My journey using Chloroquine Phosphate begins...

I'm still reading through this thread, but I wanted to report that CP most likely killed my achilles tang. He was in QT with 35g water volume. Had been eating well, but I noticed spots that were definitely ich on him one day. To treat, I dosed 500mg the first day. I noticed an immediate decrease of appetite the second day, about half of his normal appetite. I assumed it was due to the ich and dosed another 500mg, bringing the tank up to 30mg/g. He was dead the next morning. I'm quite sure the death was CP or something with it, ich should not kill that fast. I do believe a previous poster experienced similar results with tangs and CP.

I should note that the CP I dosed was in pill form, from my local pharmacy. They were pink 500mg tablets, which I ground up and dissolved in tank water before dosing. Really sucks to lose a fish this way...

FWIW; I've QT'd at least half dozen Achilles with CP and they were just fine. I think all the difficulties people are having with CP are mostly due to not having a solid source to buy it from. That is our "Achilles' heel" right now.
 
FWIW; I've QT'd at least half dozen Achilles with CP and they were just fine. I think all the difficulties people are having with CP are mostly due to not having a solid source to buy it from. That is our "Achilles' heel" right now.

I see what you did there. :lolspin:
 
How effective is the eBay source? Jweage, seems to be the only guy selling CP at the moment. I just ordered a 10g packet
 
How effective is the eBay source? Jweage, seems to be the only guy selling CP at the moment. I just ordered a 10g packet

I believe the ebay seller bought his CP from Fishman Chemical. And there are lots of reported problems (in this thread) with CP coming from Fishman Chemical. Sorry... :(
 
What fish did you lose in your DT? Was it due to the CP itself, or other factors like an ammonia spike?

I am likely going to treat my DT, as crypto has reared its ugly head despite a 12 week fallow period. I only have a few corals, some snails and two cleaner shrimp. My rock started as dry BRS reef saver, so I'm not too concerned about microfauna dying off.

Like you, I have a DT with only dry rock (Marco), and crushed coral substrate. It's a 150 gal with a 30gal.

I will caution you that CP contains enough phosphate to make a difference. Because it will bind to your rock and substrate. It's taking many months for me to make a dent in the phosphate level using (initially) GFO, (now) lanthanum chloride, water changes, live bacteria dosing, etc. I'm actually about to break down the tank and start again with new dry rock and new substrate because I can't seem to lower the phosphate level below 0.1.
 
I believe the ebay seller bought his CP from Fishman Chemical. And there are lots of reported problems (in this thread) with CP coming from Fishman Chemical. Sorry... :(

It's true - I bought from one of the e-bay sellers and after the sale I asked him where he got the CP. He confirmed it was from Fishman.
 
Like you, I have a DT with only dry rock (Marco), and crushed coral substrate. It's a 150 gal with a 30gal.

I will caution you that CP contains enough phosphate to make a difference. Because it will bind to your rock and substrate. It's taking many months for me to make a dent in the phosphate level using (initially) GFO, (now) lanthanum chloride, water changes, live bacteria dosing, etc. I'm actually about to break down the tank and start again with new dry rock and new substrate because I can't seem to lower the phosphate level below 0.1.

Ugh. Thanks for the heads up. I guess I will gird myself for that battle. Maybe the halimeda and chaeto in my 'fuge will finally grow (if they don't get destroyed by the CP). :)

Did you find that the rock and substrate inhibited CP's effectiveness when you were treating?
 
Like you, I have a DT with only dry rock (Marco), and crushed coral substrate. It's a 150 gal with a 30gal.

I will caution you that CP contains enough phosphate to make a difference. Because it will bind to your rock and substrate. It's taking many months for me to make a dent in the phosphate level using (initially) GFO, (now) lanthanum chloride, water changes, live bacteria dosing, etc. I'm actually about to break down the tank and start again with new dry rock and new substrate because I can't seem to lower the phosphate level below 0.1.

very true with GFO, WC's, Carbon, etc. however Lanthanum Chloride will take down the phosphate rapidly, I can remove it almost entirely in a day with a slow drip of LC in a filter bag
 
In my opinion, anything that can absorb a treatment and change its concentration can affect it effectiveness. Since there is no test for concentration with CP, I personally am reluctant to go in that direction. I am not advocating NOT to use this or any other treatment protocol, simply providing a view point.
 
