Is garlic bad for fish?

....wouldn't manufacturers be forced to not sell products with garlic if it is proved to be harmful to fish?

Hardly. Scientific evidence (or lack thereof) does not necessarily translate into laws, even for human consumption. And look at the supplement business segment for humans and/or animals. There is a large number of products that "boost the immune system". Try measuring that one either pro or con.
 
I think anything used in moderation is ok, unfortunately craft beer & vodka fall along that line too :(

Garlic is in the same family as the onion, this is where the thought of if you eat too much you will be anemic. Could you become anemic, sure but you would have to eat a few bulbs a day, not cloves. I used to give my dog garlic to help boost the immune system because she had terrible allergies, hard to say if it really helped as she would respond to treatment & then hit a plateau 6 weeks later. I give it to my horse to help with bugs in the summer & it helps to an extent but I don't know that there is anything out there that is a miracle cure.
 
I used garlic to get a picky fish to eat Nori, (this was around 2003 or 2004) it was working well and I decided to keep using it. One night I had been drinking and I went to feed them and I used way, way too much garlic, after putting it in the tank was all cloudy with the garlic, next morning I woke up to a bunch of dead fish. nearly my entire tank. niger trigger, pac blue tang, six-line wrasse...

so.. if you are going to soak food in garlic atleast be careful about how much you use :p

(I think I dumped the container i was soaking the food in garlic in into the tank, instead of pulling it out and letting it drip off first like i normally do).
 
I used garlic to get a picky fish to eat Nori, (this was around 2003 or 2004) it was working well and I decided to keep using it. One night I had been drinking and I went to feed them and I used way, way too much garlic, after putting it in the tank was all cloudy with the garlic, next morning I woke up to a bunch of dead fish. nearly my entire tank. niger trigger, pac blue tang, six-line wrasse...

so.. if you are going to soak food in garlic atleast be careful about how much you use :p

(I think I dumped the container i was soaking the food in garlic in into the tank, instead of pulling it out and letting it drip off first like i normally do).

But if you put too much of anything into your tank, fish will die. However the argument is that any amount of garlic is harmful to fish.....and this i find hard to take on board.
 
I use garlic to boost my whole tank with every new fish. I add something close to an ounce or two into the water. Does is keep ich away? Who knows. I do know that my yellow tang had a spot on his tail (and a fin a few days later) after adding him and a week of adding garlic it was gone. Was it ude to the garlic? Heavy skimming? Clean water? No way to tell, but it works for me everytime and since my husband broke my QT tank, the yellow tang will be the last fish for a while since I don't feel I can risk my Idol like that.

It is in their food, but that's mostly because it's hard to find anything that doesn't have it.

Sorry for the long post!
 
I use garlic & it works perfect. I had 2 hippo tangs with ich & after a couple of days with feedings of garlic they are looking perfect. I put some omega 1 with garlic or frozen in a little tube with water & garlic (garlic guard), let it soak into the food & dump it in the tank. Garlic will not kill the ich in the tank it just helps the fishes natural immune system fight it off, also makes food more enticing. Garlic is a great way to get a picky or new fish eating. There is also reports that say when garlic is in the blood of fish it repels common fish parasites (ich). I honesty don't care if ich is in my tank as long as it's not on my fish. Hope that helps someone, I know it works & it works for many pet stores that I get my fish from.
 
Garlic has worked well for me in the past and present. I however only do one drop of Kent's garlic liquid for every 10 gals every two days. Sometimes I put two drops in with the food after I've added new fish in addition to the normal 4 drops every two days. No ill effects to fish or corals and I've got softies, LPS and SPS.
 
I currently soak all food and nori in garlic and slecon. I also did this for years in my last tank. I dont qt my fish so I do it for a little extra boost. Knock on wood I've never had any problems.
 
Um you might want to read the first page


He was trying to be helpful and post revelant scientific data that is current to the thread that had been brought up from the dead. I have never used garlic, ever. On any of my fish. And I would absolutely not use it on any kind of mammal. Had a cat come in when I was working emergency that died from eating one of those cans of diced garlic.
 
You folks might consider reading this.

I have read that and I don't dose near what the study was (in my opinion a very high dose), I'll continue as what I do works for me and my tank. If I see anything to the contrary I'll change it.

Yes, page one of that article proves most of my point. Just because it's not a scientific study is hogwash. Proof is in the results, just can't be overdone.
 
He was trying to be helpful and postthat is current to the thread that had been brought up from the dead. I have never used garlic, ever. On any of my fish. And I would absolutely not use it on any kind of mammal. Had a cat come in when I was working emergency that died from eating one of those cans of diced garlic.

Yes which is on the first page of this thread. That's all I was saying.
 
I talked with the owner of Ocean Nutrition & San Francisco Bay Brand and he told me pretty much the same: too much garlic can actually kill fish.

All land plants or meats are of questionable nutritional value to fish, especially saltwater fish. It is something their digestive system never evolved to deal with.
 
I don't use garlic except on my linguine and clams and I also don't have to quarantine. My 24 year old fish, who have never been sick, not even a sore throat, have never complained. My spawning mandarins, pipefish, clown gobies, bangai cardinals, watchman gobies, striped cardinals and fireclowns have never complained and their breath smells like Lotus blossums.
 
That is true, being of Italian Decent I have always eaten garlic. I think my Mother put garlic in my bottle when I was a baby. But I have never had ich, acne, mono, or Jungle Fever so I assume garlic works on me just fine. As for fish, I use black worms and they are fine. I can see the ich parasites running away down the street.
 
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