Vitamins, Probiotics & Herbal Remedies

[Humblefish]

Vitamins, Probiotics & Herbal Remedies (updated 3-1-2023)

What It Treats: Used to boost a fish’s immune system, supplement dietary deficiencies, promote healing and improve overall health.

How To Treat:

• Vitamin supplements: Selcon, Zoecon, Vita-chem, Brightwell Aquatics (sells a variety of different fish nutrition products including vitamins), Aquaforest Fish V. DIY options include: Vitamins A, C, E; folic acid; amino acids; Omega 3 & 6 fish oil; Krill oil. Since all of these are “reef safe” substances, you can just saturate food with them or use Seachem Focus to bind them to the food.
  
  Food soaking vitamins seems to be especially useful for reversing HLLE. I once saw a forum thread (with pictures) of a Purple Tang with a bad case of HLLE, where the condition was completely reversed by using Selcon & Zoecon on alternating days; in addition to feeding nori. Speaking of which, the value of feeding nori cannot be overstated as it contains high levels of iodine and fiber.
  
  
• Beta-glucan: This is an immunostimulant which is particularly useful for sending viruses (like Lymphocystis) back into remission. (More info here: Beta-glucan as an Immune Stimulant in Marine Aquaria.) @Big G was kind enough to share his recipe below for using Beta-glucan: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQJ0750/?tag=humblefish-20

This is the one I use for both our fish are for my wife and I. I get it from Amazon. For the fish I make "fish smoothies" where I use a variety of frozen fish food cubes, about 6-8 one of each type. Place into a dish. Put dish into the fridge to allow the cubes to "slump." Pour off or strain excess liquid (it will spike your phosphates, nitrates). Then add a drop or two of Selcon and half a capsule of BG. Add a drop or two of RO as needed to make the mix to the consistency you like. The mix will stay good in the fridge for a few days.

Results for fish: enhanced colors on my wrasses and anthias. My Foxface was a Petco rescue. Poor fish had velvet and lympho that would not go away and poor coloration. Since dosing with BG colors are better, fish is more active and less skittish, and no lympho for over two years.

• Probiotics: Probiotics are very important for your fish’s digestive health, and to boost the natural immune system. LRS Foods are a great source for providing probiotics. Or you can soak probiotics in fish food yourself by using something like Probiotic Marine Formula or Growth Hack Probiotic Food Supplement - Reef Hacks.
  
  
• Herbal Remedies: There are a slew of herbal remedies on the market and some hobbyists believe that these will “cure” their fish or tank of some disease. Although they are rarely capable of 100% eradication, these remedies may help manage the symptoms of a disease. It is thought that most herbal remedies work by boosting a fish’s immune system and/or thickening their slime coat to withstand symptoms. If a fish can “live with” a pathogen long enough, it’s immune system will eventually acquire immunity or resistance. Whether the immunity/resistance is permanent or only temporary is dependent upon a number of factors. Also, these “immune” fish are oftentimes still asymptomatic carriers, capable of transmitting disease to non-immune fish.
  
  The use of garlic for managing parasites is a hotly debated topic, but there is now at least some scientific evidence to support this (here & here). Also, anecdotal evidence that garlic can be used in food as an appetite stimulant is well-documented.

Pros: All of the products listed above are considered reef safe. All of them can improve the overall health of your fish, and will sometimes (but not always) buy you more time until a proper treatment (using a medication) can be done.

Cons/Side Effects: May lure a hobbyist into a false sense of security, which can delay more proven/reliable treatment options.

Further reading by @leebca: Fish Nutrition -- A Way to Avoid Many Problems

Video learning:

 

[ichthyogeek]

...what about Allicin (the thing in garlic) ?

 

[Humblefish]

...what about Allicin (the thing in garlic) ?

Looking into that now...

@Jessican found these articles to review:

Dans’ Feed – Artemia Enrichment – Immune Boosting Formula

Like the regular Artemia Enrichment except it contains Beta-Glucan 1.3, 1.6, Vitamin C and Stabilized Allicin to further enhance the immune system. It is a blend of AlgaMac 3050 DHA-10, AlgaMac Pro…

seahorsesource.com

Isolation, identification, and biological control in vitro of tail rot pathogen strain from Hippocampus kuda

Tail rot disease is associated with major economic losses in the seahorse aquaculture in China. This study aimed to isolate and identify the pathogen causing tail rot disease in seahorses. Three culturable intestinal bacteria strains were isolated from Hippocampus kuda specimens with tail rot...

journals.plos.org

Seahorse tail rot | Seahorse.com

Hi, i Have a few seahorse's that are showing signs of tail rot and one that is slightly progressed. I did not get these long ago and the source was not a good one ( OceanRider was not the source). When i got them they were not eating any frozen food which they were supposed to […]

seahorse.com

Antimicrobial properties of hydrophobic compounds in garlic: Allicin, vinyldithiin, ajoene and diallyl polysulfides (Review)

