Chloroquine Phosphate

[bfrench]

Hi All,

I've been doing some reading lately (dangerous I know) and heard good things about Chloroquine Phosphate as a QT treatment.

1) Does anyone have experience with this medication?

2) Does anyone have extra?

I can only find it as a bulk purchase at $190 for a kg. Fortunately the dosing is only 40mg/gal once, so a 30 gallon QT tank only takes 1.2 grams So I could buy the whole kg and have 833 doses. Which seems like overkill. If anyone is interested in splitting up a kg of CP let me know

[FarmerTy]

I've used NLS Ich Shield Powder, RCA usually has some in stock as well as Aquadome. The active ingredient is a derivative of CP and in my use of it, seems just as effective. I'm no chemist but here is the active ingredient:

I,4-Pentanediamine, N4-(7-chloro-4-quinolinyl)-NI,NI-diethyl

The manufacturer mentioned on a forum thread I read once that he could only sell it in that form or else it would require a prescription. Only difference I've found is the quantity/concentration required to be different. Only reason I mentioned is so that anybody reading will follow the instructions that comes with the product and don't follow instructions that they may have found online in a thread somewhere that is directly referring to CP as you'll probably overdose.

It will readily treat ich, marine velvet, or brooklynella so nice to have in your arsenal if you cannot tell which you have. It is sensitive to UV so indirect room light is advised when administering the CP. I would not put a light directly over the tank.

I found it very easy on fish and very easy to use. The only issue is that there is no test kit for it so you'll have to keep an eye on concentration level. Once you dose, make sure that any water changes are followed with a resultant dose to put back how much you took out. For instance, you change 20 gallons of water, replace 20 gallons of water and dose enough CP for 20 gallons to replace what you took out. Also, don't use live rock while dosing it as it will be absorbed and the resulting concentration may not be enough to effectively treat the fish. Luckily, if you slightly overdose, the CP has a large margin of error that is still safe for fish.

Some have reported that wrasses may be sensitive to it but I found that not the case. Also, it could be an appetite suppressant but I've found most medications have that as a side effect anyways. Obviously, don't use activated carbon, skimmers, or UV sterilizers while using it. I would not use it in conjunction with other medications either.

Hope that helps.

[bfrench]

Thanks Ty