# Other Aquarium Forums > Fish Care, Nutrition and Water Management >  Garlic treatment for white spot

## Simon

I read that garlic is used for treating white spot in marine tanks, can it be used for FW tanks?

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## benetay

sounds new to me..so anyone knows or tried it before care to share past experience??

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## A. Moae

Yup! Literature on this has been discussed. Garlic extract has been used extensively in medical research to treat diseases. I know some aquarists use garlic puree mixed with fish food, to treat fish infected with internal parasites. Results were quite positive. :Smile:  Can try.

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## benetay

ok so smash up the garlic and mix it wif the food then give them eat? so i should soak BW in garlic puree =)

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## kelstorm

just pound the garlic.. to extract the juices.. then dump your BW inside to soak up the extract for abt 5-10 minutes.. or wait for the BW to defroze.. then feed the fish.. it should clear the white spots.. at least it did solve the problem for marine fishes..[ :Grin: ]

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## Simon

so no one have tested it in a freshwater scenio?

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## benetay

Simon, Don't worry kekekeke....one day my recipe will have garlic in it =)

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## DEA

> ----------------
> On 2/20/2002 12:14:19 AM 
> 
> Simon, Don't worry kekekeke....one day my recipe will have garlic in it =)
> ----------------


which basically means no right?  :Mad:  *kabish*
it sounds quite amazing, frankly
but if it works, it could be quite revolutionary
i think garlic would treat a lot more than simply external parasites IF it does
a. moae, can you point me to any literature regarding this?
would like to take a look

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## LeAnne

how is it done? i can try provided i go buy a white spotted fishy 
[ :Grin: ]

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## DEA

i dunno
but from my web searches it seems it does humans wonders
it's antihelminthic for us
sounds as though it could work for fish too

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## LeAnne

hmmm.. interesting.. maybe i give it a try.. i so free :


> ----------------
> On 2/19/2002 9:34:42 PM 
> 
> just pound the garlic.. to extract the juices.. then dump your BW inside to soak up the extract for abt 5-10 minutes.. or wait for the BW to defroze.. then feed the fish.. it should clear the white spots.. at least it did solve the problem for marine fishes..[] 
> ----------------

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## benetay

DEA i will try provided if i get white spots for my fishes which i don't seem to get for a long time...=) 

anyway i've tried to make up new recipe for my apisto fry =)

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## Simon

hahhaaa..ben, dun end up killing them (touchwood)

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## benetay

if they die...i also can't blame it on garlic but i'm very eagar to know where did A.moae found his article..

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## DEA

> ----------------
> On 2/20/2002 1:05:50 AM 
> 
> DEA i will try provided if i get white spots for my fishes which i don't seem to get for a long time...=) 
> 
> anyway i've tried to make up new recipe for my apisto fry =)
> ----------------


why, you think white spot is seasonal? [ :Grin: ]
if you've treated for white spot once successfully, it shouldn't come back at all

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## LeAnne

^.- can u be 100 % sure?




> ----------------
> On 2/20/2002 1:13:18 AM 
> why, you think white spot is seasonal? []
> if you've treated for white spot once successfully, it shouldn't come back at all
> ----------------

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## DEA

> ----------------
> On 2/20/2002 1:16:33 AM 
> 
> ^.- can u be 100 % sure?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


why not? once the life cycle breaks, it breaks
if you don't reintroduce the pathogen to your tank, it won't pop out again

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## kelstorm

chances are.. if u do get it.. usually it will be the new fishes that gets it.. and it is from the existing tank itself.. coz the original inhabitants are already sort of immune to it.. that is what i think it is.. i might be wrong..

