# does garlic guard really help keep fish healthy?



## yu264616

Hi everyone!

I was at a fish store today and one of the pretty knowledgeable reps there suggested garlic guard to help stave off disease and keep my fish in good health. 

The label just says it helps attract fish to their food if they wont eat, but the web site says it includes an ingredient to boost the health of the fish, and that it also has vitamin C which helps the immune system...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12022&inm=1&N=2004+22763+2035

Has anyone used this product, and do you know if it works to improve the health of fish, or make them less suseptible to disease due to better immune systems?

Thanks!


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## malawi4me2

I'm not sure if this is true, but I've heard that because some parasites locate a host by sent, using Garlic Guard will decrease the chance of a parasite locating a fish host. Also, it is supposed to help entice picky eaters to accept prepared foods. 
Garlic is known to be healthy for many species of animals, and can help boost their immune system in certain doses, but because it is related to onions, it is possible that it contains the same enzymes that onions do that can cause annemia in warm-blooded animals, in higher doses. I don't know how this info would relate to the health of fish (I don't have any experience with the product you're talking about), but maybe someone else can provide more info regarding that...


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## maxpayne_lhp

The vitamins that your fish take from manufactured food is TOO enough. Actually, the vitamins that are released into water will have good effects to fish or not, I'm not sure. It can even encourage unwanted bactrial growth.
Well, I've read somewhere that vitamin C will improve the fish when they get stess. Fish basically need two vitamins:A and E as well!
Hope that helps, correct if I'm wrong :-D


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## TheOldSalt

Garlic really does work wonders. That's why products like Garlic Guard even exist; we've been using garlic for a few years the hard way already.
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Garlic is an immunobooster in mammals, but it's not yet proven to work as such in fish. My bet is that it does.
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As for an appetite stimulant, it doesn't do it by itself. Instead, it only clears up the problems which were supressing the appetite in the first place.
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Garlic is very good for flushing the alimentary canal clean of many types of worms and other undesirables, but it isn't a cureall. Some intestinal parasites will require the use of real medicine to remove.
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As for ick, garlic is great! It doesn't fool the parasites as suggested above, though. What it does is make the fish taste horrible to the parasites, which then drop off of the fish in search of more palatable hosts. Eventually they all starve to death, UNLESS too little garlic is used and the parasites can develop an acquired taste for garlic.

All in all, Garlic is NO SUBSTITUTE for proper quarantine protocol, but it works well enough for most applications. Do not use it all the time; only use it for a few weeks at a time after adding new fish to the tank.


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## Guest

Good article for insight on parasite treatment:      

The Use of Garlic Against Tapeworm in Discus
By Jack Wattley 
During a discus presentation in Chicago (and in New York) several years ago I mentioned garlic as a preventative agent against infestations of internal parasites in discus. At that time I was still working with it and suggested to the audience that they try different methods of application. None showed a great deal of interest in what I had to say, so I quickly knew I had to define exactly the method that would bring about the successful results. 

With the complete help of Terry Fairfield of Rockford, Illinois, garlic oil was obtained in a health food shop. The oil was squeezed from the capsule directly onto the food, ultimately in large quantities, and the discus ate the food - garlic and all. The next step was to obtain discus or scalares that harbored intestinal parasites. Many emaciated cichlids can generally be found at one place or another, and a number of these fish will be found to have intestinal parasites. I guarantee that!. The oil from one capsule was mixed into approximately 5 oz. of food. The fish - both scalares and discus - continued to eat it eagerly. Tests were made each day over a six - week period with a close examination of the fecal matter under a microscope. Capillaria was found at the beginning of the test period, and after six weeks the infected fish still harbored a number, although not as many as when the program began. At the same time we saw a gradual buildup of the garlic oil throughout the control tanks, which in time would certainly have caused a number of problems. 

How about fresh garlic squeezed directly onto the frozen food? The tests were started once more. However, we quickly found it was a much more difficult chore to open the garlic cloves and squeeze out the juice (which ended up being more like a puree) than to simply puncture a garlic capsule with a pin and squeeze the oil onto the food. Nevertheless, the extra work brought the results we were looking for. The fresh garlic permeated the internal tissue organs of the fish as we continued to feed the fish daily. What happens to the parasitic nematodes while this daily feeding program is taking place? No, the parasites are not killed on any contact with the garlic. We didn't know the exact mechanism by which the fresh garlic acts on the parasites, but we did find that the group of necropsied fish became slowly "clean" over a period of approximately five weeks. For the treatment to be effective the garlic must be included in the food each day at each feeding. 

The elimination of the nematodes was not only from the intestines, but also from the other internal organs as well. Being a food and not a medication, the successful elimination of the worms causes absolutely no harm to the fish, whereas in treating with a prescribed medication, many times problems do occur that can be harmful to the discus. 

About the article: These comments were printed in the May 1999 issue of TROPICAL FISH HOBBYIST magazine in the column “Ask Jack” and are reprinted with the permission of Mary Ellen Sweeney, editor of TFH.

This was copied from the old "Discus Study Group" site. HTH ~ Amy


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## (RC)

It should also be great for keeping your fish safe from Vampires. :mrgreen: 


RC


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## maxpayne_lhp

just keep your fish on a good, balance appetie, everything's okay!
G'luck!


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## madmatrixz3000

ok well I do know that garlic like others have said boots the immune system in humans and other animals.  But, I do not know if it does the same for all fish if any at all.


*I will look into this theory*


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## madmatrixz3000

Ok I "Googled" both "Vitamin C and immune system" & "Garlic and immune system" the first articles all agreed that garlic and vitamin C are immune boosters. So I think that you should make sure that garlic is not toxic or anything to _your_ fish. If it is not toxic use the product off of Drs. Foster & Smith, they have great prices and great products.


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