My journey using Chloroquine Phosphate begins...

I just wanted to give an update to all the CP users that I have purchased a new kilo of CP from the vet pharmacy that alprazo recommended in another CP thread here on ReefCentral.

Wow, that's a lot of drug. Does it go bad after awhile? Are there special storage requirements?
 
Anytime someone tells you to redose CP; run far, far away! It's a one & done medication! And being there's no CP test kit available, you'd have no way of knowing what the actual concentration would be if you kept redosing.
 
Here are some earlier posts from this thread about Fishman's dosing schedule...

I wanted to clear up a few discrepancies between what i read here and what i have been told by Dr. Fishman of Fishman chemical. The below quotes are from emails he has sent me regarding chloroquine phosphate.

The first two quotes conflict with everything i have read here. The third quote is just a fun factoid!

"For a 125 gallon tank you would need 1 and a half teaspoons every morning and if possible a 25% water change before each dosing. You MUST complete dosing cycle which is to dose for 10 straight days."

"No antibiotic or antiparasitic agent can be used only in 1 dosing. Just like antibiotics for humans or dogs you have to do a full regiment or treatment not to last less than 10 days."

"Big customers such as Seaworld buy 25 kilos 4 times a year for all three parks."


I also want to ask you guys how you store your CP? Mine is in a bag and has just been tied off with an bread tie. So not very air tight. It is about a year old. Would that be an issue?

I talked with Dr Fishman and am treating a majestic angel and long-nose butterfly with his recommended treatment right now. It was 2 grams per 100 gallons twice a day for 3 days then 1 gram once a day for 7 additional days. I'll report back with the outcome.

Correct. I have 50G, dosed 1/8tsp twice a day for 3 days and am now doing 1/8tsp per day.

Yeah that is right along there with the large amounts he recommended to me too.

Much more than is being recommended on this forum.

I'll be very interested to see how your fish do. Hopefully good!

Ok I got my numbers. 1 gram of CP is 1/4 tsp, it's actually like .23 tsp but I rounded it up just to make it easy.

So if going by Fishman's recommendation

1/2tsp per 100 gallons twice a day for 3 days.
1/4tsp per 100 gallons once a day for 7 days.

I just spoke with Fishman

He recommended 3 grams daily for 10 days on my 125 Gallon tank

This would give me 240mg/G overall (24mg/g per day)

All i can say is that the 40mg/gal has not worked for me in the past, but this new recommendation seems VERY excessive

I don't know what to do here, as i have a fish needing attention and need to start dosing today

the 3 grams/day fishman reccomends for my 125G tank would actually still only be half of what the dosage for Quinine Sulfate (crypto pro) is...

he also told me i do not need to do water changes and that it will be unaffected by light

I'm not saying he's wrong, but I just feel the need to point out the obvious: I'm guessing Dr. Fishman of Fishman Chemical either owns or works for the company. They are in business of selling Chloroquine Phosphate and other fish meds. So, if it were me, I'd be taking any dosage info from them with a grain of salt.

I'm just sayin'

I do not believe that they are selling 100% chloroquine and I noted this before ever hearing about their dosing schedule. I remember reading years ago about the LD50 (The dose where 50% of fish will die) was not that far from the 10mg/l or 40mg/gal dose that is recommended. The range between recommended dose and LD was narrower for quinine. I will see if I can find it again. I believe there is something "fishy" here.

Storage of chloroquine was studied because it is used in high quantities for malaria prevention. It is degraded by UV light. They are just wrong. Especially at the pH of seawater.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7948188

Next, the attorney for the animal pharmacy I use told me that cholorquine requires a script from a vet. Selling it without one could cause the pharmacist to lose his/her license. Now if you are not a pharmacist and just a retail business - if you get caught selling something that you shouldn't all they will do is make you stop and/or fine you. But again it makes me suspect about dealings with anyone who sells it that way. There is also one source that mislabels their bottles to avoid the issue and makes it look like they are selling a dose lower than requires script. Maybe I was given wrong info but until I hear different, it requires a script for any quantity over 250 mg.

Finally, Dosing sub-therapeutic levels of any anti-microbial will cause the rapid development of resistance. I totally disagree with the Pet store dosing recommendations listed above and pray it is not being done wholesale. The way these fish are maintained in closed systems before export and in the wholesale units - will cause a great medication to be completely worthless in no time.

Penicillin killed Staph aureus probably near 100% in the 30s when first used in patients. In the past two years the major labs stopped testing for susceptibilities to PCN because penicillin sensitive Staph aureus is so seldom seen. We have never treated mass numbers of people with sub-therapeutic levels either. Much of the advice given above is just bad or wrong.

