Does the garlic use in fish tanks have any benefits? In this article, we seek to demystify this issue!
What is the benefit of using garlic in the fish tank?
Garlic has been used in fish tanks for a long time, but its effectiveness is still a hot topic among aquarists. It can serve as an effective stimulant when it comes to fish appetite. However, its real benefits are still a mystery.
As already mentioned, garlic is a great appetite booster, that is, it can be used in the food to feed newly acquired fish. For this purpose, any form can be used. In addition, freshly pressed garlic and liquid garlic products created especially for use in fish tanks can be very effective.
See Also:
Several hobbyists consider garlic to boost the immune system and compare it to vitamin C in humans. However, factual data has never been produced to support this idea.
The most powerful component of garlic is a chemical it contains called allicin. Overall, allicin is a chemical substance released by garlic that has the power to actively kill parasites in fish. In addition, some scientific studies have shown that allicin kills parasites, including Ich (White Spot Disease).
See Also:
Many people use garlic to kill parasites in their fish tanks, and even report a significant decrease in the frequency of any health problems in animals, when they use it in the fish’s diet over a long period of time.
Some studies have even shown that allicin can actively kill some fungi, bacteria and even viruses. This shows that it has the potential to kill a wide variety of pathogens.
How To Use Garlic In The Fish Tanks?
How garlic is used is very important. Furthermore, many foods already contain garlic in their composition, however, they may not have a significant effect on parasites. The most effective way is to press the garlic. The juice generated by the press can be used, for example, to bathe a pellet food.
See Also:
Basically, some aquarists even tend to leave small garlic pieces inside food jars, so that it can absorb its “miraculous” substances, however, we do not recommend doing this in cases of flake food, since for obvious reasons, it will practically go away. dissolve.
In addition, another option is to place a garlic clove in the aquarium water (we tested here 1 small clove for 5 gallon). The release of allicin may be fundamental in helping fish that are having trouble feeding, as feeding problems can cause the emergence of various diseases in fish.
References
Ankri, S., and D. Mirelman. 2001. “Antimicrobial properties of allicin from garlic.” Microbes and Infection, 1(2):125-129.
Coppi, A., et al. 2006. “Antimalarial Activity of Allicin, a Biologically Active Compound from Garlic Cloves.” Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 50:1731-1737.
D.L.N., 1998. “Allicin, one of the active principles of garlic, inhibits the growth of protozoan parasites.” Chemtech, 4:45.
Holden, C. 1997. “Fighting Parasites With Garlic.” Science, 278(5338):581.
Soko, C. K., and D.E. Barker. 2004. “Efficacy of crushed garlic and lemon juice as bio-product treatments for Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (‘ich’) infections among juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus.” Aquaculture Associaton of Canada Special Publication, 9:108-110.
5 Comments
How much garlic do you put in the tank with fish
Hi Charlotte, how are you?
You can put 1 or 2 garlic clove on 100 liters (20 gallon). Just remember to remove the garlic after 1 or 2 days.
I would have thought the acidity in garlic might hurt fish? I’m willing to use garlic if it’s safe and benefits them though… any instructions of how long to leave a clove in a fish tank? I got a 20 gallon tank so I was gonna use 4 cloves split into the 4 corners…. should the cloves be slightly cut to leech better into the water??? Any advice is appreciated!
How much garlic can we give to a fish with white spots?
Hi Shahzeb Khan,
You can use one garlic clove for this. Also increase a little bit the fish tank temperature!