Garlic seems to have cured black spots on Yellow Tang

[lisajulia]

Just wanted to offer my 2 cents regarding garlic and black ich.
I was a bad girl, and did not qt the new yellow tang I bought.
No sooner did it go in the display tank that I noticed 'pepper' looking spots..not a ton of them..but enough to notice.
This was last Sunday. As of today, as far as I can tell, there are no more black dots. I took the oil/juice from the jar of crushed garlic we keep in the fridge. I took regular flake food as well as the tang nori and soaked it in the garlic juice....and I have been doing 3 times a day feedings to help build the tang's immunity, and I think (knock wood) it worked. I will continue to do so for at least the next month with the garlic.
So far the nitrates haven't gone up with the extra feedings, but the skimmer *has* been spewing more gunk.

The garlic was sort of 'last resort' as there was NO way I could catch the tang and do a freshwater or formalyn dip.

Hope this helps someone else...it's my opinion, that a tang who will eat like a little pig with garlic spiked food can beat just about anything.

 

[White Tiger]

Even if ick vanishes, it doesn't mean that the ick is gone. Ick sometimes infects fish without showing any symptoms.

========ALSO========
If your tang starts to breathe rapidly, it could mean that the ick has gotten in the tang's gills.

 

[lisajulia]

It is my understanding that black ich is far less severe than the typical 'white ich'. If there are any negative changes, I will tear down the tank and dip him.
Thanks for the head's up!

 

[leebca]

Black Ich and Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) are obviously two different disease parasites.

There are a couple of threads going on about garlic.

I like that you wrote "Garlic seems. . ." That is sometimes all that can be said about garlic.

If you want more info about garlic:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=541977

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=546776

Steven Proââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s Article:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/sp/index.php

Remember that you can't actually see the organism that causes the Black Ich condition. You only see the black spot which is the hemorrhaging that is caused by the organism. Thus, not is seeing the black spots doesn't mean the organism is gone. I would recommend to prepare to do the proper treatment, just in case:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/blackich.html

 

[lisajulia]

Thanks..I had bookmarked the petsforum article...and did try to catch the tang...I want to again state that it was a VERY bad more to NOT qt the tang first, and garlic was the last resort to at least try and help improve the quality of life for the fish..at least for now. I also want to add that it is possible that my cleaner shrimp have been helping out...though I have not seen it with my own eyes to confirm.
As for garlic..or any other anecdotal protocol, all 'medical cures' started out as theories to be tested...clinical trials are constantly being conducted to prove or disprove what works and what doesn't. Garlic has been studied and used by humans to help the immune system, and often times it's logical to conclude it could also help other species...it's all trial and error, and a risk I was willing to take.
I would like to add that I have never had 'black ich' before this, and my sw tank has been up for over 3 years now. This is the only tang I have...the other fish are a domino damsel, a blue devil damsel, a yellow watchman goby and a coral beauty.

 

[leebca]

Can't do much about not doing the QT now. I have no problem with that fact. That's why I didn't mention that aspect in my post. Helping the fish is my maiin concern.

What you write is almost true, lisajulia. Medical theories are what we test. But the "we" is not aquarists. Much of what we know comes from research done for aquaculture, and/or research done by professionals in the aquarium field. That work is not anecdotal or theoretical. It is not logical for us to conclude anything when information has actually been gathered and shown. What you've listed as a logical conclusion has been tested.

About garlic, we have studied it long enough to know:
1) It does NOT improve fish immunity, like it does in humans;
2) It does NOT always stimulate appetite, and
3) It is a weak anti-microbial chemical.

If any of the above were not true, garlic, garlic juice, and/or allicin would be extensively used in the aquaculture field. Thus, the risk in my opinion was taken by your fish, not you.

But, like you wrote, it is still being studied, but not with much money being supplied because the aquaculture industry has pretty much given up on it from what already has been learned about it. We've moved on from the theories of what garlic does and doesn't do in marine animals.

BUT, consider ginger. Some aquarist swear by it. No studies have been done, as far as I know. That's a theory (if you think hobbyists are capable of proposing a theory). Have you put ginger in your aquarium/fish foods? Think of all the good ginger does for humans.

Live long and prosper!

 

[lisajulia]

Update...been awhile since i have posted and i didn't get to see leebca's last post...i want to report that 'knock wood' that yellow tang, aka 'Sunshine' is still doing beautifully though that domino damsel still likes to be a bully. I will never know if the garlic helped or not...but i am just glad Sunshine is still with us.