Garlic, serious discussion

[albert_dao]

Okay, so I was at work today and reading the bottle of Garlic Oil that we sell and it occured to me that I've never actually tried the product with any verifiable success -- that is, success that wouldn't have come anyway under good conditions.

That being said, does anyone have any "miracle product" stories about garlic? Or is it in the same vein as the echinacea health supplements for humans?

[Quinn]

Some discussion of research, lack of:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2004/mini4.htm

I think there is a lack of conclusive evidence, but it's become a good luck charm of sorts. I used it on occasion if I noticed anything ich-like on my tang, and would find that the symptoms would disappear, but it's hard to say if it was ever ich, or if it was really the garlic that did it, etc.

[monza]

What teevee said.
Dave

[AJ_77]

Ditto. Seemed to work, but never had a serious outbreak.

[Beverly]

I had two fish with ich several months ago. They were the only fish in the tank. Fed them PE mysis soaked with loads of Garlic Xtreme and Kent Zoe. Once the ich cleared up, I removed them from that tank and left it fallow for six weeks. Continued feeding the same foods soaked in GE and Zoe in the quarantine tank.

No ich returned, but I strongly suspect it was because I removed the fish from the ich environment for 6 weeks. During the 6 weeks, the ich in the main tank went through their life cycle and when they had no fish to attach to, they died.

My thought about using garlic is that it can't hurt, but wouldn't use it as my cure for ich or any other parasite or disease.

[albert_dao]

From the first article:

Garlic is another of the alternative treatments for Cryptocaryon to be touted lately. I have read of many people reporting using it "successfully" as a preventative. The difficult part in assessing these reports is whether the fish would have developed Cryptocaryon in the first place. And, when someone claims it to be a "cure," how can they definitively rule out natural, acquired immunity or even confusion over Cryptocaryon's life cycle.


This is along the lines of what I was thinking. I'm wondering how one would ethically set up an experiment to prove the merits of garlic.

[Quinn]

Ethically? Well you're not a research institution so at least you don't have to go through the ethics committee. :wink: I was also thinking about this and the main difficulty in my mind is ensuring both your control and test groups are infected with ich, and to the same severity. If you really want to discuss ethics I suppose one could take issue with your subjects - since it seems most often ich affects tangs, you'd want to include them in your study, along with other types of fish. The problem is, tangs and numerous other species don't breed in captivity. But I know if I were on the ethics committee and a qualified researcher wanted to do this research, I would approve.

[EmilyB]

Without a doubt, garlic is an appetite stimulant.

When your fish are well nourished and plump, ich isn't a problem any more.

IME.

[Delphinus]

What EmilyB said. :smile:

[albert_dao]

Without a doubt, garlic is an appetite stimulant.

When your fish are well nourished and plump, ich isn't a problem any more.

IME.


See, I've not noticed this when doing my trials with garlic. To me, it seemed that the fish were actually detered by the ordor of garlic. What are some examples proving garlic as an appetite stimulant? Does anyone want to share?

[Beverly]

To me, it seemed that the fish were actually detered by the ordor of garlic.

I would tend to agree with this statement. Fish new to very small amounts of garlic in their food in my tanks don't usually eat the food very readily at first. It has usually taken a day or two for them to eat it without spitting it back out. Once they get the hang of eating garlic soaked food, though, they are pretty gung ho about it thereafter.

[danny zubot]

I've used garlic suppliment to aid in the recovery of my old Clarki's injuries. He had "pop eye" after jabing it with something. He did make a full recovery after a couple of weeks but i'm not sure if it was the garlic or just the natural healing process.

[Aquattro]

First time I used garlic was when my brown tang got ich. He was covered in dots. I soaked nori in fresh squeezed garlic an fed normally. Both tangs went at it like it was there last meal. Ich fully vanished in 24 hours. I stopped feeding garlic. Ich came back. Added garlic, ich went away less than 24 hours. I continued to feed garlic for 10 days further, never saw ich again to this day.
I can't prove garlic does anything, but my fish think it works, and that's good enough for me.

