- Location
- Long island
Hi, does anyone have experience with this medicine for treating Ich in a display tank where copper cant be used? Thanks for your help
Quinine Sulfate
- Thread starter thomashtom
- Start date
If I'm not mistaken it will kill your corals, bacteria and inverts, I've used it once but treated in a QT tank.
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Seem to remember PaulB experimenting with it. Seem to remember him saying it is invert safe. Which if true don't see how it will be effective on Ich.
Has been around a long time....
From what I've gathered it is not very effective for Ich. Mixed reviews, it's reef safe, it's not. It's invert safe, it's not. Maybe because it's hard to get a hold of quality source, even harder to administer accurately, and you can't test for it.
Imo you should either roll up your sleeves and do the work of riding Ich through tank transfer, copper, or hypo. Or try to boost immunity through diet, low stress, a uv, and give it time.
Has been around a long time....
From what I've gathered it is not very effective for Ich. Mixed reviews, it's reef safe, it's not. It's invert safe, it's not. Maybe because it's hard to get a hold of quality source, even harder to administer accurately, and you can't test for it.
Imo you should either roll up your sleeves and do the work of riding Ich through tank transfer, copper, or hypo. Or try to boost immunity through diet, low stress, a uv, and give it time.
- Location
- Long island
Just curious are you thinking of chloroquine phosphate. The dosage for Quinine sulfate is 1/4 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water. I am in a tough spot because my 65 gallon QT tank cant handle all of my fish. I quarantined all these angels for a month using prazi and copper but one of them had a recurrence and now its in my display tank which has a shark in it. So i have limited options. I have about 144 watts of UV all bulbs under 4 months old. I did a water change today in prerparation because its been a week since i seen the ich and the personifer is looking worse. Thanks for your help.
No, not thinking of chloroquine phosphate. Not sure why those two meds often get bundled into the same conversation.
Quinine sulfate varies in potency, and how it mixes or dilutes with saltwater varies as well. Then add to that it elusive nature in how long it keeps, and at what concentrate over time once administered, and not being able to test those parameters makes it a crap shoot.
Prazi with copper is great for a qt, as a broad spectrum treatment. As a treatment, for a month, specifically for Ich, not.
Pretty much anything that prazi is going to do/cure can be done with two consecutive treatments which can be completed inside two weeks. I'm sure prozi doesn't make Ich happy, and effects its population on some level, but is not a cure for Ich.
With copper, for treating Ich, a month is prolly not long enough with all strains of Ich that are seeming to grow more resistant to treatments. After a thorough and accurate cooper treatment you should do a tank transfer followed by another month of observation in regular saltwater. Which will work out nicely, as far as timing, with the display tank which should remain fallow for a minimum or 10 weeks. Then add any possible cross contamination from infected/fallow tank, to treatment/medicated tank, and you can start the clock and the treatment all over again.
114 watts of uv for 65g tank is way overkill. Uv will never rid you from Ich, will only keep the numbers/population in check. Exposure to uv doesn't kill Ich, only it's ability to reproduce, and it will never get all the free swimming Ich to pass through the uv unit, even if you put up road signs. If the pump is passing the water too fast through the uv than the Ich that does pass through is not spending enough time exposed to the uv light and is not effected/sterilized.
Coupla other things worth mentioning....
Ich only has a coupla days to find a host after it hatches. If it doesn't find a host it dies. In the ocean numbers stay in check because it doesn't always find a host. In an aquarium, especially an overcrowded and stressed tank, it easily finds a host.
When a tank first becomes infected with Ich you can see the waves of white spots. White spots are the only way to physically see Ich. While the Ich is in the egg stage of its life you see the white spots go away and it seems Ich is going away. Over time some Ich hatches faster than others, and some finds a host faster than others, and some lays eggs faster than others. So the white spot waves become blurred and you see spots more often.
A lil talked about aspect of Ich is how it will eventually die off on its own due to inbreeding. If no other source of Ich/new Dna is introduced to your tank, then after a year or so it will stop being able to reproduce. Same thing goes for your tank's pod population.
With that said, don't want this to turn into another Ich slugfest thread. This is only my opinion, based on my experience
Oh, not sure of all types of livestock you have, but the shark will not tolerate copper well. Not to mention they're pretty mindless swimmers, day and night, and usually add lots of stress to tanks with other types of fish
Quinine sulfate varies in potency, and how it mixes or dilutes with saltwater varies as well. Then add to that it elusive nature in how long it keeps, and at what concentrate over time once administered, and not being able to test those parameters makes it a crap shoot.
Prazi with copper is great for a qt, as a broad spectrum treatment. As a treatment, for a month, specifically for Ich, not.
Pretty much anything that prazi is going to do/cure can be done with two consecutive treatments which can be completed inside two weeks. I'm sure prozi doesn't make Ich happy, and effects its population on some level, but is not a cure for Ich.
With copper, for treating Ich, a month is prolly not long enough with all strains of Ich that are seeming to grow more resistant to treatments. After a thorough and accurate cooper treatment you should do a tank transfer followed by another month of observation in regular saltwater. Which will work out nicely, as far as timing, with the display tank which should remain fallow for a minimum or 10 weeks. Then add any possible cross contamination from infected/fallow tank, to treatment/medicated tank, and you can start the clock and the treatment all over again.
114 watts of uv for 65g tank is way overkill. Uv will never rid you from Ich, will only keep the numbers/population in check. Exposure to uv doesn't kill Ich, only it's ability to reproduce, and it will never get all the free swimming Ich to pass through the uv unit, even if you put up road signs. If the pump is passing the water too fast through the uv than the Ich that does pass through is not spending enough time exposed to the uv light and is not effected/sterilized.
Coupla other things worth mentioning....
Ich only has a coupla days to find a host after it hatches. If it doesn't find a host it dies. In the ocean numbers stay in check because it doesn't always find a host. In an aquarium, especially an overcrowded and stressed tank, it easily finds a host.
When a tank first becomes infected with Ich you can see the waves of white spots. White spots are the only way to physically see Ich. While the Ich is in the egg stage of its life you see the white spots go away and it seems Ich is going away. Over time some Ich hatches faster than others, and some finds a host faster than others, and some lays eggs faster than others. So the white spot waves become blurred and you see spots more often.
A lil talked about aspect of Ich is how it will eventually die off on its own due to inbreeding. If no other source of Ich/new Dna is introduced to your tank, then after a year or so it will stop being able to reproduce. Same thing goes for your tank's pod population.
With that said, don't want this to turn into another Ich slugfest thread. This is only my opinion, based on my experience
Oh, not sure of all types of livestock you have, but the shark will not tolerate copper well. Not to mention they're pretty mindless swimmers, day and night, and usually add lots of stress to tanks with other types of fish
Last edited:
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
I personally never used quinine sulphate, I use quinicrine hydrochloride which is probably different and is a malaria medication. I do combine it with copper and it works in a day. Used alone I don't think it is too effective. It is safe with "some" inverts like crustaceans but not corals or anemones.
- Location
- Long island
Hi , thanks for your help. I wound up dosing with quinine I will keep u posted. I also put a cleaner wrasse in the tank. Hoping for the best. Also by the way I have a 144 uv watts on display tank not 65 gal QT. Not that it helped anyway. Anymore input would be appreciated. Thanks Tom
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