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## DEA

> ----------------
> On 2/20/2002 1:39:53 AM 
> 
> chances are.. if u do get it.. usually it will be the new fishes that gets it.. and it is from the existing tank itself.. coz the original inhabitants are already sort of immune to it.. that is what i think it is.. i might be wrong..
> ----------------


sort of immune is . . . not entirely correct
if you have managed to wipe it out, only the new fish will have it
if not, the parasite present in endemic levels on the OLD fish will migrate and attack the NEW fish, which are stressed from capture and acclimatisation to a new tank, leading to a lowered immune reaction from them
however, given enough time, the white spot will increase in such numbers that even the older fish will get it

something else just struck me about the garlic
instead of killing ich, it could simply boost the strength of the fish such that they can control the ich on their skin
thus the ich isn't visibly an infection, but lingers in low numbers
in which case a med which would break the lifecycle would be more effective
either way, i think it would be good as a supplement

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## kelstorm

errr.. at least i'm 20% correct.. hahaha..[ :Grin: ]...

hmmm.. seems that garlic is not only good against vampires and cancer-preventing, it is also good against ich..err.. for fishes that is.. human dun get ich.. humans get itches.. hahaha.. the 't' in the ich stands for tantamount.. hahaha

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## clothahump

Hello and say welcome to someone who has used Garlic for about three years, ME.
I have used Garlic for most ailments of fish in the past.
I now use it mainly as a Preventative.
I use very finely ground Garlic powder, 5ml to 50Gms of flake food, shake to mix and let it stand for two days, I then feed this twice a week.
I have also used it to worm Discus by placing small pieces in a small lump of beefheart, I have even used garlic oil straight into the aquarium to treat velvet, whitespot etc.
It is great at getting rid of parasites, internal problems etc.

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## coryfav

clothahump, great to hear from you!
at last, someone who's tried garlic on freshwater tanks!
this "garlic treatment for fish" is really fantastic!
 :Wink:

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## akoh

BUT ! I've to warn u guys ! ur fishes are gonna give out gas ! stinkooo ! man ! Keeekeeekeeek ![ :Grin: ] 

Akoh 
Safe Diving !

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## rain

> ----------------
> On 2/20/2002 4:08:16 AM 
> 
> I have even used garlic oil straight into the aquarium to treat velvet, whitespot etc.
> It is great at getting rid of parasites, internal problems etc.
> ----------------


hi there, can u advise me how much of the garlic oil i must use per gallon??? i have a fish with white spot now and its in a 60 gallon tank. 

secondly ALL ur fish accept the garlic-enhanced BW??? or do they need some time to get used to the taste??

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## clothahump

I would start off gently by using 1ml per gallon, keep a close eye on the fish as some do have a reaction to garlic the same as humans.
I have found that most fish will accept the food, some take longer than others to get used to it, if they do not eat it the garlic still gets into the water.

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## A. Moae

Hi Clothahump! Thanks for the input.  :Wink:  Oh pertaining to DEA's question on the literature. If you're refering to the fish part ( Not the medical research lit I assume ), read this from Tropical Fish Hobbyist mag. Sorry I couldn't recall which issue though. There you have it guys, it's good to hear Clothahump has tried this and gotten good results. Well, sometimes traditional herbs can be a wonder cure compared to conventional medicine. Science...well, it's better not to believe it 100%, sometimes. Just my 2 cts worth.[ :Grin: ] 

========================================================

Just my personal opinion, in general. I really think there is no harm to try, observe and comment. It might turn out good, or bad. Both ways, we learn thru' trial and error. Isn't that what the hobby is all about? For those who travel frequently, most of us are aware that many hobbyists in Japan, U.S, Taiwan &amp; even Hong Kong are ahead of us, in terms of variety of fishes, plants &amp; knowledge in this hobby. Sometimes, ridiculous theories could bring about revolutionary changes. Afterall, nobody accepted the fact that the Earth was round initially. Jus my 2 cts worth.  :Wink:

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## kelstorm

rain.. starve them a few days and u will take it even if it comes with garlic-flavoured... hahaha

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## foxemty

will throwing chopped garlic into the water do good to the fishes in any sense?

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## clothahump

Garlic in its natural form is a bit hard to measure, go with the food idea.

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## kelstorm

it dun work that way...

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## clothahump

Took a while but I found the quote.
While Garlic has only 1% of the impact of Pennecillin it is never the less more effective with Gram Negative bacteria than is Pennecillin.
Herbal Medecine By Dian Dincin Buchman.

