Chloroquine phosphate

[HotRocks]

There's not enough data yet to draw any firm conclusions. @HotRocks has agreed to take CP water samples as well, so hopefully that will provide more data points.

Speaking of which. I have done so and need to get those sent out for testing.

 

[Wen]

I am prepping to go fallow for 76 days to eradicate ich from my 150 DT. Last time, I put 15 fish through TTM and in qt for 76 days. Unfortunately, a small wrasse was in the overflow during the fallow time, so all that work was for nothing. ugh. I have been reading a lot about CP and am planning to go this route.
Please advise me here as I do not want to make a mistake:

Fish:
clowns, flame hawks, cardinals, bristletooth, cb butterfly, royal grama, midas blenny all going to CP
fairy and coris wrasse going through TTM (I just don't want to risk losing one to CP.)

Equipment:
QT 90 gallon (filled to 75 gallons) Rubbermaid trough cycled with over-sized skimmer in it, various PVC elbow, bare bottom, screen top and bubbler
QT 20 gallon IM cycled, PVC elbows, bare bottom
No lights on QTs, only ambient lighting from a window
various 5 gallon and 30 gallon buckets/bins available

Plan:
catch fish (I am not taking apart the reef again, so this may take 2 weeks using 2 fish traps.)
relocate fish as caught into 90 gallon cycled QT
once they are all in (minus wrasses), begin CP
vet prescription for CP powder dosed at 40 mg per gallon for 30 days (planning to ramp up CP over 3 days)
once a week 15 gal water change with 40 mg CP per gallon salt water
top off with RODI as needed for evaporation
after 30 days do ?75-100?% water change and add carbon bag? I need to remove CP because the fish will remain in the 90 gallon.
add the 2 post TTM wrasses to CP free 90 gallon
observe in 90 gallon QT and treat if needed in QT 20 gallon IM
after 76+ days move all fish back to DT

Questions:
When should I fresh water dip a few fish, as soon as caught out of DT or after CP?
When should I prazi pro? Before CP or after? (1 of my thread fin cardinals can't keep weight on and CB butterfly is new addition.)
Should I turn off skimmer when CP in water?
Should I add a small power head as well?
What am I forgetting or not correctly doing?
Should I move fish after 30 days in CP to a temporary bin while I sanitize 90 gal?

Thank you very much.

 

[Humblefish]

When should I fresh water dip a few fish, as soon as caught out of DT or after CP?

FW dips are only useful for treating "surface" parasites & worms e.g. velvet, brook, uronema, flukes. They have little to no impact on ich trophonts, which embed under a fish's epithelium (outer skin layer).

When should I prazi pro? Before CP or after? (1 of my thread fin cardinals can't keep weight on and CB butterfly is new addition.)

CP first if you know ich is present on the fish. Instead of using Prazipro, you can deworm with General Cure which is safer to mix with CP.

Should I turn off skimmer when CP in water?

Yes

Should I add a small power head as well?

Yes; point it towards the surface of the water to increase gas exchange.

Should I move fish after 30 days in CP to a temporary bin while I sanitize 90 gal?

Yes

 

[ReefWithCare]

FW dips are only useful for treating "surface" parasites & worms e.g. velvet, brook, uronema, flukes. They have little to no impact on ich trophonts, which embed under a fish's epithelium (outer skin layer).



CP first if you know ich is present on the fish. Instead of using Prazipro, you can deworm with General Cure which is safer to mix with CP.



Yes



Yes; point it towards the surface of the water to increase gas exchange.



Yes

Hi Humblefish. Is there anyway to provide temporary relief to a fish who has ich? I always get nervous when I first see it knowing nothing will go to work until it goes to the free floating stage. Every now and then I get hit with a bacterial infection [emoji29]

 

[Humblefish]

Hi Humblefish. Is there anyway to provide temporary relief to a fish who has ich? I always get nervous when I first see it knowing nothing will go to work until it goes to the free floating stage. Every now and then I get hit with a bacterial infection [emoji29]

Unfortunately, there is really no temporary relief for ich. I am currently experimenting with H2O2, but I don’t have enough data yet to draw any conclusions. Formalin might work, but exposing a fish to such a harsh chemical probably does more harm than ich trophonts. I reserve formalin use for velvet, brook, uronema, etc.