Allium plants, such as garlic, onion and leek have long been known to be effective in the therapy of infectious diseases. In particular, garlic has a greater antimicrobial activity than other Allium plants as it contains several hydrophobic antimicrobial compounds, such as allicin...

www.spandidos-publications.com

Garlic: a review of potential therapeutic effects

Throughout history, many different cultures have recognized the potential use of garlic for prevention and treatment of different diseases. Recent studies support the effects of garlic and its extracts in a wide range of applications. These studies raised ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Dierks]

Just seeing this, I had sent you a message about this as well. Following along!

 

[ReefingAintEasy]

So I feed my tank LRS reef frenzy. It comes frozen. How exactly am I to soak it in the vitamin treatments recommended?

 

[Humblefish]

So I feed my tank LRS reef frenzy. It comes frozen. How exactly am I to soak it in the vitamin treatments recommended?

Let it thaw, and then stir a few drops of Selcon (or similar) into it. You will lose most of the vitamins to the water, but that isn't harmful.

 

[ReefingAintEasy]

Let it thaw, and then stir a few drops of Selcon (or similar) into it. You will lose most of the vitamins to the water, but that isn't harmful.

Thank you sir!

 

[Jposch]

Here is a great read on beta glucan. Several other articles as well. I found his hyposalinity article quite detailed and interesting. All articles have references too. Beta Glucan As A Biological Defense Modulator: Helping Fish To Help Themselves

 

[ctopherl]

Vitamins & Herbal Remedies

What It Treats – Used to boost a fish’s immune system, supplement dietary deficiencies, promote healing and improve overall health.

How To Treat – The following are examples of vitamin supplements in which fish food can be soaked: Selcon, Zoecon, Vita-chem, Seachem Vitality, Brightwell Aquatics Vitamarin-M & AminOmega, Aquaforest Fish V.

DIY options include: Vitamins A, C, E; folic acid; amino acids; Omega 3 & 6 fish oil; Krill oil. Since all of these are “reef safe” substances, you can just saturate food with them or use Seachem Focus to bind them to the food. Also, probiotics are very important for your fish’s digestive system. Probiotic Marine Formula and LRS Foods are two options for providing probiotics.

I once saw a forum thread (with pictures) of a Purple Tang with a bad case of HLLE, where the condition was completely reversed by using Selcon & Zoecon on alternating days; in addition to feeding nori. The value of feeding nori cannot be overstated, as it contains high levels of iodine and fiber. In addition, the use of vitamins and nori is key to alleviating symptoms of viruses in fish, such as Lymphocystis. All of the above will aid in boosting your fishes’ immune systems. Soaking food in garlic extract may or may not be useful, except that it does seem to stimulate appetite in new fish. (Also read: Possible cure for Viruses like Lympho)

Beta-glucan: This an immunostimulant recommended by our very own @Big G (and backed up by scientific research.) The below information has been posted with his permission:

​

The “pea trick” is something I want to briefly touch upon. A fish with constipation may look similar to one with a swim bladder disorder.

The latter is difficult to treat, so always try the “pea trick” before considering a venting procedure. Just feed 1 or 2 peeled boiled green peas (same kind you & I eat) for a few days. It is thought that the fiber contained in the peas help to “push things out.”

There are a slew of herbal remedies on the market and some hobbyists believe that these will “cure” their fish or tank of some disease. Although they are rarely capable of 100% eradication, these remedies may help manage the symptoms of a disease – sometimes indefinitely. Most herbal remedies accomplish this by boosting a fish’s immune system and thickening the slime coat to withstand symptoms. It is thought if a fish can “live with” a pathogen long enough, it’s immune system will eventually acquire immunity or resistance. Whether the immunity/resistance is permanent or only temporary is a matter of debate. Also, these “immune” fish are oftentimes still asymptomatic carriers, capable of transmitting disease to non-immune fish.

Employing this strategy sometimes works, sometimes not; or sometimes it works for a while and then stops (and the fish dies.) It’s largely dependent upon the overall health of the fish (and the tank in general) as well as the severity of the disease being “managed.” Utilizing a UV sterilizer, diatom filter, ozone, oxydator or some other tool to dilute the number of free swimmers in the water column helps as well. Examples of herbal remedies commonly available include:

• For parasites/worms: Herbtana, Fritz Aquatics Parashield, Kick-Ich
• For bacterial diseases: Artemiss, MelaFix, PimaFix
• Dips & baths: Seachem ParaGuard, Ruby Reef Hydroplex, Blue Life Instant Quarantine

Pros – Many of the above products are considered reef safe. Vitamins & Herbal Remedies can improve the overall health of your fish, and sometimes (but not always) will buy you time until a proper treatment (using medication) can be done.

