Interesting thread. Anyone tried this?
Ginger works with ich... Every time I use it - Reef Central Online Community
Ginger works with ich... Every time I use it - Reef Central Online Community
using ginger to cure ich
- Thread starter JAJA
- Start date
Lol, does the ginger work "with" the Ich or against it...
Just kidding. Sounds interesting, but the water quality of the tank where he quarantines the fish also probably plays a big role...
Just wonder if it can cure the ich permanently or is it just a temporary relieve.
He describes treating infected fish in his display by mixing powdered ginger with his frozen food (thaws then refreezes). Sounds coincidental but I'll give it a try if i get ich in my display - worth a try.
After a few days the fish WILL BE CURED.
Is it a cure. Did the pepper or mustard or ketch up or what not you added into the tank do the trick?
NO
go and check the life cycle of whitespot.
It is NOT a miracle.
The whitespot is on the fish 3 to 7 days. Then they all fall off and becomes cysts.
Your fish might be cured. But your system is now infected.
If you look at this diagram, you will find so many answers.
Is it a cure. Did the pepper or mustard or ketch up or what not you added into the tank do the trick?
NO
go and check the life cycle of whitespot.
It is NOT a miracle.
The whitespot is on the fish 3 to 7 days. Then they all fall off and becomes cysts.
Your fish might be cured. But your system is now infected.
If you look at this diagram, you will find so many answers.
Last edited:
not in a normal setup where the UV runs on the sump
A proper QT tank where UV pulls directly from the holding tank it might. But any WS that reaches the bottom of the tank, encyst and glue themselves to the substrate will not be killed by the UV.
Then when they hatch, again, only the WS that goes through the unit will be killed.
Watet through a uv must not be recirculated. If it's in the sump, that's Ok, as long as it goes in one side then out the other close to the return. It will only kill free living stages of any parasite and is very dependant on wall thickness of the unit, flow per hour in relation to the wattage of the unit. Where 35 litres per watt is the sweet number and no more than 10mm for the unit wall thickness. Even if they encyst in the tank or sump, makes no difference. They are encysted. 55 watt globes are the best for dissenfection. Free living stages are not killed, but rather genetically modified/altered.
UV will kill what goes through the unit. Once the whitespot encys,. they glue themselves to the substrate, rock or whatever place they find comfortable. Even on barebottom tanks the bottom glass. That is why you need to scrape it clean in quarantine tanks. But any small slit in the silicone they climb in and you miss them. Remember the maximum sizes they fall off the fish is a quarter of a millimetre. So they can really crawl around until they find the smallest little hole to go into.
If the WS hit the substrate before being washed over the overflow? How will the UV kill them. Or affect them? They have to pass through the unit, all of them, to be totally relient on an UV.
My personal experience. I had 2 tanks connected to a common sump. One tank got infected, all the fish in that tank. None of the fish in the other tank where affected. Was just after I added an Angel that I did not quarantine for long enough. We keep on forgetting that WS can take up to 4 weeks to hatch. Anyway, he looked healthy when I moved him from Quarantine to the one display. Couple of weeks later, all the fish in that tank had a noticeable severe outbreak. So the few parasites that was on the fish and went pass unnoticed. Maybe on its gills. Encysted and hatched in the one tank only. Did not go over the overflow to the common sump, up to the other tank. I were not running UV or ozone.
My point here is that unless in a holding system, you pull water from the same container that the fish are in, most likely you will not even pull in any WS parasites.
The parasite when it leaves the fish do not go swimming around for a few hours. They drop to any hard surface in a relatively short timespan. This is the shortest period in their live cycle. Once they hatch, they hatch in such great numbers, That even if only 1% survive the UV, copper, chemicals, ozone or what else we do, there will still be more than the previous live cycle numbers. Anything from 200 to 1000 can hatch from one parent. If we succeed in killing 99%, you still have between 20 and 100 parasites more than the previous round. Talking about an population explosion.
So even with an success rate of 99%, you still failed miserably.
If the WS hit the substrate before being washed over the overflow? How will the UV kill them. Or affect them? They have to pass through the unit, all of them, to be totally relient on an UV.
