Chloroquine Dosing

Dr. Phil · Dec 18, 2015

So, after spending the day calling every veterinarian within a 100 mile radius, my primary vet for my dogs and cats wrote a prescription for Aralen (Chloroquine).

So now my question is, with 500mg tablets how many do I need to use for a 20 gallon quarantine tank?

Thanks!

Humblefish · Dec 18, 2015

It would be better to get the powder but the tablets are still usable:

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. Keep in mind if you decide to use the tablets, there are some inactive ingredients, which you may have to deal with, e.g., Camauba Wax, Colloidal Silicon Dioxide, Dibasic Calcium Phosphate, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Magnesium Stearate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Polyethylene Glycol, Polysorbate 80, Pregelatinized Starch, Sodium Starch Glycolate, Stearic Acid, and Titanium Dioxide. And as mentioned earlier in this chapter there are occasions where some medicines are not in their pure form (100% pure), i.e., mixed with a substance called a 'carrier,' which should be noted on its label. If so its potency is reduced, and if not sure about the exact amount of medication needed, suggest contacting a more experienced aquarist for the way to resolve this situation.

Standard dosage is 40mg/gal, so you will need at least 800mg to treat your 20 gal QT. 3 of the 500mg tablets will give you 900mg of usable chloroquine, so that's what I would dose to make it easy. You can easily double the standard dosage with no ill effects, so you have the wiggle room.

More info here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chloroquine-phosphate.192309/

Dr. Phil · Dec 18, 2015

Thanks @Humblefish! I thought that 3 would be correct, but I wanted to double check. I tried to find the powder, but it is pretty much impossible to find in my area. In fact only one pharmacy had Aralen. The good thing is that the prescription is for 15 tablets and I have one refill, so I won't have to worry about how to get it for about 10 treatments of my qt.

Also, what ill effects should I look out for from the inactive ingredients?

Thanks for the help!

Sabellafella · Dec 18, 2015

diaz2010 said:
Thanks @Humblefish! I thought that 3 would be correct, but I wanted to double check. I tried to find the powder, but it is pretty much impossible to find in my area. In fact only one pharmacy had Aralen. The good thing is that the prescription is for 15 tablets and I have one refill, so I won't have to worry about how to get it for about 10 treatments of my qt.

Also, what ill effects should I look out for from the inactive ingredients?

Thanks for the help!

Dude cp is awesome, i used to use it instead of copper, never once had a fish pass on it, i also seen many wrasses go well with treatment, the only 1 downside is the inability to test

Humblefish · Dec 19, 2015

diaz2010 said:
Also, what ill effects should I look out for from the inactive ingredients?

Lethargy, appetite suppression. In 6-7 years of using CP, the only fish I have had problems treating were sixline & melanurus wrasses, and oddly enough, hippo tangs.

But lots of success with flasher & fairy wrasses. All other wrasses I would use chelated copper on... specifically "Copper Power".

omykiss001 · Dec 19, 2015

Humblefish said:
Lethargy, appetite suppression. In 6-7 years of using CP, the only fish I have had problems treating were sixline & melanurus wrasses, and oddly enough, hippo tangs. But lots of success with flasher & fairy wrasses. All other wrasses I would use chelated copper on... specifically "Copper Power".

Just out of curiosity do you find chelated copper better than cupramine for wrasses? Always thought the cupramine was better tolerated than chelated.

Humblefish · Dec 19, 2015

omykiss001 said:
Just out of curiosity do you find chelated copper better than cupramine for wrasses? Always thought the cupramine was better tolerated than chelated.

Back when I used chelated copper (Coppersafe) I never had any of the problems (appetite suppression, lethargy) that a lot of people seem to have when using Cupramine. And we're not just talking about a few fish here & there, as we would QT 50-60 fish monthly for the maintenance business. Angels, tangs, butterflies, wrasses, etc. Many of which are now considered "sensitive" to copper.

Second piece of evidence: A member of my local forum has recently been using Copper Power (another brand of chelated copper) and has had nothing but success as well, including on sensitive Leopard Wrasses. The reason I am recommending Copper Power over Coppersafe is because recently Fritz bought the latter from Mardel, and I'm not entirely sure whether or not they changed the formulation. I recently ran multiple experiments using Maracyn 1 & 2 (formerly Mardel, now a Fritz product), and it made the water turn so cloudy that I couldn't even see the fish anymore.

I only ever had slightly cloudy water when I used that product in the past.

omykiss001 · Dec 19, 2015

Humblefish said:
Back when I used chelated copper (Coppersafe) I never had any of the problems (appetite suppression, lethargy) that a lot of people seem to have when using Cupramine. And we're not just talking about a few fish here & there, as we would QT 50-60 fish monthly for the maintenance business. Angels, tangs, butterflies, wrasses, etc. Many of which are now considered "sensitive" to copper.

Second piece of evidence: A member of my local forum has recently been using Copper Power (another brand of chelated copper) and has had nothing but success as well, including on sensitive Leopard Wrasses. The reason I am recommending Copper Power over Coppersafe is because recently Fritz bought the latter from Mardel, and I'm not entirely sure whether or not they changed the formulation. I recently ran multiple experiments using Maracyn 1 & 2 (formerly Mardel, now a Fritz product), and it made the water turn so cloudy that I couldn't even see the fish anymore. I only ever had slightly cloudy water when I used that product in the past.

Thanks that's good info. I may switch in future to copper power then as I've had some fish that don't seem to do well with cupramine even though much of what I had read suggested it was the more gentle product to use on sensitive species.