My journey using Chloroquine Phosphate begins...

Elliott said:
I've had rather bad luck with the transfer method, fish get too stressed with repeated moves from tank to tank and die from shock

IME stress has been the major obstacle with QT, especially with delicate wrasses
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+1. I have had terrible luck with TTM as well. I know there are folks in this forum who swear by it, but I have abandoned it as a treatment method.
 
We should have a "QT symposium" sometime to exchange ideas. :reading: Could just be something we do via webcam. :lolspin:

I have had tremendous success using CP - and have yet to lose a single fish while doing TT. But treating with copper (wrasses) has been giving me problems lately. :sad2:
 
After 4 weeks or so of CP, I'd expect flukes and every external parasite to be gone. Does that seem to be the case?
 
Deinonych said:
Six weeks post-treatment of my DT and I am starting to see signs of crypto still on my fish, unfortunately. My Royal Gramma has been flashing off and on since about week 2 post-treatment. At first, I thought it might be a remnant from an eye infection he had in QT. However, the last couple weeks he has been flashing more often, and I see some faint spots on his pectoral fins. My Tailspot Blenny started flashing a few times over the weekend as well.

Not really sure why CP didn't work, but my theory is that it was adsorbed by the rockwork, or it was consumed by the die-off of snails and algae in the tank. Another possibility is that my lights affected it, although I had them at 20% during the 4-week period (I don't have UV LEDs in my Radions, though). Yet another possibility is that the strain of crypto I'm dealing with had a life cycle greater than 4 weeks.

At this point, I'm going to move all of my fish into a 40g breeder and treat with Cupramine for 4 weeks. As much as I like using CP, I don't want to subject my fish to yet another round of it since the long-term effects of exposure are unknown. I want to be absolutely sure I eradicate the crypto this time, and Cupramine levels can be measured and tested. I'm also going to do a complete tear-down, sterilization and rebuild of my tank. I've also be battling hair algae and cyano (as expected) post-treatment, and this will give me a completely fresh start. I'm actually looking forward to redesigning the rockwork and cycling a new tank.

I will still use CP as part of my QT regimen for new arrivals.
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Lights. I had mine completely off, you shouldn't need the lights as you didn't have coral in it either right?
 
rog2961 said:
Lights. I had mine completely off, you shouldn't need the lights as you didn't have coral in it either right?
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Yeah, in retrospect it was pretty silly to keep the lights on. I have treated with CP in a QT with a standard fluorescent lamp before, but not with reef LEDs. Obviously there is a big difference. :)

Oh well, live and learn.
 
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Deinonych said:
Yeah, in retrospect it was pretty silly to keep the lights on. I have treated with CP in a QT with a standard fluorescent lamp before, but not with reef LEDs. Obviously there is a big difference. :)

Oh well, live and learn.
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looking back in this hobby, there was very little I didn't learn the hard way :headwally:
 
Deinonych said:
Yeah, in retrospect it was pretty silly to keep the lights on. I have treated with CP in a QT with a standard fluorescent lamp before, but not with reef LEDs. Obviously there is a big difference. :)

Oh well, live and learn.
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Give it another shot without the lights! I will say, I have quite a number of additions but have not seen signs of it. I QT a minimum of 2 wks, somtimes going on 4.
 
rog2961 said:
Give it another shot without the lights! I will say, I have quite a number of additions but have not seen signs of it. I QT a minimum of 2 wks, somtimes going on 4.
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I thought about it, but at this point I'd rather just do a complete teardown/rebuild and treat the fish in a HT. I'm not happy with the state of my DT right now and I've been wanting to redo the rockwork and tidy up the sump for some time.
 
this thread needs a few pictures :D

this guy is in QT with CP at 40mg/g, over 5 months and thriving

IMG_1861_zps3ede9d51.jpg
 
Deinonych said:
Beautiful! How much longer due you plan to keep him in treatment?
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he's in a 180g by himself, doing well.... comes right up and greets me when standing in front of the tank, great personality

plan is to keep him there another 8 wks, then remove CP and observe for another 4 wks, if he is disease free I may transfer him to the DT :D
 
I posted the majority of this post in another thread, but wanted to open for debate some of the adverse effects of chloroquine that now are posted in the mater sticky on fish treatment.


It is posted in the sticky that chloroquine will devastated the bacterial filter, kill off the normal flora of the fish and alter digestion. Billsreef also supported this notion in another closed post that CP will severely depress nitrifying bacteria.

I have been using chloroquine in humans since 2002 and was an early poster of my experience with its use on this board. I have never experienced an antibacterial effect in humans, fish, and I question its effects on the filter.Yes it is an antibiotic, but I have no knowledge of it being antibacterial.

In fact a pubmed search on chloroquine and antibacterial activity failed to cite pertinent sources for me. I also failed to find anything on a journal search linking Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira, Nitrosococcus, Nitrosolobus, Nitrobacter, and Nitrocystis (nitrifying bacteria) with chloroquine.

I know that some on the site have reported ammonia spikes from the use of CP. It is an interesting observation that deserves attention. To say that it is because it kills the biologic filter may be incorrect and should be open for comment. Algae die-off or even a chemical reaction with CP and the different ammonia test kits are a possibility too. I do not pretend to know why, but I do question its activity on the bacteria that seed our filters.
 
BTW. In an early post or thread I described liver necrosis in a shark that had a prolonged exposure to chloroquine. I could have been from a parasite or another cause, but I do not recommend the extended use of chloroquine for this reason.
 
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