They used to use Garlic for dressing wounds during WW1.
The British Government bought it by the ton as did the Russians.

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## lsz

kel you said soak the BW in garlic juice and feed the BW to your fish and it cures white spots...

but i have a query....white spots are due to external protozoan parasite....what has it got to do with what the fish eat?

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## clothahump

I use the Garlic Powder mixed with food to boost the immune system and as a general tonic, it will also work its way through the system disposing of parasites.
My Corydoras Kronei had red patches where the fins meet the body, I started them on the Garlic food and there is now no trace of red.
A small amount of Oil used in a hospital tank will indeed help to get rid of white spot but be careful about how much you use.
I used it recently to cure a large abscess on one of my cats paws, crushed raw garlic applied to the abscess, within 4 hours it had broken and within 6 hours was looking totally clean and no visible swelling.
All in all I think the best thing is to use it as a preventative in food.

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## kelstorm

actually, LSZ, i dun really work how the thing work...but it did work... guess the reason can be seen in clothahump's post..

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## lsz

yeah thanks cloth thanks kel

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## Gunjack

The article in TFH about garlic...

http://home.earthlink.net/~grenier2/discus.htm

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## LeAnne

hi.. just wondering.. does the garlic helps in neon disease also?
thanks..

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## bEn88

i have try the garlic treatment for my FW fish n i think it work very well 4 mi .......the white spot now gone already ...thanks 4 the wonderful information  :Smile:

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## eprouve

Clothahump,

Is this garlic powder from the supermarket? If not, where do you but it?

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## DEA

i just thought of something else
allicin in garlic breaks down to a number of other compounds which are believed to be responsible for garlic's disease fighting properties
in that case, simply adding the crushed cloves should work, no?

eprouve
clothahump is from the uk

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## DEA

hey
do you guys realise seachem is making a garlic additive? called garlicguard

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## eprouve

Yeah. Heard from Ben (Petmart) that its the cheaper of the two brands... Seachem is $13 while the other one is $23 or something. I wonder if its worth the money in exchange for convenience.

By the way, I followed someone's advice to use Sera Costapur for white spot treatment. Very effective! All white spots dissappeared in 5 days flat. Hope it continues...

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## Allen_1971

I'm not sure any of you read this before, but its an interesting read on using garlic to treat marine white spot (cryptocaryon irritans) which incidentally is different from freshwater white spot (Ichthyophthinus multifilis)... 

click here

This of course brings us back to the question... has anyone used garlic successfully on Freshwater whitespot?

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## Vican

There's a thread in arofanatics about this guy's aro with no appetite. He put some commercial garlic solution for aquarium into the tank and his aro got its appetite back in 5 minutes.

But this is one solitary case, not too sure if it always works

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## Allen_1971

probably didn't like the bland food  :Wink:   :Razz:

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## tawauboy

> ----------------
> This of course brings us back to the question... has anyone used garlic successfully on Freshwater whitespot?
> ----------------


check the last post of 1st page of this thread.
Clothahump used garlic treatment for some diseases, in freshwater.

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## Vican

Someone mentioned that garlic is effective on gram negative bacteria. Does this mean that it will knock out blue-green algae if dosed into the tank???!!!

There's another brand sold in the US that is applied into the tank instead of food

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## Allen_1971

Interesting thought! Anyone with BGA care to give it a shot?

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## Blue Whale

Ooo..stumble interesting old threads, make it alive! I use garlics to keep my chinese flute dry and away from insects. Heard people use it for stomache but never thought that is has so many usable properties for this.  :Angel:  

 :Smile:  gonna try extracting the juice and inject into the water to see whats the effect like. Got a 2 ft one under treatment anyway.

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## bwilly

Some of my marine fishes got white spots.
Seem like this garlic works wonder.

I now wonder I have to go market n buy garlic or
they got sell powder form?
Should I visit GNC to get those caplets one, open
it n mix with my fish food. hehe..

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