preventitive maintenence and stuff.....read some odd things.

[Guest]

I read that feeding your fish tiny amounts of garlic will help bolster their immune systems....does anyone know if this is true?


Also, is regular sea salt (like for cooking...not table salt, sea salt) ok for a tank you are treating for ich? I don't have ich, but i recently got new fish and have been having cycle problems and i want to know if i have an emergency in the future before i have a chance to buy some aquarium salt if sea salt is harmful.


Thanks, sorry for the dumb questions.
P.

 

[WaterPond]

not dumb questions at all!

I have never heard the garlic thing, but that would be neat if it were true,

I don't think sea salt should be used in a FW aquarium, i think you would be better off just getting some aquarium salt. I think the sea salt you buy at the stores may have additives, and is not fully natural. Aquarium salt isnt that expensive anyway, here, sea salt is more expensive than FW aquarium salt.

 

[An t-iasg]

Garlic is used to fortify foods for saltwater fish. It boosts their immune systems and entices them to eat. I have not heard of anyone using garlic in freshwater fish food. I don't know if it would have the same effect of boosting the immune system in freshwater fish.

I would also recommend aquarium salt over sea salt for aquarium use. It's cheap and it lasts a while. I have some that I bought almost 4 years ago and it still seems fine. It has not clumped up. I also have not used it for 3 years but if I need it, it still seems good.

 

[joannde]

Hm, Garlic is supposed to be good for human's also so I see "a trend". Do you have any links to the articles you read ?

On the salt, be careful with its use - some fish can't tolerate much salt and if you ever have snails you need to keep the salt content below that for treating ick and add the salt over a few days to give them time to acclimate. If you ever get ich you can simply treat with heat (w/out salt). In the Articles section of AA there is a very good article on ich and how to treat it.

I'm on my third battle with ich, so I know the heat works. Unforunately I seem to get ich every time I get new fish.