My journey using Chloroquine Phosphate begins...

[b0bab0ey]

Where are you buying your CP? I cannot seem to find it.

It's pretty hard to find. I was lucky enough to buy some from a fellow hobbyist in my area. I have no idea where he got it from. As mentioned above, your local vet might be able to help you. I also found it here but they sell it by the kilo:

http://www.fishchemical.com/Products-CHLOROQUINE-PHOSPHATE-1-KILO-22937.Item.html

Some people substitute Quinine Sulfate for CP. I've read that it's just as effective, but not as easy on the fish as CP. This was actually my backup plan until I found CP. You can find that here by scrolling down until you see Quinine Sulfate:

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/products4.html#Q

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html#quinine

 

[b0bab0ey]

Day 22 update: Tang looks great! No twitching/scratching observed. Her appetite towards the nori has been a little subdued lately but she still eats it all. Just takes her a little longer. Maybe she's trying to watch her figure.

I plan on running carbon, start doing WCs sometime between Day 28-30 to take all the CP out. Flip the lights back on & everything. I'll give it a full month after that before I declare her cured!

 

[tmz]

Thanks for sharing this infor.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Thanks for sharing this infor.

No problem! My goal is to document my experiences to help others that want to try CP out. Let them know what to expect. Once this tang is good to go and my QT is freed up, I plan to document my experiences using CP on several more fish than I can confirm are infected with Ich.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Day 28 update: Disaster strikes! Yesterday I noticed problems with the tang's two tankmates: The Sixline Wrasse was laying on the bottom and refused to eat, and the Maroon Clown has a white slimy substance under both of her pectoral fins. The PB Tang is still looking/acting fine.

So I decided to remove the CP a day early by doing a 50% WC and running carbon. And upon further inspection of the clown I decided to next treat with antibiotics (Maracyn 1 & 2). I figure there's a good chance the clown has a bacterial infection. This morning I found the wrasse dead. The clown & tang are still eating and acting fine, although she still has those white slime marks. A postmortem f/w dip of the wrasse didn't show any Flukes and I didn't see anything visibly wrong on his skin.

I have no idea whether any of this is CP related or not. I just know I'm probably one of the most unlucky SOBs on the planet when it comes to s/w fish.

 

[salty joe]

What a drag. Please keep us posted on the antibio outcome.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Day 34 update: Tang continues to look great. No scratching/twitching at all. Before CP treatment she would have these frequent bouts of twitching her head (almost like convulsions) and scratching on the PVC. Those symptoms are completely gone now.

On a side note, the clown is recovering nicely. The white marks are almost gone now. I have no idea if that was a side effect of the CP or something completely unrelated. Sucks I lost the wrasse though. I would have rather lost the clown, but she is a rescue and a favorite of my bleeding heart wife so...

 

[alprazo]

Good job. I've yet to see what you described. Will definitely take note. Love to have pics of wrasse if you took some.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Good job. I've yet to see what you described. Will definitely take note. Love to have pics of wrasse if you took some.

I didn't take any pics of the wrasse as I didn't see anything visibly wrong postmortem. It's possible whatever happened is completely unrelated to the CP. In any case, if this medication saved by beloved PB Tang then mission accomplished. The wrasse can be easily replaced. That sounds a bit callous, doesn't it? :worried:

 

[jamesbaur13]

I'm curious and not as educated as I'd like to be, so please don't take this the wrong way.

But b0b, wouldn't tank transfer method reduce the majority of the ick infestation within the first couple transfers and eventually fully cure the fish within a couple more? Or is it that you have some odd strain that is rarely documented that goes through it's life cycle entirely on the fish?

 

[b0bab0ey]

I'm curious and not as educated as I'd like to be, so please don't take this the wrong way.

But b0b, wouldn't tank transfer method reduce the majority of the ick infestation within the first couple transfers and eventually fully cure the fish within a couple more? Or is it that you have some odd strain that is rarely documented that goes through it's life cycle entirely on the fish?

