carbon and garlic ??? differing views

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

i have used both carbon and garlic in the past
after reading differring views about them lately i am questioning their effectiveness if at all.

any comments about using these and in what way is the best way for them to be applied.

regards

[WaterKeeper]

Garlic tends to help the personality of the reefkeeper (although not their love life) where carbon can remove harmful organics with great efficiency. Keep the garlic for your pasta but run carbon in your tank.

[JamesJR]

ditto. Garlic is all hype.

Activated carbon has been used for ages and it does work.

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

so soaking food overnite in garlic
has NO benefit for the fish - thus a waste of time and money (anyone price garlic extreme brand lately - ouch!)

but carbon on the other hand
you fellas both recommend it yet many others say not to use it at all or only on occasion... probably related to the estimated time of of effectiveness- some say hours others think it will a month or even heard up to three...

whats the real deal anyone know?

[bertoni]

Some fish are reported to like the taste of garlic, which might be helpful with a problem eater, but I don't think it can do much more than that.

Activated carbon is a very complicated subject, because it can adsorb so many compounds. I run it because it can help keep the water clearer and might remove coral toxins from the water, but I don't know of any data on the subject.

[stuccodude]

i will defend garlic till i see different, it saved my tank, my 2 cents and yes on carbon in a phosban reactor if you want crystal clear water

[SimilanRocks]

Garlic always worked for me when new fish didn't eat. It also made other fish eat more. I don't know about other benefits.

[steven_dean17]

I would say that your not an idiot for using garlic. I would also say if you don't use garlic your not an idiot. IMO if you believe it works, use it, it's not the only plocebo in the the aquarium business. If you don't belive it works you should spend your money on something else. Happy Reefing!

[stuccodude]

when your fish are infested with ich and you use garlic extreme and the ich is gone in 3-4 days you will be a believer,its proven that mosquito's don't bother people with garlic in there system, why not ich on fish.

[demonsp]

Carbon helps maintane ammonia levels and remove any additive.
Garlic goes well with steaks, fish, but never pork.

[bertoni]

I like garlic pork!

Marine ich often goes away in 3-4 days, without any treatment at all. Animals have immune systems to deal with this type of parasite. Sometimes, it works.

[steven_dean17]

I firmly belive that everyone is in agreement on this one. LOL

[tmz]

Originally posted by stuccodude
when your fish are infested with ich and you use garlic extreme and the ich is gone in 3-4 days you will be a believer,its proven that mosquito's don't bother people with garlic in there system, why not ich on fish.

I use garlic as an appetite enhancer and in the hope that the allicin in it will boost the immune system.No proof /it just does no harm, the fish seem to like it and it may be of benefit. There is absolutely no proof that it cures infested fish of ich and very few anecdotes claiming that. I don't really think it keeps vampires away either.By the way there have been articles which note that the allicin is only active for a short time. Although I use garlic extreme a few drops at a time, I have qualms about it since it iis not fresh and is a concentrate preserved with citric acid.Some insist only fresh squeezed is good enough.

I have used carbon for 5 years and have good results with a large mixed system containing leathers,lps,sps. Although I do other things,refugia,poly pad ,skimming etc.,the carbon has certainly not done any harm and I believe it has benefitted my system and helped maintain water clarity.

[michaeldaly]

Originally posted by WarrenAmy&Maddy
so soaking food overnite in garlic
has NO benefit for the fish - thus a waste of time and money (anyone price garlic extreme brand lately - ouch!)

but carbon on the other hand
you fellas both recommend it yet many others say not to use it at all or only on occasion... probably related to the estimated time of of effectiveness- some say hours others think it will a month or even heard up to three...

whats the real deal anyone know?

I would not say that using garlic is a waste of time. BTW you needednt use the expensive branded garlic, you could just crush your own.
Garlic is known to be an immune booster and as such should make fish less vunerable to diseases and infections.

There is ofcourse no scientific research done on this as drug companies would not fund research into something which won't make money for them.

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

Originally posted by tmz
I use garlic as an appetite enhancer and in the hope that the allicin in it will boost the immune system.No proof /it just does no harm, the fish seem to like it and it may be of benefit. There is absolutely no proof that it cures infested fish of ich and very few anecdotes claiming that. I don't really think it keeps vampires away either.By the way there have been articles which note that the allicin is only active for a short time. Although I use garlic extreme a few drops at a time, I have qualms about it since it iis not fresh and is a concentrate preserved with citric acid.Some insist only fresh squeezed is good enough.

I have used carbon for 5 years and have good results with a large mixed system containing leathers,lps,sps. Although I do other things,refugia,poly pad ,skimming etc.,the carbon has certainly not done any harm and I believe it has benefitted my system and helped maintain water clarity.

if you are interested in the benefits of allicin
then it has to be FRESH garlic... and dont know how to adminisiter it to fish but one takes fresh garlic mashes it like w/ spoon or hammer - let it sit for a little while then consume it - as i understand it it only lasts for a very short while like an hour.

the allicin has a lot of benefit for people too!

regards

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

Originally posted by tmz

I have used carbon for 5 years and have good results with a large mixed system containing leathers,lps,sps. Although I do other things,refugia,poly pad ,skimming etc.,the carbon has certainly not done any harm and I believe it has benefitted my system and helped maintain water clarity.

in what way do you use it in your system
iow how often do you change it out?

also - do you have any photos/links to your system - sounds impressive

regards

[Vin7250]

