garlic

[kev1964]

i know this might sound daft/stupid but does garlic harm invertebrates/corals
i know it removes the ich from the fish but does it kill the free swimming 1s if added to the water or is this not a safe practice. i do have a uv light but it is no connected at the mo i soak the veg for my tangs/angels and put it in my brine shrimp for others

 

[Crown Royal]

First off, garlic does absolutely nothing to the cryptocaryon (ich) parasite. Garlic is simply an appetite stimulant for fish. It's like marijuana of them: gives 'em the munchies.

As a result, a fish that's eating has a much greater chance of fighting off a parasite (or at least being less symptomatic) than one that's not. Hence you see an apparent "curing" of ich by garlic.

A few drops of garlic or soaking food in garlic should have no effect on inverts. It's oilyness will make your skimmer go nuts for a few hours but that should be about it. Obsiously if you start pouring cups of the stuff in you're going to have your own mini Exxon-Valdez disaster.

 

[kev1964]

ok i was miss led but what would you suggest as i would like to cure without chems if i can. the fish that has it butterfly not sure what type he has yelloy body white face with black stripe going down his face

 

[Crown Royal]

Sounds like a long-nosed butterfly fish.

The only scientifically proven way to actually KILL crypotcaryon in all it's forms "without chems" is hyposalinity or slowly lower the specific gravity or the tank water until is reaches around 1.009 - 1.012. That's a LONG way down from the normal range of 1.023 - 1.026 so it must be done in a controlled enviroment such as a hospital tank and must be done with an accurate measure like a refractometer. It also must be done SLOWLY lowering the SG by no more than about 0.002/day. You must keep it at the lowered level for several weeks to kill all the parasites. You cannot have any invertebrates at this level because they'll all be dead.

A freshwater dip will not kill the parasites that are deeply embedded within the fish's scales/gills or the ones that are in the substrate. The same goes for using cleaner shrimp.

A UV sterilizer will only kill free swimming parasites leaving the ones in your substrate and the fish. A UV will also only work if strong enough with a long enough dwell time.

Many people report anecdotal "success" stories of using any one or a combination of garlic/FW dips/UV/cleaners. but what is most likely occuring is that only the white spots have disappeared and the parasite still exists in the substrate/gills/free swimming waiting for a shock to the system/fish to reappear.

The only other scientifically proven method of eradication is copper (which I've used successfully).

 

[kev1964]

thankyou for your help the butterfly is a kleins i had a look on the net the fish is in my main tank i will have to remove to hospital tank but is there still a possabillity it will return as it is in the main tank i cant use copper in that cos of inverts and corals i was looking on net and the is a treatment called rx-p which is meant to be coral and invert friendly have you heard of this treament or know any 1 that as used it with success just incase it is in my substrate

 

[Gealcath]

The other scientifically proven methode is interupt the parasites life cycle, without a host it will die off. This is done by moving all fish into a hostpital aquarium and treating the infected fish with copper when they are in the hospital tank. Then let the infected aquarium run without any fish in it for 3-4 weeks. After this time any exhisting Ich should have died off without a host (it needs a host fish to complete its life cycle, without it it cant reproduce or eat so it dies)


This method is the best one to use, because it kills the Ich in your aquarium without needing to use copper which will kill most of your other inverts you want to keep.

 

[Pineapple]

Hypo doesn’t kill Ich it interrupts the cycle because of the environment change, stated above. When salinity is raised it will start again, this is why you do many water changes, wash your hands before fiddling with the main system, so on. 1.009 is used for this interruption. Copper in the other hand fools the C.irritans into coming out of the cyst killing them but you can’t create bacteria so everyday water changes are needed to keep ammonia down and constant monitoring of copper.

Garlic may give your fish after so many months or years of use intestinal problems but it hasn’t been documented on what harm it can do.

What crown royal said is true. I only use garlic to stimulate a new fish to consume foods I offer. After this I don’t use it. The more a fish consumes proper foods, especially constant grazers, the better the immune system. Any “reef safe” medication is a waste of money. If your inverts live through it, you get the idea.

 

[kev1964]

Thanks for your feedback it has been very helpful and i do thankyou for your input.when i lower the SG will shrimps and stars and snails i have 2 cleaners 1 fire and 1 dancing 1 red star and 1 brittle star be ok.im going to move corals and inverts to hospital tank and lower SG in main tank this way if i have ich in hospital tank because of no fish they should die true?well i hope it cures both tanks in case of cross infection
cheers
kev