Ginger works with ich... Every time I use it

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I am always reluctant to try human recipes on fish unless I can find information in the marine biology literature where cases have been tested.

I do actually do ginger snaps but I do not know if they work. I think that they work, but who really knows. Sort of like how you test PO4

This is a valid point, but I would go a bit farther:

Ginger is purported (and likely does work for some people) in humans is for nausea and "digestive health" (whatever that means). When people say that it "works for parasites in humans," what they mean is ginger may have a positive effect on some vague notion of digestive health, which might help the body digest and expel intestinal parasites (benzimidazoles and other proven pharmaceuticals are a better bet). None of these things are relevant to ich.

Folk medicine is a great place to start looking for pharmaceuticals, and has yielded large dividends in the past. This does not mean that because something is/was used in folk medicine that it actually has medicinal value for anything, either in humans or in fish :)
 
Now you tell me. Back in the '80's when I went to Hispanola, I was popping quinine pills to avoid Malaria. I would have preferred the Ginger Snaps :)

I used to do a lot of travel to Papua New Guinea and for the first couple of years I would go on a Larium regime. The downside to this is there are some resistant strains of Malaria plus there is the incredible intense technicolor dreams when doing the weekly dose. Then I switched to doxycycline which has the downside of sun sensitivity.

I was funning around with the Ginger snaps thing (because of the post subject) although when I go on Lake Michigan on a smallish boat, I do not get sea sick nor do I get Malaria when I eat ginger snaps. My dry sense of humor needs more emoticons. :hmm6:
 
I think ich is always present in a tank. It's like cancer in the human body. Even if it's dormant, it's always a threat to a weakened immune system. I've been reefing for roughly 25 years. More than most on this forum. I've done it all and seen it all and will be the first to say stuff is snake oil. Garlic, salinity changes and fresh water dips have done 0 for me in the past. Straight up copper in another tank has worked about as affective as ginger for me. Since I'm not stripping a tank down copper is out. All the other stuff doesn't work for me. I would never base all the data that I've gone through over the years based on what people want me to believe. I was skeptical the first time I used it, now I'm not. Most of my fish are over 3 years old.
 
I think ich is always present in a tank. It's like cancer in the human body. Even if it's dormant, it's always a threat to a weakened immune system.

That's not a valid analogy. Cryptocaryon irritans (ich) is an organism that must be introduced to be present in a tank. It can be eliminated by proven methods (tank transfer, copper etc.) and prevented from entering the aquarium through a good quarantine practice. There's nothing magical about this organism, just a lot of misinformation surrounding its life cycle.

As far as cancer goes, that's a completely different topic altogether. Suffice it to say that cancer is not always present in the human body either, and has nothing to do with parasitic infections.

If you believe ginger works for you in the treatment of crypto, more power to you. Just don't expect others to follow suit without empirical evidence of its effectiveness.
 
The reason everyone reacts the way they do to homeopathic solutions such as ginger or garlic is that doing it is fine on your tank, but suggesting people do it instead of a proven method results in negative results for those who believe it to be true. Everyone should do whatever they feel best on their tank.
 
I initially thought that the title was a sarcastic indictment of the use of ginger as a cure for Ich. I thought the "every time I use it" part was intended to indicate that it didn't work. Sorry, but I can't get past that.
 
I think people just need to stop being so critical of everything that is new that people try. Ignorance and stubbornness hinder advancement
 
I think people just need to stop being so critical of everything that is new that people try. Ignorance and stubbornness hinder advancement

The problem is that those who use it and claim it works are actually being ignorant to the way in which ich works. The fact that it shows itself in the tank many months later process that it did not "cure" anything. If they had simply done nothing, the spots would have disappeared on their own and as long as there is little stress in the fish it could stay "gone" until the next stress event.
 


for the record there is alway a certain amount of ich in your water

No there isn't unless you put it there and don't deal with it. Anybody can have an ich tank if they really want one. Alternatively, anybody can have a disease free tank with a little precaution ,effort and patience.

lower it to levels where you fish can naturally handle it on the own via their immune system.

No evidence whatsoever to suggest ginger would lower levels of crytocaryon irritans anyway. The patterns of of fish symptoms presented by those few who use it are the same as ich tanks without it.

One parasite produces hundreds and then those hundreds each produce hundreds in a mtater of weeks.
I suggest you study the parasite before adding to the pile of misinformation . Feel free to share any experiences you may have had though.

Fish don't naturally handle it some that survive it develop partial immunity and get mild to severe reoccurences over long periods of time .

sharing their experience

Sharing anecdotal experience is a fine thing to do ; presenting assumptions and opinions as fact and urging others to replicate poor treatment methods warrants a challenge .
The carnage in the hobby from failing to address crytocaryon irritans effectively is unacceptable to me . I intend to do what I can to limit it. Since there are effective and relatively easy methods to treat and erradicate it ;many loses are unnecessary.
 
presenting assumptions and opinions as fact and urging others to replicate poor treatment methods warrants a challenge .

i think this is especially true when it comes to people just starting out in the hobby. they don't quarantine, end up with ich, and then search the internet for a "quick, easy" cure. it's sad to think so many people think they can run to the grocery store spice isle, pick up a bottle of ginger and **poof**, ich gone.

if it was that easy, we would have little need for a disease sub-forum.
 
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