I need garlic help quick!

[PeaP]

Hi...I have noticed that my fish started to rub against the objects...I will try first with garlic. but I have read that bought garlic extract is much less effective than homemade...I will try to make it myself but II need some advice...Is that safe?...will water smell? and how to make it?...can fish rub because of bacterial infection and not parasite?

 

[Flyfisha]

I have no experience making a home made fish medication from garlic.

If the fish are flashing or rubbing on objects they are sending you a message. I suggest now is not the time to be playing amateur chemistry. Many dry food already have a safe level of garlic in them . Check the dry food ingredients you are already feeding.

The first thing I recommended is checking the water parameters particularly the PH . If that is very different from that is normal that could be an issue.
Any ammonia or nitrites is toxic and is an irritant as is very high nitrates.

 

[MacZ]

Garlic will not help, itching fish means most often you're dealing with skin parasites. Unless you got new fish within the past 2-3 weeks it's most likely flukes.
But that will have to be determined. DON'T medicate until you have a safe diagnosis.
For flukes there are several meds you could use. Please don't use a broadband med, those are almost never helping. Sometimes improving water quality and stress levels can already help and might make medication unnecessary.
After checking water parameters, if the tests turn out ok, watch closely for 2-3 days. If white spots show up -> Ich. Needs medication but is also quite easy to treat. If not and nothing else shows up on the fishes skin, most likely flukes.

If you use garlic (which you won't in this case, but maybe in the future), it's basically putting the stuff through a garlic press and get the juice out, which is what you want. Unless you love garlic like I do (I eat 3-4 cloves a day) you will notice the smell, no doubt about that.

 

[fish 321]

Don't jump to conclusions to fast with fish flashing. My fish always flashed but were healthy an no parasites ever showed up.

 

[MacZ]

Don't jump to conclusions to fast with fish flashing. My fish always flashed but were healthy an no parasites ever showed up.

Good point and that's why close observation is necessary. I myself have a lot of leaf litter (and accordingly mulm) in my tank, my Apistogramma flashes regularly, when it gets mulm on its skin or in its gills while foraging. Just as Corydoras tend to flash a lot from sand on the skin. But you know things like that from your fish if it occurs regularly.

 

[Islandvic]

PeaP , I'm not a fish illness expert by no means, but I do have a suggestion for your consideration.

Large and/or extra water changes seem to reduce stress and alleviate minor health issues before they get worse in my experience.

Fish not acting normal could be from health issues, water parameters spiking, or could be from territorial/aggression issues for example.

Any time I notice one of my tanks with fish acting out of the ordinary, I try do do an extra water change that week, if not 2 extra.

Depending on your tank size, amount of possible muck (uneaten fish food & fish waste) in your substrate, time elapsed from last WC, etc, consider performing a back-to-back WC. Drain 50%-75% of your tank water, refill, and repeat one more time.

Performing a back-to-back WC allows you to spend more time cleaning the substrate with a siphon gravel vac. This is especially useful when you have a smaller tank with gravel, for example 29g and under. When I had a 20g with gravel, I couldn't vac all the gravel during 1 WC.

I've switched to sand in all tanks now, amd I've found my substrate collects only a fraction of waste compared to gravel.

My normal water changes are usually 50%-75% every 7-10 days. When time permits and its been a few extra days between WC's (or when fish are acting weird) I will do back-to-back 50%-75% WC's.

Always attempt to match the temp of new water best you can, especially when performing large WC's. Even a difference of +/- 2 °f is within range because when mixed with existing tank water, it will average out close to original temp.

I use a hose with an adapter on my sink faucet to direct fill my tanks. Makes for performing large WC's easy, especially when servicing multiple and/or large tanks.