Garlic Overdose Risks and Effects

[Enrique]

Hello everyone. I have searched on the internet for this one and have found no information on the dangers and proven effects of a garlic overdose. Is it posible to overdose garlic products like Kent's Garlic Extreme? Everyone talks about how garlic is beneficial to improve the fishes immune system but what about the risks of an overdose. I find several articles talking about the posibility of overdosing but none of them state the actual overdose effect or describe the reaction occured when overdosed.
Help Please.

[poppin_fresh]

I personally am not a huge proponent of garlic. It may do something...it may not.., jury is still out IMO.

You probably cant find anything about overdosing because no one has added garlic until things start to die. And honestly, why would you? I would think that the the compounds in garlic extract wont directly kill anything, but being organic, it will decompose and cause other water parameter issues. Exactly what, I'm not sure...

Based on my experience, you will be sick of the smell before too long. A few drops of that stuff goes a LONG way.

[CarmieJo]

I soak my food in a few drops of garlic. I would not use more than that to avoid adding excess nutrients to my tank.

[lReef lKeeper]

im with Carmie, i only use a few drops in my food.

[Enrique]

That is still not a definate answer. When you say excess nutrients. How does garlic add nutrients. Are saying that garlic creates amonia and then nitirite followed by nittrate or as a contributor to the nitrogen cycle? It's just so hard to find technical information on the effects of garlic on your system. I would obviously not add garlic until things start to die, that would really not make any sense at all. But the recommended dose is 2 drops per teaspoon of food. So what if someone doubles or triples the dose. Like I said no one really knows for sure what the actual effects are on your overall system. Anyone? Please help. Or maybe our Talkingreef host Rob.
Rob please help us know the facts of garlic effects if there are any.
I want to specialy thank everybody that has replied to this thread for your support and I want to also thank Rob for this wonderful community that he has brought to us to learn and wonder about the amazing world of marine life.

[CarmieJo]

Here's my thinking; garlic is food and excess food has to be processed which means the nitrogen cycle. I feel certain that I use more than 2 drops per teaspoon because I use 2 or 3 drops and never feed as much as a teaspoon of food. In fact, it is probably more on the order of 1/8 teaspoon which means that I am grossly overdosing garlic. I see no ill effects and the nutrients in my tank are at zero.

Most of the references to garlic are anecdotal and I doubt that you will find any definitive information on this. That being said, I think that there is benefit to using garlic and I plan to continue to feed it.

[Rob]

first of you will not find any scientific data on Garlic use. I have yet to see any scientific testing to prove or disprove its claims. THis also means you will likely not find anything defining whats "too much"

Based on that, follow the instructions on the bottle. you can likely double or triple the dosing without an "overdose" but i would not try it. You also need to take into account total volume of your system.

Garlic is dosed two ways..
1.) add 2 drops per teaspoon of food, this is a self controlling measure.. the larger the tank and fish the more food you use, thus the more garlic is used, but the larger water volume can handle it.

2.) Add 1 drop per 10 gallons to the system. This method is best only used to get finicky eaters to start eating. (adding a few drops like this is also a good way to dray out fish and inverts to show off your tank to visitors)

obviously adding more than 1 drop per 10 gallons would be too much.

i see your point about wanting definitive info, but in this case if you just follow the directions you should not have to worry.

[R. Deschain]

I'm very skeptical of food additives and supplements (both fish and human) that claim to "boost" the immune system. The immune system is a dizzying array of hundreds of different components working in a very complex balance to protect the organism while at the same time not destroying it. Autoimmune diseases like Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis are the result of overactive (boosted?) immune systems.

In the absence of any scientific evidence of this claim, I wouldn't use garlic for this reason. On the other hand, lots of people claim that it helps finicky eaters and in small doses, it doesn't cause any harm.

Me personally, i haven't been convinced and therefore have never used it.

[CarmieJo]

Most of the research with garlic has been done on humans or on lab animals. It is very promising on several fronts including tumor suppression.

[poppin_fresh]

I love cooking with garlic, but I cannot stand the smell it has when combined with brine....it smells like three day old garbage from La Trattoria. Granted I have no personal experience with real trash from any Italian restaurant, but if I did, I'm sure thats how it would smell!

[Rob]

yes, garlic is proven to be VERY beneficial in many animals. it just has been testing in marine systems.
Just google "benefits of garlic" and you will be overwhelmed by lots of information including many studies.
Again, they are just not targeted at the marine aquarium systems we keep

[CarmieJo]

I like scholar.google for this kind of research, it avoids the miracle claims.

[R. Deschain]

Alright, so you made me look up the health benefits of garlic. I stand by my previous observations, but I have to admit that I didn't know there were so many ways that garlic might be beneficial.

A fish tank is such a biodiverse environment with so many variables and unknowns that I'm hesitant to add a non nutritious supplement.

Just my opinion. I'd be happy to change it if more evidence is available.

[Rob]

to you point i agree there is a lack of "scientific evidence" on topic.. however.. thousands if not millions of people use commercial garlic extract in their tanks on a daily basis...

i think what is is question is the validity of the "beneficial claim". i do however know that based on the amount of people using it, that if you use as directed there is little to no risk of harm. If there was a risk, you would definitely hear about it. and to this date, i have never hear of anything bad happening that could be even remotely tied to the use of garlic extract that was meant for a marine system.

i do however fully respect your opinion and choice.. it is one of wisdom

[R. Deschain]

Thanks Rob. I'm not judging any garlic users, just stating my opinion. Personally, I love garlic! It's a great way to accessorize!

[Alcedok9]

I have used both Kents and Brightwells garlic additive. I think , like anything else you need to read the dosage instructions and to not over do it. I use a few drops in the food everynight.