Cons/Side Effects – May lure a hobbyist into a false sense of security, which can delay more proven/reliable treatment options.

So if you had to pick 1-2 general ones, what options “cover the bases” best? I don’t want to have a line of supplement’s longer than my grandpa’s but if there are one or two main ones (80/20 rule) I’d love to get these and start adding to food. It seems like selcon may be up there.

Is it more effective to add to dry food or frozen food (thawed, of course)?

Is once/day dosing recommended, or more often? Or every time the fish are fed?

 

[Jposch]

Beta glucan is a good one. I think it was @Big G who said to use every other week? Best way I've seen is with freeze dried food and vacuum pump. Link is in my signature.

 

[Humblefish]

Beta glucan is a good one. I think it was @Big G who said to use every other week? Best way I've seen is with freeze dried food and vacuum pump. Link is in my signature.

+1 I would alternate being using Selcon, Zoecon and Beta-glucan.

 

[MarSch]

Follow up question regarding frozen food: I have made my own frozen food mix and added some supplements (AminoMego & Vita-chem) to the mix, then re-frozen it all.
Will this still retain the benefits, or will freezing it destroy most of the benefits?

 

[Jposch]

Should be fine. The only effect of freezing that I know of, is on HGH, which is branch chain amino acids. The fast thawing breaks the chain bonds, and makes the amino acid more bioavalible for coral. If you can dig up the "Blu coral" or "papone" method, it is mentioned there. The stuff you are buying in a bottle is not going to be HGH (Human steroids) I add amino acids and vitamins to my good that is refeozen as well.

 

[jp_75]

When you guys add Beta Glucan to food you bind it with Focus?

 

[DexterB]

When you guys add Beta Glucan to food you bind it with Focus?

No. I think most of us follow this recipe by Big G. I’ll post below.
It is listed in Post#1 of this thread.

Focus is used to bind medications to food. But I just add Beta Glucan as directed by Big G’s recommendations.

 

[Jposch]

i use freeze dried food and it soaks it up well vs. trying to stick stuck to the outside

 

[Dierks]

When you guys add Beta Glucan to food you bind it with Focus?

You can do this as well Just mix up the Beta Gluten, Focus and some water. Then soak your Mysis or pour the liquid over pellets. Of course the other to mentioned also work a bit better!

 

[leebca]

I might be 'putting my foot into it' but I think there needs to be some clarifications.

Selcon isn't a vitamin supplement. I know it is sold like this. This is the hype from the maker (American Marine). It contains mostly fat (three main ingredients: Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Vitamin C and B12). That's a lot of fat, some Vitamin C and B12. Marine fish need many more vitamins than these two. This isn't a vitamin source. It is a fat source. It IS a very important fat supplement that I advocate for the same in: Fish Nutrition.

Zoecon is in the same category: A fat supplement. From the Kent (makers of Zoecon) website: "KENT Marine Zoecon is properly preserved food enrichment product designed to provide freshwater and saltwater fish essential marine lipids. Using Zoecon as a food soak and fortifier of live foods increases the portion of lipids and highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA’s) in the fish’s diet." ("Lipids" are fats). Kent does not claim this to be a vitamin supplement, but a fat supplement. I support and recommend this product as a fat supplement in Fish Nutrition.

Compare the above to an actual marine fish vitamin supplement, like Vita-Chem. Reviewing their ingredients:
Vita-Chem Marine Ingredients:
Ascorbic acid, marine algae (ulva and kelp), marine sponges (Cliona cliona), marine plankton extract, biotin, soluble brewer's yeast, cobalamine concentrate, L-Lysine HCL, d-alpha tocopherol, inositol folic acid, and hydrochloride monohydrate.

Guaranteed Analysis (per ounce)
Vita-Chem Marine
Moisture	90.1% max		Crude Protein	21.8% min
Crude Fat	0.09% min		Crude Fiber	2.0%
Vitamin A	5000 IU		Vitamin B12	40 mg
Vitamin E	32 mg		Thiamine hydrochloride	25 mg
Vitamin K	20 mg		Vitamin C	18 mg
Vitamin B1	12 mg		Vitamin B2	15 mg
Vitamin B6	12 mg		Biotin	4.0 mg
L-Leucine	4.0 mg		Lysine Monohydrochloride	3.0 mg
dl- Phenylalanine	3.0 mg		L-Arginine hydrochloride	2.5 mg
dl-Isoleucine	2.0 mg		Threonine	2.0 mg
L-Methionine	1.0 mg		dl-Tryptophan	1.0 mg
L-Cystine hydrochloride monohydrate	1.0 mg		L-Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate	1.0 mg

Now this is a vitamin supplement!