kris walker
Active Member
I tried garlic for 2 weeks to clear up a parasitic infection on a royal gramma. I don't know if it was ich, but it was dreaded nonetheless. I soaked a smashed garlic clove in about a 1/4 cup of tank water, then soaked my food (brine, tubiflex, fish, flake) in the solution for 5 minutes, then fed to fish. I did not add solution to tank.
The garlic-soaked food seemed to have an impact for the first 12 hours, but the scratching and spots started coming back. Feeling like an idiot because everyone else on this board seems to have had success with garlic, I decided to try an "unnatural" medication: "greenex". I tried this last week, 3 treatments per 5 days as directed.
After the first 24 hours of the 1st greenex treatment, all the parasites were gone and the fish was not scratching at all. But, 12 hours later the parasites came back, and scratching ensued. The remaining 2 treatments did nothing significant in the long term. The fish still had parasites, and it was scratching worse than ever after the 3rd treatment.
Two days ago, I tried doubling the strength of another greenex treatment. After this treatment, my Xenia closed up and expunged most of the water from its tissue. It does not look good for the Xenia.
As for the fish, it has not been coming out of its hiding place, but it is still alive. I don't know yet the impact of this double-strength treatment. Oh, and the second double-strength treatment stained my silicone seals blue.
I have come to hate fish in reef tanks. I will never have them again unless I take out 75% of the lr, removing 99% of the hiding places.
Some additional comments:
1. Feeding garlic to dogs helps keep fleas and ticks off them presumably because something in the ingested garlic is dispersed into the skin of the dog, and the fleas/ticks hate it. I think the fish parasites has a similar aversion to the tissue of garlic-eating fish. I don't think the garlic actually improves the fishes immune system. But in any case, it is probably pertinent that garlic be ingested by fish rather than putting garlic solution directly in the tank. Putting it in the tank would be wasteful, as a weaker concentration of it would actually diffuse into the skin. But since I have had no luck with garlic, I cannot evaluate this statement.
2. Hobbiests that try methods to rid a fish of parastites may be fooled into thinking their solution is working. Before I even tried any solutions, my gramma would get some spots during the day, then 12 hours later, after a lot of scratching, they would be all gone, and he would look better. My point is that some fish have the "smarts" (or "instincts" for you biologists) and the physical ability to naturally fight off some parasitic infections. Since most hobbiest try to treat parasitic infections immediatly, evaluating natural abilities to fight off the infection is difficult.
sam
The garlic-soaked food seemed to have an impact for the first 12 hours, but the scratching and spots started coming back. Feeling like an idiot because everyone else on this board seems to have had success with garlic, I decided to try an "unnatural" medication: "greenex". I tried this last week, 3 treatments per 5 days as directed.
After the first 24 hours of the 1st greenex treatment, all the parasites were gone and the fish was not scratching at all. But, 12 hours later the parasites came back, and scratching ensued. The remaining 2 treatments did nothing significant in the long term. The fish still had parasites, and it was scratching worse than ever after the 3rd treatment.
Two days ago, I tried doubling the strength of another greenex treatment. After this treatment, my Xenia closed up and expunged most of the water from its tissue. It does not look good for the Xenia.
As for the fish, it has not been coming out of its hiding place, but it is still alive. I don't know yet the impact of this double-strength treatment. Oh, and the second double-strength treatment stained my silicone seals blue.I have come to hate fish in reef tanks. I will never have them again unless I take out 75% of the lr, removing 99% of the hiding places.
Some additional comments:
1. Feeding garlic to dogs helps keep fleas and ticks off them presumably because something in the ingested garlic is dispersed into the skin of the dog, and the fleas/ticks hate it. I think the fish parasites has a similar aversion to the tissue of garlic-eating fish. I don't think the garlic actually improves the fishes immune system. But in any case, it is probably pertinent that garlic be ingested by fish rather than putting garlic solution directly in the tank. Putting it in the tank would be wasteful, as a weaker concentration of it would actually diffuse into the skin. But since I have had no luck with garlic, I cannot evaluate this statement.
2. Hobbiests that try methods to rid a fish of parastites may be fooled into thinking their solution is working. Before I even tried any solutions, my gramma would get some spots during the day, then 12 hours later, after a lot of scratching, they would be all gone, and he would look better. My point is that some fish have the "smarts" (or "instincts" for you biologists)
and the physical ability to naturally fight off some parasitic infections. Since most hobbiest try to treat parasitic infections immediatly, evaluating natural abilities to fight off the infection is difficult.sam