MAKE SURE YOU SAUTEE THE GARLIC AFTER THE ONIONS HAVE SAUTEED FOR A FEW MINUTES....THEN JUST BEFORE THE GARLIC BROWNS YOU CAN ADD YOUR TOMATOES, SALT & PEPPER, AND A PINCH OF SUGAR TO OFFSET THE BITTERNESS OF THE TOMATOES....THIS WILL INDEED, AFTER TASTE TESTING AND SPICING TO YOUR LIKES, MAKE A TASTY SOUTHERN ITALIAN SAUCE (OR GRAVY AS REAL ITALIANS CALL IT). ADD SAUSAGE, MEATBALLS, AND/OR PORK TO FLAVOR THE SAUCE AND SIMMER FOR HOURS......SORRY FOR THE CAPS GUYS LOL !!!!

[pablodub01]

I use carbon since i started with freshwater fish... carbon does help to remove quemicals from the water...

I use carbon in a bag inside my canister filter.. i replace the carbon every 2-3 weeks...

Pablo

PS: Garlic bread rulez...

[an411]

I am going to see if garlic makes any difference with ich shortly just ordered some yesterday gonna try it in my QT tank while feeding

[WaterKeeper]

Don't get me wrong. Garlic is harmless and may have unproven benefits. However, if I have a fish with ich or velvet I would not use it exclusively but also use copper or hypo in a hospital tank.

For carbon I don't like to use it past 2 weeks. By that time the bacteria have coated the surface and spoiled its effectiveness unless it is cleaned.

[tmz]

Originally posted by WarrenAmy&Maddy
in what way do you use it in your system
iow how often do you change it out?

also - do you have any photos/links to your system - sounds impressive

regards

First as a point of emphasis, I'd like to strongly second WaterKeeper.Copper or hyposalinity and qt are the only proven effective treatments for ich and a quarantine protocol of the aquarist choosing should be followed. Garlic may or may not improve overall fish health and fish seem to like it.

Regarding Carbon;I use it to clean the water. This is a particular concern for me since I have 7 integrated tanks housing a variety of corals. I rely on the carbon , polypad and skimming to remove potentiallly toxic elements from alleopathy as well as yelloing compunds and other stuff.
I use 32ozs of lignite carbon on lthe 500gal system. I keep two 8oz mesh bags of it in a Fluval404 canioster which is also used to drive a uv sterlilizer. I also keep 1 l6oz bag in the sump. In this way half of it is exposed to high flow and half to less. Hedging my bets on which is more effective. I rinse it every 10days and change it every 30 days. I have read quite a few threads and articles on carbon and there is no definative guideline on amount ,change time or flow that I can find.

I do not have pictures of the entire system, My skills in digital photography and moving photos around are the computer need work. The following link has some photos of two of the integrated display tanks.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1222848

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

Originally posted by tmz


First as a point of emphasis, I'd like to strongly second WaterKeeper.Copper or hyposalinity and qt are the only proven effective treatments for ich and a quarantine protocol of the aquarist choosing should be followed. Garlic may or may not improve overall fish health and fish seem to like it.

Regarding Carbon;I use it to clean the water. This is a particular concern for me since I have 7 integrated tanks housing a variety of corals. I rely on the carbon , polypad and skimming to remove potentiallly toxic elements from alleopathy as well as yelloing compunds and other stuff.
I use 32ozs of lignite carbon on lthe 500gal system. I keep two 8oz mesh bags of it in a Fluval404 canioster which is also used to drive a uv sterlilizer. I also keep 1 l6oz bag in the sump. In this way half of it is exposed to high flow and half to less. Hedging my bets on which is more effective. I rinse it every 10days and change it every 30 days. I have read quite a few threads and articles on carbon and there is no definative guideline on amount ,change time or flow that I can find.

I do not have pictures of the entire system, My skills in digital photography and moving photos around are the computer need work. The following link has some photos of two of the integrated display tanks.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1222848

tmz
the pics of your system(s) are excellent and all the 'props' to your reefkeeping skills!

like how you use carbon
seems like same deal to me re finding out what the real deal is re using it (no concensus/facts to back up its use (??) )... length of time of effectiveness etc... your method seems to be a practical use of it - all things considered.

[tmz]

thankyou

[350nine]

For those of you who want to use garlic I want to share with you my method for making it. I finely chop two handfuls of garlic, saute it in a sauce pan with a couple ounces of water for a few minutes until it's soft. I pour the mash over a thin cloth and squeese all the liquid into a jar and put it in the fridge. I put a couple of teaspoonful into my feed as I prepare it for the next day. Makes the filtration room nice and smelly. My local LFS price the small bottle of Garlic Extreme at $25!

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

Originally posted by 350nine
For those of you who want to use garlic I want to share with you my method for making it. I finely chop two handfuls of garlic, saute it in a sauce pan with a couple ounces of water for a few minutes until it's soft. I pour the mash over a thin cloth and squeese all the liquid into a jar and put it in the fridge. I put a couple of teaspoonful into my feed as I prepare it for the next day. Makes the filtration room nice and smelly. My local LFS price the small bottle of Garlic Extreme at $25!

350nine
thanks for sharing your method used w/ garlic!

garlic extreme is very high priced stuff
like how you make your own... i have used a bottle of G/E in the past - dont know if it made any diff or not... if i use garlic again then i will just use the real stuff and mash it up mix it in w/ food...

regards