If you are to use chloroquine, which in my opinion is a great med - please follow the recommended dosing guidelines of 10mg/l or 40mg/gal. Dose for at least 14 days and remove the chemical when the fish have finished being treated. Buy it from a reputable and ethical source and make sure it is the real stuff and has not been cut with filler. Anything else is bad medicine.

Rant over

Yes I dosed the 40mg/g on my main tank, this time I am trying the different dosage on my QT tank as recommended by Fishman. And my dosage numbers might be off as far as the 1/8tsp, I am trying to go by memory as I am at work right now, I'll double check when I get home. The 2 grams per 100 gallons twice a day for 3 days then 1 gram once a day for 7 additional days is a direct quote from Fishman tho.
 
I just wanted to give an update to all the CP users that I have purchased a new kilo of CP from the vet pharmacy that alprazo recommended in another CP thread here on ReefCentral. Here is the link to that thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2152307

The name of the supplier is Boothwyn Pharmacy and they are outside of Philadelphia and have been in business since 1933.

As alprazo suggests, speak with Louis the vet pharmacist. His contact info and requirements are listed in the link above. This CP is 100% pharmaceutical grade with no filler and comes with a certificate of authenticity and spec sheet on the drug if requested. It is by prescription and you must provide a photo of the infected fish as alprazo mentions in the link above if you are a hobbyist looking to purchase this drug in smaller quantities.
When I spoke with Louis he said pure CP should have no smell or water discoloration to it when mixed with saltwater. He also stated the $185 that Fishman Chemical is charging was extremely low for a kilo of true 100% CP powder in the pharmaceutical industry.
I will update when it arrives tomorrow.

Fishman chem is most likely importing it so their costs are much cheaper. I personally bought a kg. Its the same as being sold in smaller quantities on ebay. 10 grams will treat 250 gal. Used it on all my fish powder blue tang, tomini tang, yellow tangs, purple tang, bangaii & pajama cardinals, sailfin blenny, clownfish. 1 time dose 40mg/g within 3 days I didn't see any more spots. They are 6 weeks post treatment still disease free, waiting 2-3 more for 240g display fallow.
Currently treating a regal tang, yellow wrasse, flame wrasses. I did have a PBT, yellow wrasse, 6 line that didn't make it through qt.
 
Jduck, are you saying you are using the stuff from fishman? I can tell you if I dosed that much CP the fish would be fried .
 
I have a McCoskers flasher Wrasse and a green clown goby in QT tight now. I'm on the 4th day of prazi tx. I would first like to report that clown gobies have a reputation of starving right off the bat. My goby did not eat for 3 days and today he seemed to eat well. Could this be because of purging any intestinal worms and increasing appetite? Possibly, but I'm happy to see him eat.

If the tomont stage is 3-28 days why do we need to dose more than a month. Furthermore, I would expect that water temprature speeds up crypto reproduction and thus possibly reduce the time needed to tx CP. Does anyone know what factors influence crypto tomont cycle? 3-28 is quite a large range. I would like to keep the med exposure to a minimum while still being effective. The CP I ordered from Thomas labs recommended a tx time of 10 days.

As for the display, it has never had fish but I have a detritivore starter pack the was added and thus a possible crypto source. Some people stated having a tank fishless for up to 9 weeks but this does not make sense based on the crypto life cycle. I would think a month would be sufficient. Thoughts?

I will keep people updated on my progress.

Sure, I will take a swing at it. IME Praziquantil can invoke emesis in fish. I have noticed this on multiple occasions with my sharks and have used it successfuly for that reason on one occasion. I also appears to cause a temporary appetite suppression, usually < 48 hrs. Those properties may be related.

I do not treat with CP for more than 30 days. I have not had failures either. I did have a shark died while in an extended bath of CP >60 days, mainly because of laziness and not removing it from the tank. On necropsy it had liver necrosis. Not sure if related because two others sharks were fine. I see no need to extend therapy.

I started with CP about 3 yrs ago and did a ton of research into it. I found only one study that looked at CP for crypto and it dealt with a green tea extract in a comparison study. It stated that the tea extract was superior to CP and several other treatment options. The study was funded by the company that held a patent on the extract. I found no other study that looked at CP for ich. There are some notes about personal communication on ich and one should take that for what it is.

Instead, all research has looked at it for Velvet, going back to the late 70s. That is where the 10 day treatment regimen came from. It is also where the 40mg/gal was determined as being effective.

There is so much misinformation out there by people trying to make a buck. As mentioned many times before, buy the stuff from a reputable source. If you go through some of my past posts, I've pointed out the ridiculous info that the online fish pharma companies have used to sell the stuff.

