An Endorsement. Microbe-lift Artemiss

From time to time I run across a product that so impresses me that I have to tell you about it.

I have a female molly that injured herself. I am guessing on a rock. I wish I had been able to take a before photo of the injury.

The injury was a gash that ran vertical just behind the gill on the right side and ran all the way to the top of her head. I left it alone for a few days hoping the very clean state of the water in the aquarium (150 tall) would allow it to heal. It got bad fast. A fungal infection set in. The wound opened wide with fungus sticking out. There were red streaks now spreading from the wound. I knew she did not have much time. I did not want to stress her in her weakened condition by netting her, so she stayed in the 150. I went to Petco and found this product Microbe-Lift Artemiss for fungus. I grabbed its sister product Microbe-Lift Herbtana by mistake (for parasites). It is an herbal. The 16 oz bottle was $18.99

Well after a week (treatment is ten days) even knowing where to look I can see no trace of the wound.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it a resounding 10.

This photo was taken this morning.

 

I've used the Herbtanna for marine fish with reasonable results .
One of the better herbal 'meds' IMO.

 

From time to time I run across a product that so impresses me that I have to tell you about it.

I have a female molly that injured herself. I am guessing on a rock. I wish I had been able to take a before photo of the injury.

The injury was a gash that ran vertical just behind the gill on the right side and ran all the way to the top of her head. I left it alone for a few days hoping the very clean state of the water in the aquarium (150 tall) would allow it to heal. It got bad fast. A fungal infection set in. The wound opened wide with fungus sticking out. There were red streaks now spreading from the wound. I knew she did not have much time. I did not want to stress her in her weakened condition by netting her, so she stayed in the 150. I went to Petco and found this product Microbe-Lift Artemiss for fungus. I grabbed its sister product Microbe-Lift Herbtana by mistake (for parasites). It is an herbal. The 16 oz bottle was $18.99

Well after a week (treatment is ten days) even knowing where to look I can see no trace of the wound.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it a resounding 10.

This photo was taken this morning.
View attachment 525494

So the product for parasites helped even though it was a fungal problem?

 

So the product for parasites helped even though it was a fungal problem?

Yes. I am wondering if the two products are close in their make up. There is no ingredient list.

 

One smell tells you it is very similar to the fixes and a coral dip I remember [ other herbal products made from 'tea ' tree] .There are in fact several different trees that can fall under this label. Maybe they really know the best/most powerful one ...My comment comes from experience .
It just smells a lot stronger IMO . Usually I can dig up some reliable source who will say what it is but this link honestly has good info as a whole and states the issue clearly IMO.


OTHERS; Such as Microbe-Lift Herbtana & Artemiss
There are many other organic/natural treatments coming into the aquarium/pond keeping marketplace.
Many unfortunately do not have much testing and worse do not list ingredients which then leaves questions as to whether any claimed effectiveness is simply the placebo effect or real.

Microbe-Lift's Herbtana is a good example of such a product that has little or no controlled testing and no published ingredients, but has some positive anecdotal reviews.
Since this product claims improved immune function, I would have to ask how?
Since it actually lowers Redox Balance being an acid and oxidizer (thus adding to oxidative stress), it is impossible to improve immunity since it is a proven fact (including well funded human studies) that a healthy body is alkaline, not acid with a more reducing Redox.
From Microbe-Lifts own website:
Will help boost the natural immune system of the fish with no risk of building up future resistance as can occur when antibiotics are used"
This is simply impossible based on what we already know about this product and Redox

The fact this product is sold at discounters including Amazon, not professional aquarium supply companies does not lend itself to credibility when anecdotal reviews and lack of published ingredients are all factored in.

While I would not write off this product as there may may be other modes of operation other than immune system improvement, I will have to say for now that many controlled tests support products such as Herbal Ich Attack with its known ingredients as well as the even more 100s of tests supporting the use of Wonder Shells and Medicated Wonder Shells for both immune improvement and disease prevention (also with KNOWN proven ingredients).
Microbe-Lift needs to "step up to the plate" and publish their ingredients if they want this product to be taken seriously by professionals, rather than simply selling via discounters.

 

More oxygen allows for better healing I guess, although not taking into account the redox thing because I don't know about it. I think it's vitamins and probiotics that boost the immune. Agreed though, there are other ways to use probiotics with more available info.