Garlic Cure For White Spot & Other Methods Of Treatment

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toxic_vix

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Dec 27, 2006
Messages
4
its true garlic actually helps get rid of white spot. ive had white spot twice in the past, onces just recently and both times the garlic cured it.

I first tried real garlic. I crushed the garlic clove so It was like a mushed up juice and soaked thier flake in it - only downside to this is it makes the water smell really garlicy and can make the room smell of garlic for a few days.

Next I tried garlic casules that you get from healthfood stores or food stores (like asda) or even cheap local shops sell them like savers for about £1. you should get about 60 capsules. the capsule shells can be hard at first but if you leave the lid off the tube for a few days the shell of the capsule will sofen and make it easier to burst open. Burst open the capsule and mix the garlic jelly centre with either marine flake food or seeweed (seaveggies). I find using the seeweed easier becuase you can just rub the garlic into the strips of seeweed. Also when feeding try to turn the tank lights off straight after they have eaten all the food becuase they should go into rest mode and this way they are saving the energy from not swimming for fighting off the infection.

I kept feeding my fish like this for a while becuase if you stop the spots tend to come back, but once you have fed them on this for a good few weeks its should be ok, decrease it and see if it reappears, if so continue feeding with the garlic and seaweed. If it doesnt go away after a few months then something could be wrong with the water, buy an uv Sterlizer if you dont already have one and try increasing the temperature slightly to speed up the process of the whitespot ( they will fall off the fish in the water once its warmer and thats when they tend to mutate or whateva and then latch back onto other fish - thats when you have an outbreak) but by speeding this process up and allowing them to drop off they become free swimmers and should be passed through the uv steriler and destroyed. Vitamin supplements can often help as they help the immune system recover

other methods are a non copper treatment which means its safe for invertebrates such as corals shrimps crabs etc.

all i say is just look out for whitespot on other fish before buying them as you could be putting your other fish in danger, as i have learnt in the past

hope this info helps any of you guys who are stuck like i was, Id definately opt for the garlic and seaweed though becuase its the cheapest and most effective way of getting rid of the infection without putting harmful chemicals in the water or needing a hospital tank. plus the fish are getting added vitamins from the seaweed which helps them get better quicker.

anyone got any more tips?

feel free to add to this post
:lol: hope this helps
 
Garlic does not really cure anything. It boosts their immune system, so they can fight off infections/parasites better.
The best method to rid your tank would be QT all of your fish and treat them in the QT, using hyposalinity or copper. You should also leave your main tank fallow (fishless) for 8 weeks, so the ich starves.
 
I personally dont think that garlic gets rid of ick but I do believe that it raises the immune system so it makes it harder to get the parasite. I`m all for garlic but just have not seen no documentation to say so. I`m not discrediting any of your experience but all that I`ve seen in documentation is that it helps the immune system to be stronger. The parasite is more likely to attack a fish that has a weak system. But of course this is IMO. I`ve not had ick in 7 1/2 yrs now but my reccomendation has always been hyposalinity for marine ick. Seen it work so many times for others. But the best way to avoid ick all together is

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php

Here is more info on marine ick

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php
 
I agree, I believe we read the same article. The fish that were fed garlic were more immune to infection/parasites, but they could not prove that it helped to kill/cure it.
Ugh, that poor clownfish with the Cirolanid isopods always gives me the willies (from your 1st url)!
 
I agree that garlic does have some immunal benefits, but then again a varied diet along with providing a healthy environment would supress the need to overproduce such immunities and keep the animal "regular" in the first place. Personally I do not see the need to always feed garlic, but I do not dismiss the reasonaing behind it either :)
 
Great article. Bookmarked. I dont use garlic but your article answered alot of questions I had about it.
 
Aswesome Steven, that was the article I was talking about! Thanks for the assist!
 
You might as well bookmark anything you see Steven write, it's all invaluable information :)
 
reply

No it is not a cure it does boost the immune system as I believe they work together, but its a much safer way rather than using copper or if you havnt got a quarantine tank, the white spot dissapears off the surface of the fish quite quickly when I used it, allowing the fish's immune system to take over and fight off the infection. This tip I think is very useful to inexperienced people, hope some people benifited from my tips.

thnx for reading anyway
vix x
 
I've only had ich twice. Once three years ago and only a few weeks ago. Both times it was only the one fish that was introduced that had it. In the first case it died and no other fish contracted it. The second only a few weeks ago fought it off itself. In this case I just made sure the fish was well fed and the major water parameters were in check. I did lower salinity but apparently not enough. I also added triple sulphar but as most will argue this is not designed to kill parasites, so it was really only to help stop secondary infections.

I've never used garlic and try to ensure a stress free well nourished fish.
 
I was told by my LFS garlic just boosts the imune system of the fish not cure ich. But he did say when you come to do another water change do a bigger one and reduce the salinity alittle as the parsites dont do as well in low salt water.There salinity in there tanks are at 1.015 he said this way the fish has a better chance of fighting it off. He told me not to use any treatments as this will kill everything in you tank from bacterer to invertabrates.
I said what about containing the fish he said not to bother as this just stresses the fish even more.He said your just better off leaving him alone feed him well and keep an eye on him he said in time the fish will fight it off him self,and i have to say he is right as my yellow tang is looking alot better already.
Im giving him Nori,frozen brineshimp with garlic and a few flakes everyday.
 
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