Best Way to Use Garlic Guard and Vita-Chem

I ordered Garlic Guard and Vita-Chem and they both arrived today. After reading the directions on both bottles, I'm curious to see what the best and least messy way is to use these products.

For Garlic Guard, it simply says to soak food in it before feeding. Do you just pour a small bit into a small dish and then put in the amount of food you're going to feed? Do you have to feed immediately after soaking? How long do you soak? Can you put a larger amount of food in a larger amount of Garlic Guard, enough for a few days worth or even a week's worth, and then refrigerate? Or does it get "too" soaked? How do you administer the soaked food? With your fingers? With tweezers? Do flakes still float, or do they become like a paste after soaking and then end up sinking? I feel like the soaked flakes would become clumpy.

Vita-Chem says to add 1 drop per gallon once a week. That's easy enough. I can do it after weekly water changes. But it also says to add "several drops" to food before feeding once daily. I assume I can just add it to the food while it's soaking in the Garlic Guard. Again, I wonder if I can prepare a large batch of food/Garlic Guard/Vita-Chem, keep it in the refrigerator, and then just feed from the pre-prepared batch. That sounds easiest to me, but I don't know if the food will become too soaked and too concentrated with the GG and VC.

Anybody have any SOPs when it comes to these products that work best for them? Thanks!

 

I use Garlic Guard but I have never used Vita-Chem. I have African cichlids and I feed them small pellet food. I have 5 of them so what I do is I take a 1 table spoon measuring spoon and fill it half way with the pellet food and then fill the spoon to the top with garlic guard and I let it soak for a about 3 minutes or 4 minutes and then I dump out any extra oil and feed it to the fishes.

 

I usually only soak my bloodworms and veggies in the Garlic Guard/Vita-Chem. I don't soak my pellets or wafers just because it seems a bit like a hassle (plus I use NLS, which has garlic in it). I have done it and soaking the the pellets for a few minutes doesn't cause them to disintegrate, but since you use flake food, I am not sure if that would be different. I also add the Vita-Chem directly to my tanks after water changes.

 

I ordered Garlic Guard and Vita-Chem and they both arrived today.

Anybody have any SOPs when it comes to these products that work best for them? Thanks!

From what site?
And what's SOP?

 

Amazon.com

SOP=Standard Operating Procedures. Basically looking for how people usually administer these products.

 

So after answering your post I decided to soak my fish food tonight. Normally I just do about 5 minutes or so but tonight I totally forgot and left the food soaking for an hour. Needless to say it was totally soaked through. But I learned that it doesn't turn into a paste, it just becomes soggy and no longer floats when you add it to the tank.

 

I just finished feeding my fish with the GG. I only soaked the food for a couple minutes and it got goopy. It also sunk right away. I feel like I overfed just to make sure all the fish got a bite or two. I'm worried the food will sink too fast and start building up in the gravel. Also, I soaked betta pellets and fed my 2 bettas with it. Some sunk right away and some floated a bit. Either way, my bettas were able to snatch them up. However! They did NOT like the garlic! They both spit them out and even snatched the throw-up a 2nd or 3rd time only to spit it out for good.

I don't know how I feel about it. I'm not overly enthused with it. Maybe I'll order NLS with garlic already in it. I wish I didn't have to order the NLS, but I can't find it in any stores.

It also stinks that while feeding the 36g fish, I noticed my dwarf gourami didn't come out for some. I found him dead in the corner. I lost my honey gourami last week in the same tank. I've had them both in that tank for almost 2 months. It's a bummer.

 

Maybe I'll order NLS with garlic already in it. I wish I didn't have to order the NLS, but I can't find it in any stores.

I had the same reaction. I use the NLS with Thera + A garlic - its less messy.

Check your Petco. I know ours carries it but not the petsmart. Maybe its a regional thing as well... At least its available online.

 

Yeah my PetSmarts don't have it. The one by my house and the two by my work in Jersey. I just checked and there is a Petco by my work, so I can check there during my lunch break one day. Won't be until next week because tomorrow is our office summer picnic and I'm off Friday.

