My plan to eliminate Ich with Chloroquine

[adova]

Please read and comment with anything you might see right or wrong!

Backstory: Despite TTM QT, my display tank (180g) now has Ich. The culprit could have been a new clam or fighting conch as the fish have all been in the tank with no symptoms for almost a year now. I suppose it doesn't matter at this point. Should I QT / fallow my new purchase inverts?

Dosage: After much reading, I have decided to dose ~8g of Chloroquine Phosphate (based on 10mg/l) for 30 days. I will also put enough CP in the AWC tank to keep the dosage even during water changes.

Inverts: all snails, shrimp, sea cucumber, conch, and a clam will go into the frag tank for the 76 day fallow in case they are carrying any parasites.

Live Rock: I had been battling hair algae, which was just about under control, but since I need to take the rock out to get the inverts, I figured I would remove it all and give it a good muratic acid bath. It will go back in after the 30 days. In the meantime, I will lay a bunch of large PVC for the fish.

Corals: none - the tank was supposed to get the first ones this weekend .

 

[ilikefish34]

What's your fish load looking like? I'd try to send them through TTM again and put them in the frag tank and leave your inverts and live rock in the DT fallow for that extended period unless you have too many.

My take on the hair algae is that it's a symptom of water quality and lighting--I would look towards your nutrient export system, flow (eliminating dead spots) and leave the lights off for most of the fallow period.

Yes, new inverts should go through QT for the same fallow period.

If the treatment you are looking at fails to kill the last .001% of the ick, then you could have another outbreak.

Good luck
Mike

 

[adova]

I have about 10 fish now and my QT system is only 20g - not enough to support them for any extended period. That is why I was figuring that the CP treatment was the best option for my scenario. Should I consider Copper instead - or in addition to?

Yes - the hair algae was a water quality problem that reared its ugly head once the lighting system was put in place. The primary issue was overfeeding, though. Nitrates were 50+ about 1 month ago and are now down to ~0. I also reduced phosphates to about 0 as well (via phosBan), although I understand that if something is consuming the phosphates that it would read that as well. Automated water changes (3g / day 5 days a week) have been another great help...

 

[jbvdhp]

If TTM worked for you in the past, why not keep with it? CP was hit and miss for some of us. I know Amazon sells the NLS ich shield or something like that that is supposed to be very good CP. I got mine off eBay and it did nothing to my ich.

 

[ThRoewer]

There are a few reasons why CP may not work:
- bad product (or too old?)
- bacteria breaking it down - for this reason it is not recommended to use bacterial starters in the treatment tank.
- absorption (CP seems to like binding to glass)

NLS Ick-Shield Powder seems to be good

CP could be used in combination with TTM.

I would never use it in a DT - many people who tried that had a lot of unexplained fish losses. My guess is that this may have been due to the long treatment time (72d) required when treating the infected DT.

 

[snorvich]

There are a few reasons why CP may not work:
- bad product (or too old?)
- bacteria breaking it down - for this reason it is not recommended to use bacterial starters in the treatment tank.
- absorption (CP seems to like binding to glass)

NLS Ick-Shield Powder seems to be good

CP could be used in combination with TTM.

I would never use it in a DT - many people who tried that had a lot of unexplained fish losses. My guess is that this may have been due to the long treatment time (72d) required when treating the infected DT.

Agreed. Especially not in a DT.

 

[adova]

Hmm - this is tough news. I guess I will need to look for a couple of larger tanks, then. Unfortunately, I am leaving town on Monday for a week too, which means that I can't start the TTM till then, at least.

Thanks for all of the input!!

Shawn