In my opinion, anything that can absorb a treatment and change its concentration can affect it effectiveness. Since there is no test for concentration with CP, I personally am reluctant to go in that direction. I am not advocating NOT to use this or any other treatment protocol, simply providing a view point.

understood and to that point I agree with you, however the alternative is copper which I personally do not want to expose myself to

CP has been very effective for me in whatever concentration it's been, so in the end I don't need to know it's concentration but rather the end result
 
In my opinion, anything that can absorb a treatment and change its concentration can affect it effectiveness. Since there is no test for concentration with CP, I personally am reluctant to go in that direction. I am not advocating NOT to use this or any other treatment protocol, simply providing a view point.

+1 This thread contains some anecdotal experiences of CP failure when used in a DT. And not one success story (that I've read).

Whether the med is getting absorbed by rock/sand, or something else is going on... who is to say? It just seems like a recipe for further frustration trying to make it work in a DT.
 
+1 This thread contains some anecdotal experiences of CP failure when used in a DT. And not one success story (that I've read).

Whether the med is getting absorbed by rock/sand, or something else is going on... who is to say? It just seems like a recipe for further frustration trying to make it work in a DT.

well, I've had really great success using CP, but in QT, not DT as I have a reef

I've successfully treated dozens of fish of all types over the past few years. There have been failures but those have been few, which I would expect from any treatment type.

Using a treatment that does not disturb biological filtration, is stable for long periods of time with just one treatment and kills nuisance algae are all positives when used in a QT system

My experience with CP has been excellent, I purchased from fishman
 
well, I've had really great success using CP, but in QT, not DT as I have a reef

I've successfully treated dozens of fish of all types over the past few years. There have been failures but those have been few, which I would expect from any treatment type.

Using a treatment that does not disturb biological filtration, is stable for long periods of time with just one treatment and kills nuisance algae are all positives when used in a QT system

My experience with CP has been excellent, I purchased from fishman

Same here. Great success when used in QT, but no actual experience using it in a DT. Just going by what I've read on here from people who have. I also have noticed no negative impact to biological filtration in QT when using it. I got my last batch of CP from a friend a few years ago. Looks like I may be up a creek once I run out.
 
Ugh. Thanks for the heads up. I guess I will gird myself for that battle. Maybe the halimeda and chaeto in my 'fuge will finally grow (if they don't get destroyed by the CP). :)

Did you find that the rock and substrate inhibited CP's effectiveness when you were treating?

By the third week, you could see the algae coming back.
 
+1 This thread contains some anecdotal experiences of CP failure when used in a DT. And not one success story (that I've read).

Whether the med is getting absorbed by rock/sand, or something else is going on... who is to say? It just seems like a recipe for further frustration trying to make it work in a DT.



Mine wasn't necessarily a failure, I still haven't put some new inhabitants in so its a bit premature to say no success. QTing them with CP on the 3rd week, will know in 1 week.
 
+1 This thread contains some anecdotal experiences of CP failure when used in a DT. And not one success story (that I've read).

Whether the med is getting absorbed by rock/sand, or something else is going on... who is to say? It just seems like a recipe for further frustration trying to make it work in a DT.

It's definitely a risk. I'm willing to give it a go with the understanding that it might not work. If I have to go fallow again, so be it. But, to me it's worth a shot.

By the third week, you could see the algae coming back.

How frequently did you do WCs? I'm planning to do an initial WC 24-48hrs after the first dose (to remove the dead algae and nutrients), followed by 20% each week with the commensurate amount of CP added to the new water. My thinking is that this will keep the concentration high enough over time.
 
I look forward to reading about both of your experiences using CP in a DT.

FWIW; I've read about people dosing CP in their tank back in the 70s for both algaecide and disease prevention. Seemed like it worked before Big Brother came along & made CP almost impossible to get. Of course, back then they weren't using massive amounts of LR like we do today. Just crushed coral substrate and a few pieces of dead coral skeleton for decoration.

I had a permanent QT setup this way before I switched over to bare bottom. Used CP in there once @ 40mg/gal and could never get algae to grow in there ever again. No matter how many WCs I did or what media I ran. Which in hindsight leads me to believe the CP had been absorbed by the crushed coral and kept leaching back out.
 
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