 

Are there any privately owned fish stores near you, Pongo? Those would be the ones more likely to carry a more detailed stock of products.

 

Are there any privately owned fish stores near you, Pongo? Those would be the ones more likely to carry a more detailed stock of products.

There's one. I did go there once when I first started fish keeping. I promptly left and never went back haha. There is also a Pet Supplies Plus. They don't have a big selection of fish, but I wonder if they have NLS. I shall check!

 

We have a Pet Supplies Plus here, too! I went in there once but have not been back. Nothing wrong with the place, it's just a bit out of the way from our normal weekend treks. Seems I remember they had a sign on the wall where the fish tanks were; "If you don't see what you want, ask us and find out if we can order it!". I don't know why I didn't remember that when I was in search of CPDs. Now if I can just remember that the next time I want a hard to find fish lol.

 

It's pretty normal for fish not to like the garlic flavor at first. Often they will eat the food the 2nd or 3rd time it is fed to them. Also try adding it to something that they love to eat like bloodworms because they probably won't be able to resist. That being said, NLS is definitely an easier option if you decide to go that route instead.

 

Even the smallest jar ( 2.5 oz ) will pretty much last you forever. I've had mine since I started in March 2012 and I've barely made a dent in it! So for the $8.00, it was well worth it!

Then dumb me ( slaps forehead ) had to buy the 10.6 oz container because the lfs I loved closed it doors after 40 years..... The normal price is like $21.00 and I got it for ( drum roll please ) $2.00. 90% off!!! lol The expiry says 6/2015

 

Yeah I'll keep trying to feed it to them. After all, I do have a big ole bottle of it!

You know...for some reason, I was under the impression that GG was something you added to the water. Otherwise, I would've just used the juice in the jar of minced garlic in my fridge!! I honestly thought GG was a water supplement so you didn't have to do the whole soaking thing. Oops.

Mamajin - Yeah I have no problems with PSP. It is definitely smaller than PetSmart and has a smaller selection of fish. While I never bought any there, their tanks looked clean. It's only a quarter mile past my PetSmart, but I just always go to PetSmart on reflex haha.

I'm going to check PetCo next week for the NLS.

At least the Vita-Chem can just be added to the water! haha

Junne - Can GG be used in people food? hahaha You sure got enough of it!

 

I just think the GG is too much trouble - the mixing and getting out a separate dish, etc..... I just don't have time to deal with that - that's why the NLS works for me.

It's bad enough having to thaw and soak the bloodworms

 

I just think the GG is too much trouble - the mixing and getting out a separate dish, etc..... I just don't have time to deal with that

Yeah I'm not thrilled with that either. That's why I asked if I could make up a big batch, stick it in the fridge, and feed from that for the week or something. But even then, I don't know how I feel about the soaked food itself anyway.

 

I have the GarlicGuard on my wish list (ie; things I keep procrastinating to purchase) over at Amazon, so I haven't used it yet. But I did find where .

If you get new fish and have them in a QT, would this be ok to do if the fish refuse food? The few fish that I did lose to ICH died because they just would not eat. That's the only reason I'm considering a small bottle of the GG, since the NLS I have already contains garlic. Which is worthless to a fish who won't eat.

 

Thanks for the link @Mamajin. It's helpful to know that I can add the GarlicGuard straight to my water.

 

Good morning,

I've been using Garlic Guard and Vita Chem for several years now. (link below) I use them both on fish treats such as Freeze Dried Krill/Red Shrimp/sliced and diced raw zucchini, twice a week.

I do not use these on foods such as flakes/pellets/sticks to avoid a soggy mess.

Mixing the Garlic Guard and Vita Chem together, added with a little bit of water. I use 5 drops of the Vita Chem and just a dab (approximately 10ml) of the Garlic Guard then soak any where from 10 to 30 minutes. I only mix what I plan to feed for that day and none extra. Too, I soak the raw zucchinI slices for my Plecos in the same mix.

I pour the mix into a small fish net and feed from the net.

Personally I do not add either to my tanks directly.

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/breakfast-treat-day.90859/

The fish love it!

Ken