In this particular case, I didn't know what was wrong with my Tang (still don't). I know she had Ich in the DT, so I treated with copper for 30+ days. The white spots went away, but she continued to scratch and twitch her head. A f/w dip didn't show any Flukes. And yet after almost two months she continued to scratch and twitch her head. She would go into these violent episodes of doing so, almost like convulsions. Well, I knew I could never return her to the DT while these symptoms persisted, and I didn't want to just keep her in QT indefinitely, hoping these symptoms would go away on their own. So I decided to roll the dice and treat with CP. So far, so good. Her symptoms are completely gone.

I agree tank transfer sounds like a good method for treating Ich. But it's not without it's drawbacks. First, a lot of people are very busy (or lazy) and aren't going to want to go through the hassle of constantly setting up/breaking down QTs. The larger the fish you want to QT, the larger the QT needs to be, the more time/effort it's going to take to do tank transfer. Secondly, I would think ammonia would be a constant worry (I guess you could just use Amquel everyday). But there's also the cost of the salt to consider, the constant having to catch the fish with a net, etc. I don't know how in the world people have the patience to catch a fish with a specimen container.

With CP, it's one and done. You turn off the lights, dose once, wait 28 days and it's done. No WCs during that time so long as you have a seeded sponge. Just feed the fish once or twice a day. I know it sounds too good to be true and CP has yet to be verified as a "proven method" for treating Ich & Velvet. But if enough people start experimenting with it and have positive results then maybe one day it can replace hypo in the sticky. :wildone:

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Just following along with interest for any possible follow-ups and possible future use.

 

[snorvich]

I agree tank transfer sounds like a good method for treating Ich. But it's not without it's drawbacks. First, a lot of people are very busy (or lazy) and aren't going to want to go through the hassle of constantly setting up/breaking down QTs.

I cannot help lazy. It really is not a lot of work.

The larger the fish you want to QT, the larger the QT needs to be, the more time/effort it's going to take to do tank transfer.

I disagree. A 20 gallon tank should be sufficient unless your fish is huge

Secondly, I would think ammonia would be a constant worry (I guess you could just use Amquel everyday).

Exactly. No copper, therefore no interaction

But there's also the cost of the salt to consider, the constant having to catch the fish with a net, etc. I don't know how in the world people have the patience to catch a fish with a specimen container.

Cost of salt compared to cost of fish???? I never use a net, it is very easy.


With CP, it's one and done.

You hope. At this point it is not yet a proven method. But each person should do what they think is best.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I cannot help lazy. It really is not a lot of work.

I'm just trying to be realistic about it. I know a lot of people who truly love this hobby but just have too much on their plate. Kids, job that makes them travel, taking care of elderly parents, etc. But they don't want to put their life on hold; They still want to have a tank. So for them, I would say tank transfer is a bad option.

I never use a net, it is very easy.

When doing tank transfer, how do you not cross contaminate using a specimen container? (Or a net for that matter.) Even if you are very careful, a little bit of water must get transferred over with the fish.

You hope. At this point it is not yet a proven method. But each person should do what they think is best.

It will never have a chance of becoming a proven method unless people start using it and experimenting with it. Unfortunately we can't rely on anyone in the aquarium industry to test it for us. They're quite happy selling us diseased fish and copper based products.

 

[snorvich]

So, when you used tank transfer, how did it work for you? And no, there is no water that gets transfered from one tank to the other during tank transfer.
But each to their own, do whatever seems right to you.

 

[b0bab0ey]

So, when you used tank transfer, how did it work for you? And no, there is no water that gets transfered from one tank to the other during tank transfer.
But each to their own, do whatever seems right to you.

I've never done tank transfer. Hope to do so in the future though. Just another experiment for me.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Day 34 update: PB Tang (and Maroon Clown) continue to look great, eat great. I'll probably wait until after I move in a few weeks to return them to the DT but I'm 99.9% convinced the Tang is cured of whatever she had. Can't wait to get my hands on a fish loaded with Ich or Velvet so I can treat with CP & document (w/pics) the whole thing.

 

[salty joe]

Good for you! Glad your tang & clown made it. Please keep posting about CP. Thanks.

 

[vaporize]

b0bab0ey - have you tried and see if CP will get rid of brook also?

 

[b0bab0ey]

b0bab0ey - have you tried and see if CP will get rid of brook also?

Sorry, no experience with CP and Brooklynella. Hopefully alprazo will chime in on this, as he is the CP guru.