Trying Cloroquine Phosphate...

[TheAquatect]

For those that are interested, I thought I would document my experiences using cloroquine phosphate (CP) to treat some new fish for ich. There is a ton of good info on the fish and disease forum and it makes for a compelling argument to try it over copper, IMO. I'll try to document as much as possible but if I miss anything, let me know.

The quarantine setup is a 75 gallon fully cycled aquarium. Bare bottom with a few pvc pipes for fish hides. I am using a heater and a aqueon 70 power head for circulation. I have about 2 cups of bio media in a mesh bag for bacteria growth which I seeded in my DT for a few weeks. Also have a thermometer and ammonia badge to monitor the tank.

My first group of fish are 4 firefish goby and one red velvet fairy wrasse. Week 1, I just observed and will feed 2x a day with a random mix of mysis, cyclopeeze, and reef caviar. After a week, I dosed with praziquantel per bottle recommendations then removed with fresh carbon 1 week later. Another week of observation with a 20g WC and feeding while waiting to get the CP and now I am ready to give it a go. At this point none of the fish show any signs of ich or behavior indicating it such as scratching or twitching.

Lets start with sourcing it. I found varying opinions on how to source it, from eBay to a doctor. The most compelling argument for not getting it from eBay was the concern on quality or purity of the drug. I opted to reach out to my vet. She was not totally familiar with the approach but after describing it and giving her the dosage I needed, she wrote the script for me. Cost wise, I called Publix and CVS and the 18 pills i'll need for round 1 will run $47-50.

I am targeting 40mg per gallon and I have a 75 gallon tank making it a single dose of 3000mg which is 12 250mg pills. I'll be doing 3 rounds of fish so I will be using a total of 36 pills. The recommended range is 40-80mg per gallon, so there is a bit of leeway with dosing since you cannot test the water. I got the prescription for 18 pills with 4 refills (72 pills) (60mg/gallon) in case I need to do an emergency WC or additional quarantines.

I plan on going 3 weeks and then remove the CP via carbon and WC and observe for another week before moving to the DT. For now I am off to Publix to fill the prescription.

 

[CuzzA]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/2/fish

There's also this.

http://www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/anti-parasitic-caviar-detail.cfm

 

[zachfishman]

We knocked out a stubborn Amyloodinium infestation with 20mg/L over three weeks (dosage per the AA article linked above). Product was from ebay so I can't confirm the purity.

We ran at 15mg/L the first week, bumping it to 20 when things didn't improve. Fish appetite decreased when we went to 20mg/L. I noticed no effect on biofiltration, but the tank is a FO without LR so the potential die-off of inverts - contributing to ammonia - was minuscule at most.

 

[TheAquatect]

So I dropped off the perscription, it had to be ordered, and it will be here tonight after 5pm. I asked for a capsule or crystalline (powder) form but was told it only comes in tablet.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/2/fish

There's also this.

http://www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/anti-parasitic-caviar-detail.cfm

The AA article is great info, I read that and a few others and spent some time on the disease forum talk on wrasses. There is some belief that wrasses don't tolerate CP well but its conjecture at this point, no real empirical data that I've seen.

I've also read mixed results with the food due to bitter taste of CP and the fish not eating it but I've never tried it personally so I can't comment.

We knocked out a stubborn Amyloodinium infestation with 20mg/L over three weeks (dosage per the AA article linked above). Product was from ebay so I can't confirm the purity.

We ran at 15mg/L the first week, bumping it to 20 when things didn't improve. Fish appetite decreased when we went to 20mg/L. I noticed no effect on biofiltration, but the tank is a FO without LR so the potential die-off of inverts - contributing to ammonia - was minuscule at most.

I've read similar results so its good to hear your experience. I understand it is a very effective algaecide as well. I'm starting with the therapeutic dose of 40mg/gal due to the concerns with wrasses and the fact they are not presenting signs of disease. I plan on ramping up to the 40mg/gal over the course of 3 days to watch for adverse reaction and then go 3 weeks from that point on.

 

[zachfishman]

I understand it is a very effective algaecide as well.

Yes

 

[TheAquatect]

Quick update. I calculated a total water volume of 65 gallons in my 75 and used that to figure out I needed to dose 2g (2000mg) to achieve 10mg/l or 40mg/gal. This equated to 8 250mg tablets. I used the formulas suggested in the advanced aquarist article cuzza posted above.
I've decided to ramp up the dose slowly over the next 3days and watch appetite so I pulverized 4 pills and mixed with tank water and dispensed into the tank.

I noticed there was a paper thin coating on the pills which I had heard from others so I did not make an effort to remove it.

 

[TheAquatect]

Another update, including some dosage adjustments based on new (to me) info.

I originally expected to dose 8 tablets for 2000mg and started with a half dose to ramp up slowly due to the wrasse. Unfortunately I left a bag of carbon in the tank after dosing :headwally: so after consulting the disease forum, I let the carbon run a few days to clear out the dose and then re-dosed. I also leaned something i was not aware of, which effected the dosage:

Originally posted by Ironwill723:
"Here is an excerpt from Bob Goemans online book, THE LIVING AQUARIUM MANUAL.....
In most cases, 250 mg tablets have an equivalence of 150 mg chloroquine base, and 500 mg tablets have an equivalence of 300 mg chloroquine base. Although the purity mentioned above is generally accurate, it would be best to verify the chloroquine base contained in the tablets of your choice in order to be able to properly calculate the exact dosage.

This means I should be calculating the number of tablets based on the 150mg Chloroquin content, NOT the 250mg tablet size. So I went from 8 tablets to 13. Big difference!!

I dosed 4 tablets on day one, skipped a day to observer appetite and behavior then repeated that for the subsequent doses of 5 and 4 tablets with last night being the final dose. So far, both wrasse and gobies are eating normal.

I'll also be adjusting the period of QT to 30 days in CP based on recommendations in the disease forum.

Much appreciation goes to Humblefish for answering all my questions in my disease thread.