I'm very glad that CP has finally caught on. It has entirely changed the way I QT my fish.
 
I have a McCoskers flasher Wrasse and a green clown goby in QT tight now. I'm on the 4th day of prazi tx. I would first like to report that clown gobies have a reputation of starving right off the bat. My goby did not eat for 3 days and today he seemed to eat well. Could this be because of purging any intestinal worms and increasing appetite? Possibly, but I'm happy to see him eat.

Like with other meds, appetite suppression is a possible side affect with Prazi. I also believe Prazi only stays active in the water for 48-72 hours, right about when your goby resumed eating.

If the tomont stage is 3-28 days why do we need to dose more than a month. Furthermore, I would expect that water temprature speeds up crypto reproduction and thus possibly reduce the time needed to tx CP. Does anyone know what factors influence crypto tomont cycle? 3-28 is quite a large range. I would like to keep the med exposure to a minimum while still being effective. The CP I ordered from Thomas labs recommended a tx time of 10 days.

I've read (probably just opinions) that CP affects parasites in all life stages, and that 10 days is usually adequate to "clear" a fish. But since there's (probably) no scientific proof to back any of this up and parasites like Ich don't always "play by the rules"; treating for 30 days gives you a comfortable margin of error.

As for the display, it has never had fish but I have a detritivore starter pack the was added and thus a possible crypto source. Some people stated having a tank fishless for up to 9 weeks but this does not make sense based on the crypto life cycle. I would think a month would be sufficient. Thoughts?

This sticky explains the reasoning and percentages associated with the number of weeks to go fallow.
 
whats the dosing schedule

whats the dosing schedule

Sure, I will take a swing at it. IME Praziquantil can invoke emesis in fish. I have noticed this on multiple occasions with my sharks and have used it successfuly for that reason on one occasion. I also appears to cause a temporary appetite suppression, usually < 48 hrs. Those properties may be related.

I do not treat with CP for more than 30 days. I have not had failures either. I did have a shark died while in an extended bath of CP >60 days, mainly because of laziness and not removing it from the tank. On necropsy it had liver necrosis. Not sure if related because two others sharks were fine. I see no need to extend therapy.

I started with CP about 3 yrs ago and did a ton of research into it. I found only one study that looked at CP for crypto and it dealt with a green tea extract in a comparison study. It stated that the tea extract was superior to CP and several other treatment options. The study was funded by the company that held a patent on the extract. I found no other study that looked at CP for ich. There are some notes about personal communication on ich and one should take that for what it is.

Instead, all research has looked at it for Velvet, going back to the late 70s. That is where the 10 day treatment regimen came from. It is also where the 40mg/gal was determined as being effective.

There is so much misinformation out there by people trying to make a buck. As mentioned many times before, buy the stuff from a reputable source. If you go through some of my past posts, I've pointed out the ridiculous info that the online fish pharma companies have used to sell the stuff.

I'm very glad that CP has finally caught on. It has entirely changed the way I QT my fish.
Hi AL I see you have been employing cp for some time now what is the dosage and how often do you repeat it .Sorry if I missed this in previous posts . thank you
 
There are many dosing schedules presented in this thread, you might want to review them. I'm dosing 40mg per gal. One dose, plus any added during water changes. I purchased my CP from Thomas labs.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
 
There are many dosing schedules presented in this thread, you might want to review them. I'm dosing 40mg per gal. One dose, plus any added during water changes.

+1 This is what I do as well. I hold it at this concentration for 30 days. After that, I have not once seen any evidence of a parasite in any of my fish. I think the important thing is to ensure the CP you are using is 100% pure and doesn't contain any fillers. As alprazo said, only buy from a reputable source. Don't try to save a nickel on meds, only to lose a dime on sick fish.
 
For a new fish, I'm thinking use CP first just in case velvet is present and kill ich at the same time. The fact that CP kills a lot of inverts leads me to believe any internal parasites will be adversely affected, so immediately follow the CP with Prazi and get them while they're weak.

Is that sensible?
 
For a new fish, I'm thinking use CP first just in case velvet is present and kill ich at the same time. The fact that CP kills a lot of inverts leads me to believe any internal parasites will be adversely affected, so immediately follow the CP with Prazi and get them while they're weak.

Is that sensible?

If you do Prazi after CP, be sure to get all the CP out of the water (if you can). One time I saw a Blonde Naso have a really bad reaction with Prazi while some CP was still in. Moving him to a different QT and re-dosing (using the same bottle of) Prazi solved the problem. His QT tank mate (a Raccoon butterfly) was fine throughout, and got his 2 rounds of Prazi w/CP without incident. So, I guess it all just depends on the fish.