My personal experience. I had 2 tanks connected to a common sump. One tank got infected, all the fish in that tank. None of the fish in the other tank where affected. Was just after I added an Angel that I did not quarantine for long enough. We keep on forgetting that WS can take up to 4 weeks to hatch. Anyway, he looked healthy when I moved him from Quarantine to the one display. Couple of weeks later, all the fish in that tank had a noticeable severe outbreak. So the few parasites that was on the fish and went pass unnoticed. Maybe on its gills. Encysted and hatched in the one tank only. Did not go over the overflow to the common sump, up to the other tank. I were not running UV or ozone.
My point here is that unless in a holding system, you pull water from the same container that the fish are in, most likely you will not even pull in any WS parasites.
The parasite when it leaves the fish do not go swimming around for a few hours. They drop to any hard surface in a relatively short timespan. This is the shortest period in their live cycle. Once they hatch, they hatch in such great numbers, That even if only 1% survive the UV, copper, chemicals, ozone or what else we do, there will still be more than the previous live cycle numbers. Anything from 200 to 1000 can hatch from one parent. If we succeed in killing 99%, you still have between 20 and 100 parasites more than the previous round. Talking about an population explosion.
So even with an success rate of 99%, you still failed miserably.
That's what I said Riaan.
UV does not kill the free living stage, It genetically modifies them. We all know how ws works, how it encysts. I am specifically talking about uv here.
Anyway, I'm not getting into a debate with you.
UV does not kill the free living stage, It genetically modifies them. We all know how ws works, how it encysts. I am specifically talking about uv here.
Anyway, I'm not getting into a debate with you.
Last edited:
I agree that UV works.
But it needs to be setup correctly.
Right flow, slow enough so that parasites get exposed long enough to be radiated. Fast enough to do as much as possible of the water. Right size for the volume it needs to process.
My problem with UV related to my own experience, is that whitespot did not enter the sump area so spread to the other tank. Maybe I was just very very lucky. But I never have such good luck.
But it needs to be setup correctly.
Right flow, slow enough so that parasites get exposed long enough to be radiated. Fast enough to do as much as possible of the water. Right size for the volume it needs to process.
My problem with UV related to my own experience, is that whitespot did not enter the sump area so spread to the other tank. Maybe I was just very very lucky. But I never have such good luck.
The idea that "whitespot does not enter the sump" is illogical.
Free living stages are most active at night, they are poor swimmers. With good watet flow through your display these will definitely enter the sump.
I am using UV at this moment in time. Not only have I found a decrease in reinfection but also a general increased health of my fish. UV also, albeit a poor one, increase the redox potential of the water.
Free living stages are most active at night, they are poor swimmers. With good watet flow through your display these will definitely enter the sump.
I am using UV at this moment in time. Not only have I found a decrease in reinfection but also a general increased health of my fish. UV also, albeit a poor one, increase the redox potential of the water.
Last edited:
logically, that is what should happen and I do fully agree. Also explains why a bank of tanks at the LFS, all the tanks connected are affected. So I might have been very lucky. But this is directly related to the return pump rating. Too small , low turnover rate, and the WS simply would not be washed down to the sump in great enough numbers.
i can only tell you from my experience with ich. i lost fish through copper treatment (cuprmanine). i tried the garlic/ginger (not just ginger 
) mix and it worked for me. i pulped fresh garlic and ginger and soaked food pellets in that. my fish have never looked better and have not had any sign of the disease in months. i will add however that i believe that perfect water params and a strong immune booster food (like this mix) probably made the difference. Ich may still be in the tank but they can't get near my fish due to their strong health and immune system. worked for me and i fully believe in it.
) mix and it worked for me. i pulped fresh garlic and ginger and soaked food pellets in that. my fish have never looked better and have not had any sign of the disease in months. i will add however that i believe that perfect water params and a strong immune booster food (like this mix) probably made the difference. Ich may still be in the tank but they can't get near my fish due to their strong health and immune system. worked for me and i fully believe in it.