[AJ_77]

I can't prove garlic does anything, but my fish think it works, and that's good enough for me.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

AND that about wraps it up! :biggrin:

[trilinearmipmap]

IMO the best use of "alternative" remedies in fish or in humans, is that it gives time for the infection to go away on its own, without introducing any toxic medications or chemicals. There is no plausible biologic mechanism for garlic to work, there are no controlled trials to say it works, and there is ample evidence that fish can fight off infections with good supportive care and proper diet. Just like the common cold, it will go away in 7 days with no treatment, or in a week if you take a cold remedy.

[Bob I]

Without a doubt, garlic is an appetite stimulant.

When your fish are well nourished and plump, ich isn't a problem any more.

IME.
I think that is the crux of the matter. :mrgreen:

[Ryan7]

I believe Garlic helps build up the immune system, and therefore helps fight off ich and other parasites.

[DiscusZ]

Ever since i got hooked on keeping an aquarium(about 10 years or so now) I learned from a Discus breeder friend of mine in New Jersey that he used Garlic (fresh) in all his homemade food preparations. I was given his recipe for Discus , Angels (pretty much any FW Fish) and I never ever had ICK in my FW tanks. I was breeding FW Angel fish they were all fed homemade good that include a good dose of Fresh crushed Garlic.

Recently I had my 1st ever ICK case. I ended up getting Mike's Blue tank when he moved back to the States. The outbreak occured almost a month after getting the fish/i decided to try soemthing.. I took a peice of Nori, crushed up a clove, smeared the paste on the Nori, let it sit for a while to soak in, I put it in the tank on a small piece of PVC. within a few days Ick went away and has not returned. Coincidence? Maybe, but how many people do you know who have only had 1 ICK outbreak in 10 years? Maybe there is alot I dont know :biggrin:

I also know garlic is definately a appitite stimulant. ifYou can get a fish to eat a little they generally get better. 9I have done this when I was keeping Discus, they can be the most finiky of fish going off their food, and garlix brought them back 9 times out of 10. Hell I even once force fed a $120 discus with a small tube on syringe filled with a food mixed with Garlic as the fish stopped eatting (Ya I am nutz) I did this a couple of times and the fish started to eat on its own... (I was not the only one who has ever done this, a few people I know have tried this method, thats how I got the idea :lol:


Garlic definate has some "magical" propertiies


Bob, the Tang was also well Nourished, it was fat and plump when I got it from Mike, it even took over being the 1st one to eat the night I feed em

[Nemain]

Garlic has been used by humans for centuries for a zillion ailments. It is believed to be a non specific antibiotic, antioxidant, and an antifungal.

It may not be a *cure*, but niether is penecillin ;)

[robbyville]

Without proper controls, I would still tend to agree with the "Garlick is good segment". When we first got into this hobby we had a mild outbreak and immediately tried garlic. The outbreak was gone within 24 hours. I have heard that this is fairly normal but is not a cure for heavy problems.

I would definitely say however that garlic improved the appetities of our little friends as well as enhanced their colours, we believe that we really noticed that specifically. Just like a good HVAC system, fishies can use some preventative maintenance, I think that's what garlic is good for and use it at least every third feeding.

Rob

[RobbAdams]

What are some examples proving garlic as an appetite stimulant? Does anyone want to share?


Umm Hello have you never had Itallian food?
:BIG:

[Quinn]

The death of science is nigh!

[AJ_77]

Nigh? Nay!

In the current thread, "Slow Continuous Regimen for Feeding Reef Tank," the last article at the bottom of the Drum and Croaker (http://www.colszoo.org/internal/drum_croaker/pdf/2004.pdf) is titled "USING GARLIC AS AN APPETITE STIMULANT IN SAND TIGER SHARKS (Carcharias taurus)."

You should look at it if you haven't already. They also link to an RDO archive:

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/h_cortes-jorge.html