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I have read and heard some comments in my LFS about increasing the immune systems of fish, and i wanted to run it by the peeps on TR to get a second, third,....fortieth oppinion. The two that i have heard of are the topics of this post: Garlic and spirinula. The former was recomended by my LFS as "increasing the number of white blood cells in fish." Sounds like a treatment used in Boulder, some "holistic" fish remedy. I am skeptical. Besides, i am not too keen on the idea of my water smelling like garlic.
The other is spirinula. The packaging on some manifactures (Hakari) says it is supposed to help the immune system. Again, i am not sure if this is really true, or if it is a snake oil for fish. Unlike the garlic, this one i will feed to fish because it is nutritious and generally good for them. I typically mix it with frozen brine shrimp and the fish (freshwater fish, don't forget!) seem to love it. I assume it would be good for marine fish as well.
i cant speak to spirinula as i haven't really researched it.
but for garlic, this is not snake oil. it is proven that garlic can and does increase white blood cell count, and acts as a natural antibiotic. this is true is humans also.
now that said, what is anecdotal, is how effective it is on treating disease, or preventing disease. common sense dictates it would make the fish healthier and thus keep them less prone to sickness. but it has not been show scientifically (anywhere i have seen) that it actually works.. kind of a hard thing to test
all that said, i do use garlic extract to soak all my food, and have been happy with it.. but that's hardly scientific proof.
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i do use garlic extract to soak all my food, and have been happy with it.. but that's hardly scientific proof.
Does your breath smell like garlic, Rob???
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Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
Not to highjack the thread, but preparing garlic. do you just soak garlic in tank water, take it out and then add the food and let the food soak? and then dump?
my process is to use a cup with one side slightly elevated,
place the food in it lower end, ad a few drops of garlic extract, with a "small" amount of water. just enough to wet all the dry food. i let it sit like that for a 5 minutes or so,. while sitting i will occasionally, gently sway the cup just to get a god mix in there
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IMO i think that a video preparing food in general might be worth it, but in another since im not sure if you had to waste food but then it wouldnt be worth it. but IMO it would be cool to see how to feed tangs and stuff..
spiralina is beneficial for the immune system. it contains the highest concentration and purest form of vitamin-c, which without no bodily function can exist. the lack of vitamin-c contributes to many problems in fish, including lateral line or hole in head. in fact, many alternative healers for PEOPLE recommend spiralina.
I agree with FW about spiralina. And I agree with Rob about garlic and humans, but I have yet to see any proof that it is beneficial to fish. I would love to see someone do a study on this.
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