Fortunately, most fish can tolerate ich unless they are heavily infested.

If you are worried about secondary bacterial infections, a 90 min Rally or NFG bath are both great preventatives. I especially like giving new fish a NFG bath, because the Methylene Blue it contains will reverse ammonia + cyanide poisoning, and is also a mild antiparasitic. NFG also contains two antibiotics. It has saved many fish I’ve treated with gram-negative bacterial infections, but for active infections you must use it continuously for 10-14 days. The only bad thing about that is Methylene Blue is harsh on nitrifying bacteria, so for extended treatment I dose it into a small QT with no biofilter. I do 25% daily water changes to control ammonia before the next dose of NFG goes in.

 

[Wen]

FW dips are only useful for treating "surface" parasites & worms e.g. velvet, brook, uronema, flukes. They have little to no impact on ich trophonts, which embed under a fish's epithelium (outer skin layer).

I want to see if my coris fish has flukes. Should I dip before or after CP?


CP first if you know ich is present on the fish. Instead of using Prazipro, you can deworm with General Cure which is safer to mix with CP.

I occasionally see a spot here and there, but no full blown ich on any fish. I have prazipro, but will pick up general cure.



Yes



Yes; point it towards the surface of the water to increase gas exchange.

Ok, thank you for your advise.


Yes

 

[Wen]

Sorry, I didn’t post that reply correctly.

I want to dip the coris wrasse to confirm it doesn’t have flukes, should i FW dip before cp or after?

None of the fish have a full blown case of ich. Only an occasional spot here and there...no emergency.

Thank you for your responses.

 

[HotRocks]

Sorry, I didn’t post that reply correctly.

I want to dip the coris wrasse to confirm it doesn’t have flukes, should i FW dip before cp or after?

None of the fish have a full blown case of ich. Only an occasional spot here and there...no emergency.

Thank you for your responses.

You can dip anytime. Prior, during, or after CP. If during use sterile bowl or bucket. Sterile airstone. So long as you do that you can place the fish back into CP and not restart the clock.

 

[ReefWithCare]

Unfortunately, there is really no temporary relief for ich. I am currently experimenting with H2O2, but I don’t have enough data yet to draw any conclusions. Formalin might work, but exposing a fish to such a harsh chemical probably does more harm than ich trophonts. I reserve formalin use for velvet, brook, uronema, etc.

Fortunately, most fish can tolerate ich unless they are heavily infested.

If you are worried about secondary bacterial infections, a 90 min Rally or NFG bath are both great preventatives. I especially like giving new fish a NFG bath, because the Methylene Blue it contains will reverse ammonia + cyanide poisoning, and is also a mild antiparasitic. NFG also contains two antibiotics. It has saved many fish I’ve treated with gram-negative bacterial infections, but for active infections you must use it continuously for 10-14 days. The only bad thing about that is Methylene Blue is harsh on nitrifying bacteria, so for extended treatment I dose it into a small QT with no biofilter. I do 25% daily water changes to control ammonia before the next dose of NFG goes in.

Can you do a NFG bath? I like what it can do but not a fan of how many WCs you have to do for a full treatment. I thought it was meant to be dosed directly into the display.

How long is the NFG dip? 90 minutes as well?

 

[Humblefish]

Can you do a NFG bath? I like what it can do but not a fan of how many WCs you have to do for a full treatment. I thought it was meant to be dosed directly into the display.

How long is the NFG dip? 90 minutes as well?

