Nuke Reef Display - Chloroquine

[DeepBlueSeaV1]

Seriously contemplating nuking my 4 month old 120g reef system with Chloroquine.

Before I setup the 120, I spent $215 on a dozen or so berghia to erradicate aiptasia. They did a great job. Rock 'looked' clean as I broke down a 29g and transferred immedatly to 120g. Granted, after all the aiptasia were erradicated, never saw the berghia again. Figured they either starved or were chopped up by powerheads. (No large fish, no crabs, just copepods, which probably ate the egg sacks)

Shortly after I set up the 120, I noticed my first aiptasia. Didn't add anything new to the system, so it must have still been present on the rock. (Figured this was going to happen)

I attempted to stay on top of them with kalkpaste, but have quickly lost the battle. They are everywhere at this point.

Two months ago, I've started raising aiptasia in a 10g system (food source). Intentions of purchasing a new batch of berghia and attempting to breed them outside the main DT. Eventually be able to dump 1000's of baby berghia into the main and 'naturally' attempt to eradicate, while always having a supply of berghia to breed from.

However, now I'm thinking... for about $20, I could just nuke the entire system. Kill all of the aiptasia in the system (along with a whole heck of a lot more) by nuking it with chloroquine phosphate.

Since the system is relatvely new, I could setup a quarantine system for dozen or so pieces of coral. Nuke the system with chloroquine phosphate, allow it to fester for a week or two.. Start huge water changes, run carbon, sort of 'reset' without the aiptasia plague.

Realize this is extreme, but I'm just going to end up fighting these things for ever and a day. Might as well attempt to start 'fresh'.

Thoughts / Comments on this approach?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Nothing good in this hobby happens fast.

 

[Crabs McJones]

The system is only 4 months old, it hasn't even had a chance to mature yet. I would hate to see it get nuked. There are tons of systems that successfully run with aptasia in them, its just a matter of keeping them in check. A healthy population of aptasia could keep a peppermint shrimp well fed and keep the aptasia in check. There are also fish that eat it that you could use it for a food source for. Or you could try something along the lines of Aptasia X, you wouldn't have to tear anything down, just run the treatment. On top of that, if any of the chloroquine phosphate gets soaked into the rocks, and leaches out over time, it could cause more problems long term than it actually fixes.

 

[Jamie7907]

I’d pull the corals you want to keep and do it.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I would not nuke the tank for aptasia and I would never nuke it with CP.

I say be patient, let the system mature and you and your tank will learn to deal with pests such as aptasia. Its part of reefkeeping.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

i see 2 solutions for you.

1. if you want to nuke it then do it with bleach. it can be gone in few days and with carbon and water change and a quick rinse and using a water conditioner it can all be setup back again with no issues.

2. without nuking the tank you can start taking out 25% of the rock and letting them dry out for a while then returning them to tank and so on. but this will only work if all the aiptasia is on rocks only. if its all over, on glass in pipes and equipment then nuking will be the only option.

good luck.

 

[Jason mack]

Could get a copperband butterfly, they love aptasia , I’ve had none in my dt .. while my overflow and sump had loads .. couple of peppermint shrimps ,and aptasia x for the big ones the shrimp don’t eat ... non in my overflow now for serval weeks .. don’t nuke the tank !!

 

[iDeath]

Why nuke with a chemical? You could just use RO water and bring your salinity down to kill everything in the tank. Then bring your salinity back up and be groovy. It likely wouldn't even kill the bacteria if you bring it down to the right point.

 

[Jamie7907]

The benefit to cp is it won’t cause you to have to re-cycle the tank like bleach or reducing salinity enough to kill aiptasia would. Any fish you could add or even berghia will only mask the problem leading to future issues. As a bonus if you maintain a therapeutic level in the tank you could eliminate itch/velvet if present. I personally would rather nuke it now than still be battling aiptasia 6 months from now. Currently there are no reef safe options available that will eliminate aiptasia from a display tank and cp is safe in a display with fish only. I would remove any corals and inverts you want to keep and dose the cp and be done with the problem instead of prolonging it.

 

[Land Shark]

I have personal experience dosing CP in my 109 gallon display tank and can tell you that for me it was a good experience. There were no negatives in my case.

 

[DeepBlueSeaV1]

Nothing good in this hobby happens fast.

Completely agree with this comment. Accept maybe an aiptasia outbreak. That happens fast ;-) It's also why I'm thinking of doing it... it's only a 4 month old tank. Why start with a cracked foundation is my thought process.

The benefit to cp is it won’t cause you to have to re-cycle the tank like bleach or reducing salinity enough to kill aiptasia would. Any fish you could add or even berghia will only mask the problem leading to future issues. As a bonus if you maintain a therapeutic level in the tank you could eliminate itch/velvet if present. I personally would rather nuke it now than still be battling aiptasia 6 months from now. Currently there are no reef safe options available that will eliminate aiptasia from a display tank and cp is safe in a display with fish only. I would remove any corals and inverts you want to keep and dose the cp and be done with the problem instead of prolonging it.

This is my belief... CP is a 'safe' alternative. If done correctly, it's not starting over from 'scratch' it's a bit of a reset. Watch ammonia levels, water changes, carbon and time and CP will be out of the system within 30 days.

I have personal experience dosing CP in my 109 gallon display tank and can tell you that for me it was a good experience. There were no negatives in my case.

