammonia spike, can I use prime or will prime make chloroquine less effective ?

I’ve not heard of any adverse reaction, but best to contact the manufacturer to check on that. I’ve always just used water changes to deal with any spike.

Jay

 

[Mako19]

I’ve not heard of any adverse reaction, but best to contact the manufacturer to check on that. I’ve always just used water changes to deal with any spike.

Jay

Hello Jay or anyone else who can chime in

I am on day 20 of chloroquine phosphate treatment and for the past 19 days Ive had absolutely zero symptoms of ich or velvet in my tank. But last night I was watching the tank and noticed some of my fish randomly jolting like how they were when they were infected.

Do you think they are getting reinfected and if so how if I have CP in the water ?

 

[jasonrusso]

Hello Jay or anyone else who can chime in

I am on day 20 of chloroquine phosphate treatment and for the past 19 days Ive had absolutely zero symptoms of ich or velvet in my tank. But last night I was watching the tank and noticed some of my fish randomly jolting like how they were when they were infected.

Do you think they are getting reinfected and if so how if I have CP in the water ?

How are things going? I've heard that some fish start getting adverse reactions after 3 weeks and you were right there.

I dosed my DT one time, never again. You don't realize how much life there is until it all starts dying. I had a massive ammonia spike. Do an ammonia test or dose prime. Get an ammonia badge because it isn't affected by the CP.

 

[Mako19]

How are things going? I've heard that some fish start getting adverse reactions after 3 weeks and you were right there.

I dosed my DT one time, never again. You don't realize how much life there is until it all starts dying. I had a massive ammonia spike. Do an ammonia test or dose prime. Get an ammonia badge because it isn't affected by the CP.

I have read the same thing so I ran carbon and did a 50% water change and clicked on my UV to remove all the CP.

I observed the tank for three days and the flashing only got worse (only at night) and I noticed a few spots more like ich than velvet. So I re dosed 60MG per gal and so far all the flashing stopped.

I think the CP got biodegraded too fast but had enough time to kill the velvet but not the ich. apparently I had ich as well which I read takes longer to get rid of.

My plan is to run it for another two or three weeks to kill off whatever parasites are left.

 

[jasonrusso]

I have read the same thing so I ran carbon and did a 50% water change and clicked on my UV to remove all the CP.

I observed the tank for three days and the flashing only got worse (only at night) and I noticed a few spots more like ich than velvet. So I re dosed 60MG per gal and so far all the flashing stopped.

I think the CP got biodegraded too fast but had enough time to kill the velvet but not the ich. apparently I had ich as well which I read takes longer to get rid of.

My plan is to run it for another two or three weeks to kill off whatever parasites are left.

If you aren't seeing any losses, that's a win. I love my puffers, lions, and eels.

 

[Mako19]

If you aren't seeing any losses, that's a win. I love my puffers, lions, and eels.

They all seem very happy !

 

[Mako19]

How are things going? I've heard that some fish start getting adverse reactions after 3 weeks and you were right there.

I dosed my DT one time, never again. You don't realize how much life there is until it all starts dying. I had a massive ammonia spike. Do an ammonia test or dose prime. Get an ammonia badge because it isn't affected by the CP.

Btw what did you treat your DT for ?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have read the same thing so I ran carbon and did a 50% water change and clicked on my UV to remove all the CP.

I observed the tank for three days and the flashing only got worse (only at night) and I noticed a few spots more like ich than velvet. So I re dosed 60MG per gal and so far all the flashing stopped.

I think the CP got biodegraded too fast but had enough time to kill the velvet but not the ich. apparently I had ich as well which I read takes longer to get rid of.

My plan is to run it for another two or three weeks to kill off whatever parasites are left.

I'm not sure I would use a UV to "remove" the CP. People have reported an "earthy smell" and color changes in the water when accidentally using UV on a tank with CP. The CP changed to something, but what if that compound is toxic? People being dosed with CP can develop light sensitivity due to the UV.
In your case, the water change would have reduced the CP first, but I'd still be wary.


Jay

 

[jasonrusso]

Btw what did you treat your DT for ?

Velvet. FWIW, I pulled the plug after 3 days and started running carbon and doing WC before moving them to another tank.

I did have an aiptasia problem before. I haven't seen one since and that was 6 years ago!