90 minutes is fine, but you can actually leave a fish in NFG for hours provided he has a heater and plenty of aeration going. I've had shipments delayed and the fish were in bags for days. Bad ammonia burn in the gills. I put any survivors in a small 10 gal overnight with NFG:

 

[PeterG]

What is the shelf life on CP?
I filled a 30g Rx thru Diamondback Pharm. in April 2018 and it says to discard after 10/6/18. Still have most of that order . It's been refrigerated the whole time.
I do have a couple of refills on the Rx before April 2019 but no plans to add any new fish immediately. I like to keep it on hand and not sure if I should toss this & reorder or wait til right before Rx expires.
Sorry if this topic has been covered previously.

 

[jasonrusso]

What is the shelf life on CP?
I filled a 30g Rx thru Diamondback Pharm. in April 2018 and it says to discard after 10/6/18. Still have most of that order . It's been refrigerated the whole time.
I do have a couple of refills on the Rx before April 2019 but no plans to add any new fish immediately. I like to keep it on hand and not sure if I should toss this & reorder or wait til right before Rx expires.
Sorry if this topic has been covered previously.

I don't think that you need to refrigerate it. I keep mine in an airtight opaque box. I also think that they are generous with the experation dates.

 

[jasonrusso]

What is the shelf life on CP?
I filled a 30g Rx thru Diamondback Pharm. in April 2018 and it says to discard after 10/6/18. Still have most of that order . It's been refrigerated the whole time.
I do have a couple of refills on the Rx before April 2019 but no plans to add any new fish immediately. I like to keep it on hand and not sure if I should toss this & reorder or wait til right before Rx expires.
Sorry if this topic has been covered previously.

Now you have me checking mine. My lot from NFP says it expired 7/18. I just put a new fish in QT today. I'm wondering if mine is any good!

 

[Humblefish]

CP shelf life is 3 years. It's probably still good for much longer than that, but it is recommended to have it retested. If Diamondback sold you CP in April 2018 that expired in October 2018, I would be calling & complaining. At the very least they should be open to you sending them a sample that they can retest for purity.

 

[PeterG]

I don't think that you need to refrigerate it. I keep mine in an airtight opaque box. I also think that they are generous with the experation dates.

I'm guessing that I must have read about refrigerating it somewhere on this thread.
Not sure who NFP is.

CP shelf life is 3 years. It's probably still good for much longer than that, but it is recommended to have it retested. If Diamondback sold you CP in April 2018 that expired in October 2018, I would be calling & complaining. At the very least they should be open to you sending them a sample that they can retest for purity.

I'll contact them and see what they have to say and follow-up here.

 

[PeterG]

@Humblefish Thanks for the suggestion.
I called Diamondback and after getting nowhere with the person who answered my call I requested a pharmacist. She looked up the lot number of the drug in my Rx and told me the Expiration Date is 11/30/2020.
She also told me that Diamondback puts a Discard after date (180 days) to relieve them of any liability after that date.
Would you say I should be safe with using this RX until 2020?

 

[Humblefish]

@Humblefish Thanks for the suggestion.
I called Diamondback and after getting nowhere with the person who answered my call I requested a pharmacist. She looked up the lot number of the drug in my Rx and told me the Expiration Date is 11/30/2020.
She also told me that Diamondback puts a Discard after date (180 days) to relieve them of any liability after that date.
Would you say I should be safe with using this RX until 2020?

I would say your CP is good until 11/30/2020 then.

 

[A.Percula]

@Humblefish sorry for this question and Happy new Year. I know its not recommended to have rock on the qt while treating with CP.

I do have two ceramic biosphere so that it can deal with ammonia (brought from the DT with bacteria). Should I remove them before adding CP? How should I treat ammonia? WCs?

Also, I just bought the digital scale and hope to get CP later this week. My clowns have what I think is brook, treating them with API general cure while I get access to CP.

The only y reason I am going with CP is because I have a mandarin.

 

[rkpetersen]

Not sure who NFP is.

https://nationalfishpharm.ishopserver.com/

 

[Humblefish]

I do have two ceramic biosphere so that it can deal with ammonia (brought from the DT with bacteria). Should I remove them before adding CP? How should I treat ammonia? WCs?

Its not ideal, but overdose (80mg/gal) to compensate for anticipated biodegradation. Clownfish should still be fine at that high of a concentration.