But ever since that experience I've been trying to treat with Prazi before CP. Sometimes this isn't possible if you're seeing symptoms of parasites right off the bat. Prazi only remains active in the water for 2-3 days. IME, CP is a SOB to get completely out. I once had a long-term HT in which CP was used; after 6 months I still couldn't grow algae in this tank, presumably due to CP's algaecide properties. In that 6 months I had done WCs, ran carbon, used a UV; everything to get the CP completely out. All to no avail. I'm guessing it "stuck" to the crushed coral I was using for substrate (and u/g biological filtration). I finally just broke the tank down.
 
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Has anyone tried malaria medicine tables to treat ich? Here in Europe I have hard time finding CP powder. The only thing i can get is malaria pills with CP as active ingredient. The problem is that it contains inactive ingredients as well and not sure how that'll affect the treatement.
Also it states that "one pill contains 250mg of Chloroquine Phosphate which corresponds to 155mg Chloroquine" I assume they mean 155mg Chloroquine base. So how much should I dose in order to get the 40mg/g?
The medicine I'm asking about is Resochin by Bayer if someone has already used it.
Another thing I'm wondering about is how safe is using CP in hyposalinity. I saw few comments that it is not adviceable as many people have reported deaths, but then many suggest to use CP in hypo. I ask because currently my fish are in QT at 1.009 salinity for almost 10 days already but for some reason dispite of no visible spots, the fish are scratching, heavy breathing and almost no appetite. I've done 10 day of Prazi so probably not flukes. The only thing i could think of is hypo-resistant ich (unlikely) or Velvet (although no visible velvet signs).
 
In a salvage protocol for velvet, I recommend using CP in combo with a moderate hypo SG of 1.015 to 1.017. This can be done together and the hypo in theory will reduce metabolic demands of the fish - see my salvage protocol post.

Yes, I initially used Aralen. I had great results until I got a batch from Canada that did not work. That is when I started looking for a veterinary grade product from the US. It lacks the binder that can cloud the water. You are correct with dosing as far as I know. I believe it is OTC in Europe, but restricted in the US. It is also very expensive here.

Flukes typically will not kill your fish in a week and therefore I recommend treating with CP first. I have also treated - prophylaxis the two together on multiple occasions. I actually treat all new fish with CP, Prazi and Dimilin.
 
I am on day 2 of CP tx following a round of prazi. When I dosed CP for the fist time my McCosker's wrasse started to breathe heavily and was swimming erratically for 2-3 hours. The next day his behavior was back to normal and he is still eating well.

My green clown goby seemed unaffected after the CP dosage. He is eating, not much though, only a few small pieces of pellet or mysis per day. Ill update in a week or so unless I have any changes.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
 
Vel, I wouldn't do CP in hypo. That sounds like a death sentence to the fish.

In a salvage protocol for velvet, I recommend using CP in combo with a moderate hypo SG of 1.015 to 1.017. This can be done together and the hypo in theory will reduce metabolic demands of the fish - see my salvage protocol post.

Yes, I initially used Aralen. I had great results until I got a batch from Canada that did not work. That is when I started looking for a veterinary grade product from the US. It lacks the binder that can cloud the water. You are correct with dosing as far as I know. I believe it is OTC in Europe, but restricted in the US. It is also very expensive here.

Flukes typically will not kill your fish in a week and therefore I recommend treating with CP first. I have also treated - prophylaxis the two together on multiple occasions. I actually treat all new fish with CP, Prazi and Dimilin.

Thanks for the response! alprazo for the dosing I'm still unsure what you meant about the correct dosage. Also on the british forums i still see various opinions about dosing CP in tablets. I think the 155mg Chloroquine base is what usually 250mg Chloroquine Phosphate consists of and since we are dosing in CP value and not Chloroquine base, I assume in my dosing I should consider 250mg CP in each tablet and not the C-base, do I get it right?
As for the velvet protocol... I still cannot verify it's velvet. At the begining of the hypo i saw few white spots on one of my powder brown, which disappeared after few days in hypo and since then zero white spots. Fish at first were very active and eager eaters, however after the prazi pro treatement (8 days) they got lethargic, heavy breathing, scratching. They have been in QT for almost 15 days now, 11 days in hypo at 1.008 which is tested by a calibrated with NSW refractometer. Yet sympthoms still exist. No visible signs though just some shredded fins and little discoloration which i think is due to the permanent lights off on the QT. That is why I thought it could be velvet, however if it were, wouldn't it already during the past 15 days kill all? So I'm still wondering if to keep the hypo and wait for improvement since no visible signs of crypto or move the salinity up and hope that the tablets CP I have will work in this application. I may just start a new thread, do not want to spam the good discussion here.
 
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