garlic, how effective?

[pufferman]

Hey all,

I wanted to know how fast garlic is effective on boosting the immune system. I saw my tang itching vigorously and i placed a garlic soaked sheet of nori in the tank and he chomps on the nori, goes and itches, then comes back to chomp on the nori.

TIA

 

[SALTYDAWGY]

Most people would say that it is effective in helping marine fish immune system. I would agree with some people. I have soaked my frozen foods in it for years. It is not an effective cure against ich though. It would help in addition to some hypo or maybe QT with Copper.

 

[pufferman]

Thanks,
I did a FW dip on the little guy and i havent seen him scratch, ill check him again throughout the weekend

P-MAN

 

[melissfish]

how often should u add the garlic.

 

[SALTYDAWGY]

I have some concentrated garlic (you can buy it at the lfs-it is pricy though). I add about 2-3 drops for a cube of frozen food as it thaws out. I do this a few times a week. I let the cube sit for an hour then driop it in. The garlic acts in two ways. One, I believe it helps the immune system of the fish in the tank and two, it helps to stimulate a feeding response in all things including my brittle star. I also see my pods dash about wildly on the rock when it is added.

 

[haus]

My cleaner shrimp and hermit crabs go ballistic when I add garlic to the food as do the fish. I've heard that it is debatable if it does boost immune systems, but if it doesn't do anything for their immune system, it sure does make them really enjoy feeding time.

 

[lando]

I did a FW dip on the little guy and i havent seen him scratch, ill check him again throughout the weekend

FW dip is not an effective means of treating parasites. The stess caused by netting and the procedure itself often times do more harm and far outway any benefit of dipping. A much better solution is four weeks in QT using hyposalinity.

Garlic is not really looked at as a Tx either, more of a preventative measure. I have not actually seen much research on how effective it is at boosting the immune system. For now, keep an eye on your tang and watch for any visible signs or spots. If it is eating, has good color and is active you should be okay. Good luck.

 

[Bearfan]

I chop it up finely in my blender mush.

 

[pufferman]

it has been eating voraciously, he is colorful, and he is active, but he scratches continuosly. the SG in the tank used to be 1.017 but i have recently raised it up to 1.021 over two or three weeks. Could this be contributed to his stress? I thought evaporation was the best way to raise the salinity. Should cleaner shrimp help? Once my SG is in check, i will make another effort to introduce cleaner shrimp. As long he is eating with the garlic, will he be able to fight it off. I havent replaced my UV bulb in about a year and a half. Should i replace the bulb? I only have $85 to spend on my tank. Thank you for your time

TIA

 

[SALTYDAWGY]

I probably would puffer. Get a new bulb and a ball valve to slow the water flow through the uv for maximum exposure to the bulb. 30 gallon is awfully small for a regal tang. Regals do have a tendancy to do a lot of scratching but they are also known to be very prone to ich. If I were you I would change about 7-8 gallons of water. Soak all food in garlic fo rthe next couple weeks. Change the uv bulb and make sure the flow is very very slow. Check your temp and SG. Watch the fish for signs of ich (Like spots, cloudy fins and eyes etc)

 

[AMANIQU77]

Hope your tang is doing better now.

You have to eradicate the ich. Ich isn't always visible. It may not show, he may not scratch, but rest assured if there are ich there, your fish is slowly being starved off of nutrients in its body.

freshwater dip would be ironic for tang, in my opinion. Imagine, when I acclimated mine back in the days, I had to let the plastic bag sit on the tank to equalize the temp, then I have to do a drip acclimation that would take between 2-3 hours. Tangs are very sensitive to change. Imagine shocking the poor tang in zero salt? Then shocking it back to salt water? That would be very stressful or even lethal to the tang. That's just my opinion, however.

QT would be great. Scoop your tang into a bucket with your current display water. Drip acclimate it for 2-3 hours into your QT. Then start the hypo process. I do hope if you have a QT, you maintained it while there weren't any patients.

Then do the hypo treatment. Now, if you have other fish in the display, you might want to remove them too, to starve the ich of host fish. Then treat the display if you don't have inverts.

the garlic will only serve as a suppliment for preventative measures. They may help the immune system of the fish so that no further bacterial or parasitic infections can result from the hypo stress and the ich stress. It isn't guaranteed to bullet proof your fish, but encouraging the immune system may help prevent further damage.

There were articles I read that other hobbyists are claiming that ich doesn't like garlic. Hey, it's like the dracula movie: both ich and dracula are blood suckers. If dracula hates garlic, the ich probably does too. However, no scientific evidence.

Remember, the stages of ich will mislead you if you depend on the visual. I do hope by now your regal is doing much better.