Using garlic

[Shai]

I'm trying to feed my fish some anti-parasitic medicated food, without a lot of success. I'd like to try soaking the food in garlic to see if they'll be more interested. I realize this may not work.

I searched on the board and came across this thread which talks about the benefits of garlic, so I also want to incorporate it into my fish's diet outside of the medicated food. The flakes and other foods I have on hand don't include garlic as an ingredient, and I won't be buying more food until my current supply has run out.

I am aware of products like Seachem's Garlic Guard and Kent Garlic Xtreme, but I'd like to save myself some money by going to the grocery store, buying garlic (ideally, powdered) and making my own garlic solution to soak the food in.

My search on the board didn't turn up any methods of how to do this, ie, how much garlic to use, how long to soak, etc. Is powder a good option? It seemed like some people used actual cloves, but I don't know how that would work in my case. Plus, I'd rather have powdered on hand because I can also cook with it (I don't care for hunks of garlic in my food). : )

Tips appreciated!

Edited August 19, 2007 by Shai

[Stacey]

I've made my fish guacomole, (minced garlic with mashed avacodo.) Not in an attempt to medicate, just to see if my pleco would eat it. He does, but it's hard to get it to him, as my oscar goes nuts for it! I freeze it, let the smaller chunks float for the oscar, and wedge a bigger chunk into a vegetable for the pleco. (It has to be a big chunk, the oscar picks at that too.)

I think next time I'll try freezing a chunk onto the pleco's feeding spoon.

[Vallisneria]

Would powdered garlic have the same benefits as fresh?

I think crushing up fresh cloves and mixing it with a frozen food might work. Or crushing it up and using the juice to soak some pellets in.

I use NLS thera A with good success. I feed it to new fish while they are in the Q tnak to make sure they are healthy.

[Fresh fish]

http://article.dphnet.com/cat-02/carlic-1.shtml just some info on garlic.FF

[RD.]

There is no need to use fresh raw garlic, and I find it interesting that every time that some so called expert claims that this is necessary, they can't back their comments up with anything more than their own personal thoughts on this subject. If you read the link that Shai posted in her original comment, the evidence gleaned from that study clearly proves that garlic powder, when used at an inclusion rate of 3% in a fish food, can have very positive results on the fish, as well as the tank water itself.

Having said that, if one is looking to pre-soak their current food in a garlic mix, it might be easier to use a crushed clove paste, mixed with tank water. I'm guessing that the anti-parasitic medicated food being used is by Jungle, which unfortunately many fish find quite unpalatable. Another option would be to pre-soak the food in something that your fish are already accustomed to, such as shrimp/fish juice/fluids, etc.

HTH

[Shai]

There is no need to use fresh raw garlic, and I find it interesting that every time that some so called expert claims that this is necessary, they can't back their comments up with anything more than their own personal thoughts on this subject. If you read the link that Shai posted in her original comment, the evidence gleaned from that study clearly proves that garlic powder, when used at an inclusion rate of 3% in a fish food, can have very positive results on the fish, as well as the tank water itself.

Three percent of what though? Forgive me, I didn't read the study thoroughly. Is it a measure of fish body weight, fish size, amount of food...?

I'm guessing that the anti-parasitic medicated food being used is by Jungle

The food was Aquascape Designs EcoRx, actually. Some of the fish pecked at it, but none actually fully ate it. I tried with some garlic but suspect I didn't use enough.

[RD.]

garlic powder, when used at an inclusion rate of 3% in a fish food