Fish food containing garlic

We bought some Nutrafin Max Spirulina Meal Tablets on sale a few days ago. I was going to feed the fish some tonight, but after reading the small print, I see that it contains garlic. We have never fed our fish food containing garlic, and I would hate for them to have an ill effect given this fact. Thus, I am prepared to throw this food out or give it away on kijiji. I, however, thought I'd ask what others thought first. As I said, my main concern is that this has never been included in their diet.

I've never heard any negatives about garlic. I just did another search for it in food, and it seems to be positive. I don't know if it as beneficial as what is suggested, but I haven't seen anything detrimental.

Funny. I was reading tonight to add a touch of garlic to a tank of new wild caught plecos when feeding it something new to let it know what you are giving it is food.

Garlic is supposed to be quite good for expelling any gut parasites, and is generally highly suggested as a good additive. I would consider it quite the positive, if you don't have kissing gouramis.

Well garlic (or allitin) extract or minced is a hot topic and attracts much interest. It is said to cure Ich, stimulate appetite and kill worm parasites. In pure scientific research, there is nothing to substantiate these claims.

However, many people choose garlic additives in the food because it intuitively "must" be good as it is natural and everyone is raving about the human health benefits of garlic. There is nothing wrong with it as an additive. In my book, it would be ok, but certainly not quite a cure-all as hype might have it.

alexmtl wrote: In pure scientific research, there is nothing to substantiate these claims.

Maybe not for fish food, but in my (forestry) world there is scientific proof that garlic is effective in killing off pathogens. And it is indeed so powerful that the British Forestry Commission now has set aside a few million pounds to treat 'historically and heritage important trees' (read: large broad leaved trees) with a garlic extract against sicknesses such as Dutch elm disease.

There now exists a commercial enterprise in Britain that makes a concentrate of the effective ingredient in garlic that fight pathogens and their product is now available on the market.

There is huge hype, and the aquarium food industry is as quick as any to sell "Natural". I doubt the amount of garlic in a flake does anything (but fish are said to like the taste). In paste foods, it is said to clear worms from the intestinal tracts of Discus, if it is used in high concentrations. Logically, it could. Maybe. it's hard to get fish to eat the high concentrations needed, and how thorough they are is debatable. I have never seen an independent test, so I have never used it on parasites.
I notice the excitement over garlic traces in food has cooled, and no tests have ever been released. It does no harm and probably tastes good.
The aquarium industry is good at putting traces of useful or popular but untested 'medicinal' ingredients in food or medications. They are there in concentrations so low they scarcely matter, but they are used for marketing. I'd use the food. Whether it has a positive function, or whether it is there in a concentration that would matter is a question. But it has been used for decades without any problems, and fish seem to adjust to it and like it. I like garlic, but I don't have any faith in medicinal pizzas.

I love the taste of garlic ! I think fish would too ! In my scientific study of one (myself) it cures hunger, stimulates drinking of fine wine and solves the troubles of any day. What more can you ask for.

I would use fish food that has garlic ingredients. It has a "gourmet meal" ring to it.

Excess use of garlic can hamper spawning attempts, however.

Garlic is very good in fish food. It will help them have more appetite and aids in expelling parasites.
If you look on the best types of fish food on the market, they most have garlic in them.

Here is a good article on the subject:

http://briansaquariumcare.com/garlic.html

GaryE wrote:Excess use of garlic can hamper spawning attempts, however.

Is that also a risk in humans?

Let's hope. I know a few who could use lots!

Thanks for all of the replies! Hmmmm...interesting stuff, for sure. After reading some comments, I was considering giving some of this food to the cories, where they had such an odd outbreak of the 'unknown' in their tank last week. Tonight, however, one of the cories, I think it was Big Momma, laid a bunch of eggs, an so I think that might be positive? I may keep this food and feed it to the loaches and Callie, our lone panda cory (well, she is not completely alone, she shares her space with Cherry Berry, the lone 'hitchhiker' guppy)!

GaryE wrote: I would consider it quite the positive, if you don't have kissing gouramis.

Got it, Gary!

I have used Garlic mixed in with blood worms and sprlina flakes frozen in small ice cube trays to get Discus to start eating and to help with intestinal parasites, so far very positive out comes in a very short time.

There are so many things in our hobby that are untested. If my fish have run of the mill gut parasites, I'll use Praziquantel before garlic. Alex is right - I have never seen a test showing garlic works. And in a money industry like aquariums, I'll wager the tests were done, didn't give marketable results and weren't released. That's cynical me.
It's like the melafix active ingredient. It works to kill bacteria, and is clinically proven in at least one study I read a few years ago. However, it was clinically proven at concentrates that would also kill any fish. I am very skeptical about it doing anything diluted as it is. It smells good.
Garlic tastes good.
Jack Wattley, a famous breeder of fancy discus from the 1960s to 1980s, put a load of money into garlic food, and it was all the rage for 3-4 years. It only recently seems to have returned as an ingredient in mainstream commercial foods. Natural names sell, I guess.

A couple of years ago I get into the habit of giving my salt water fish dried seaweed as a treat. It came in three flavors, one of which was garlic. This stuff is like $12 a pack of nothing. Then I found i could get the same thing in the sushi section of the grocery store for less then half the price. It doesn't come in flavors but they actually like the natural one better.

As far as I'm concerned 95% of the fish products that are on the market are Snake Oils. Most are a watered down useless waste of money.

Steve