This is what I'm looking for, experienced results. Thanks. Did you have fish? If so, did you leave them in for a treatment or did you remove them. (I only have 2 clown fish, which could be quarantined separately during this process if I needed too.)

 

[Land Shark]

My DT served as a big QT in the beginning. I wasn't going to add corals for several months anyway so it made sense. I wanted to insure that none of the new fish came in carrying a disease or a parasite. Ich in particular was my biggest worry because of a powder blue tang I had recently purchased. 15 months later and the tang and all other fish are all healthy and doing well.

 

[Jamie7907]

Talk to @Humblefish but some wrasses don’t seem to do well in cp.

 

[Humblefish]

Talk to @Humblefish but some wrasses don’t seem to do well in cp.

IME; Paracheilinus & Pseudocheilinus genus wrasses do not seem to tolerate CP well.

 

[Land Shark]

There is no one treatment that works in every situation so take what you read from me with a grain of salt.

In my experience, Bipartitus leopard wrasses in a 30 gal QT tank seem to have a hard time with CP at typical full strength dosing levels. They won't just roll over and die mind you but do show signs of lethargy after several days. That's a sign that you need to heed. Do a 50% water change if needed.

Based on the fish you mentioned, I wouldn't worry. If you want to try CP then just add enough to kill off the aiptasia. Perhaps start a 1/4 dose and wait a week to see if that does the trick. Peppermint shrimp worked for me when I later introduced aiptasia from frags.

 

[BigKid4788]

Peppermint shrimp helped me. I had about 20-30 and they are all gone.

 

[CindyKz]

Does anyone know for certain that CP kills aptaisia? I have never heard of that so just wondering. It would be terrible to go through all that "nuking" and still have them.

I have to agree with the posters who have stated that nothing good happens fast, and that "pests" like aptaisia are a part of reefkeeping that should just be dealt with. You aren't going to want to start fresh every time you get a pest.

 

[Land Shark]

Does anyone know for certain that CP kills aptaisia? I have never heard of that so just wondering. It would be terrible to go through all that "nuking" and still have them.

I have to agree with the posters who have stated that nothing good happens fast, and that "pests" like aptaisia are a part of reefkeeping that should just be dealt with. You aren't going to want to start fresh every time you get a pest.

I know for certain. That said, CP seems a bit drastic for something as minor as aiptasia but the science is sound and this is the topic the OP asked about. Aiptasia benefit from the products of algae's photosynthesis. CP kills algae so in the process, it kills everything that depends on algae including the Aiptasia anemone. On occasion I've placed a rock containing a couple of aiptasia into a QT tank containing CP. In every case, the aiptasia anemone shriveled up and died in a few days. When I placed a few zoanthids in there and I experienced similar results.

I did a similar test when I was completed using CP in my display tank. 2 weeks after adding activated carbon to remove the CP, I added a few cheap zoanthids to test the waters. When they survived, I knew the CP level was safe.

While this works fast, it isn't a permanent solution. You are better off to introduce a natural predator to this pest anemone, there are several. Unless you are the exception, you will eventually reintroduce the pest by accident, as I have done. A long term solution is better if this is all you are treating for.

 

[stacksoner]

Seriously contemplating nuking my 4 month old 120g reef system with Chloroquine.

Before I setup the 120, I spent $215 on a dozen or so berghia to erradicate aiptasia. They did a great job. Rock 'looked' clean as I broke down a 29g and transferred immedatly to 120g. Granted, after all the aiptasia were erradicated, never saw the berghia again. Figured they either starved or were chopped up by powerheads. (No large fish, no crabs, just copepods, which probably ate the egg sacks)

Shortly after I set up the 120, I noticed my first aiptasia. Didn't add anything new to the system, so it must have still been present on the rock. (Figured this was going to happen)

I attempted to stay on top of them with kalkpaste, but have quickly lost the battle. They are everywhere at this point.

Two months ago, I've started raising aiptasia in a 10g system (food source). Intentions of purchasing a new batch of berghia and attempting to breed them outside the main DT. Eventually be able to dump 1000's of baby berghia into the main and 'naturally' attempt to eradicate, while always having a supply of berghia to breed from.

However, now I'm thinking... for about $20, I could just nuke the entire system. Kill all of the aiptasia in the system (along with a whole heck of a lot more) by nuking it with chloroquine phosphate.

Since the system is relatvely new, I could setup a quarantine system for dozen or so pieces of coral. Nuke the system with chloroquine phosphate, allow it to fester for a week or two.. Start huge water changes, run carbon, sort of 'reset' without the aiptasia plague.

Realize this is extreme, but I'm just going to end up fighting these things for ever and a day. Might as well attempt to start 'fresh'.

Thoughts / Comments on this approach?

Buy a bunch of peppermint shrimp. Good chance that you'll wake up in the AM to see that they took down the entire aiptasia population overnight.

Save your tank nuke option for a more serious problem that has you thinking about giving up altogether.

 

[ca1ore]

I used CP (acquired via prescription) to eradicate both aptasia and majano from my invert/coral QT. it also took care of red planaria flatworms. After about 2 months I did a significant water change (easy on a small QT), ran carbon and polyfilter. Reseeded the tank with detritus and some rock from the main display. Mostly back to prior diversity ..... sans pest anemones.