Quinine Sulfate Advice

[BigCity]

So about a year ago I lost about 40 fish to a suspected velvet outbreak, I had one sailing tang that survived... well life and work got in the way and as the disappointment set in the days flew by. Finally getting back into it and have pulled the tang and placed in a 40g hospital tank to leave the main 320g display fallow.

Going to give the quinine treatment a shot as on initial research it appears to be less harsh than copper and would contaminate all the equipment for the hospital tank. Just looking for feedback on application of the med, frequency, etc. I've read 2 different methods with one treatment and multiple.

Also, should I try to treat the main tank with it as well, no coral to speak of and no inverts just live rock and a few random zoa, probably an aipstasia or 2 (gar)?

Anything else I'm not thinking of or should know?

 

[ca1ore]

I think chloroquine phosphate has replaced quinine sulfate as the goto medication. I believe NFP now only sells the former.

 

[BigCity]

I would love to go with the chloroquine phosphate but it seems to not be readily available without a prescription unless I'm mistaken?

 

[Deinonych]

CP is available in a retail package from New Life Spectrum: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MNQWACU

 

[BigCity]

Wow nice thanks for the heads up Deinonych!! I'll get some ordered today!

Now anyone have any other tips?

 

[Deinonych]

Only other recommendation I would offer is that you treat in a dedicated QT/HT. Treating in the DT will likely end in failure. There is speculation that the bacteria in our tanks either consume or denature CP in some way, making maintaining therapeutic dosage problematic. Since there are no OTC test kits for CP, you can probably see why that is cause for concern. I personally have tried to treat with CP in the DT, and saw disease return after a few weeks (Cryptocaryon in my case).

 

[BigCity]

Thank you for the feedback. I do now have a 40g with HOB filter for the hospital/treatment tank as well as a 70g quarantine tank. So will definitely be treating in these smaller setups.

 

[Patchmty]

I tried CP in the DT with lights and skimmer off and it was a disaster. Since it killed algae and inverts it recycled, it's been a month and a half and it's barely stabilizing.

 

[BigCity]

I tried CP in the DT with lights and skimmer off and it was a disaster. Since it killed algae and inverts it recycled, it's been a month and a half and it's barely stabilizing.

Luckily for me I have no inverts and obviously no fish either so if it wanted to recycle it wouldn't be an issue since I could leave it for a bit to stabilize. I am currently letting it run with no lights on as well, just because I feared I had some dinoflagellates sprouting on the last cleaning. I will likely just leave it fallow for another 4 weeks and avoid any further complications. The last thing I want to do is drain 500g of water and start completely over again.

 

[Patchmty]

Luckily for me I have no inverts and obviously no fish either so if it wanted to recycle it wouldn't be an issue since I could leave it for a bit to stabilize. I am currently letting it run with no lights on as well, just because I feared I had some dinoflagellates sprouting on the last cleaning. I will likely just leave it fallow for another 4 weeks and avoid any further complications. The last thing I want to do is drain 500g of water and start completely over again.

Running fallow is the best way for the DT. BTW CP also kills all the worms you might have in rocks or substrate.

 

[BigCity]

I run bare bottom, so probably don't have much in the way of worms either. Possibly a few in the rocks, but should be negligible. Thanks for your feedback and experiences, good for future reference. Seems the running theme is to stay away from the main tank at all costs lol.

 

[Deinonych]

Seems the running theme is to stay away from the main tank at all costs lol.

:thumbsup: