Quote:
Originally Posted by tkeracer619
After researching a bunch on measuring CP the requirement that they all came up with was a Spectrophotometer that measures absorbance at 343nm. The only reference I could find regarding measuring in aquariums mentioned very expensive equipment like a Hach DR5000 but I don't think that is necessary. I bought a Milton Roy Spectronic 21D and a set of Quartz Cuvettes. Very old equipment but this one was in mint condition.
I talked with Humblefish after reaching out to Reeffever without any response and he showed me some interesting information regarding this. Apparently if the chloroquine contains metabolite the metabolite will also register at 343 so a different process is required to separate the two components to get an accurate measurement of the active component. So it's better than nothing and probably accurate enough for us but I'm going to investigate further.
Beyond that, something very interesting appears to be happening. I can't actually dose enough CP to get the display to 40mg/gal safely. It appears bacteria is breaking down the CP rapidly. The more I dose, the quicker it breaks down. So fast that I am likely to abort dosing the display, last night I dosed the tank up to 27mg/gal and this morning 12 hours later it was down to 17mg/gal. The 40mg/gal sample from new SW I made on Thursday is still testing out at 40mg/gal.
So while CP probably works well on a freshly started QT and certainly nuked my vermatids and flat worms, it's a stretch that this med can be used in a display tank to treat fish. Obviously every system is different but at least in my case the CP is metabolized and removed at a rate faster than I want to dose CP.
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In a fish only tank with substrate you can tell you need more CP when algae starts to grow again. At that point you add another 1/2 dose of CP and the algae will quickly die back off. It only takes about 2-3 weeks for the CP to diminish naturally like that. I experienced this a couple of years ago by helping a friend who owns an LFS. He wasn't happy the the meds he had been using so we dosed CP in 3 of of his fish only storefront systems. As soon as he started that regimen, his fish loss rate diminished to almost nothing. We figured out more CP was needed by noticing the display went from pristine to where algae started growing again. The algae will tell you what you need to know. This dose method is probably more on the safe side but fish deaths post sale are also way down so we know it works. Customers know this store uses CP and they buy with confidence.
I started my a new build last year by treating with CP in my new tank build. I started it out out as a fish only system for the first 90 days. A powder blue tang and a dozen other fish were the first to go into the DT. At 90 days I stopped the treatment and within a month after that I started adding LPS and soft corals without issue. A year later and I haven't had a single disease problem.
The LFS owner also maintains tanks for customers and has dosed it successfully in a few systems now. With an established system, you start with a 1/4 dose to avoid too much die off at once and any resulting ammonia spike.
These are just some real life experiences. Nothing scientific but it works and is safe. Good luck with your setup. I'm sure you will get to where you want to be soon enough.