Aloe vera

[gwand]

Fish store person recommended a product with aloe vera to use after water changes and when adding new fish to the tank. Anything to this? Thanks.

 

[Rocky998]

Fish store person recommended a product with aloe vera to use after water changes and when adding new fish to the tank. Anything to this? Thanks.

No. Aloe Vera clogs the gills on a fish and it doesn't really come out with water changes either. Some studies though show its safe BUT it's better to be safe than sorry

 

[Archerfish]

In my opinion, it is comparable to snake oil for a healthy fish.

 

[GaryE]

I expect it is safe but completely useless. The fish supply companies are falling over themselves to find new angles for sales, and they provide marketing info to stores. People fall for it, even store employees.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Probably doesn't hurt anything in low doses, but I'd have to see some science to be convinced it does any good.

 

[GaryE]

A couple of years ago went into a Naturopathy store, and while I was reading labels, a gentleman in a white lab coat came over, saw what I was holding and started telling the absolutely magical things sniffing it could do. It seemed able to cure almost everything. When he was done he smiled like he'd been patted on the head by angels, and I told him how effectively clove oil could be used to euthanize a fish. I think I ruined his day.
We are suckers for supposed natural additives, the use of the word "biological", garlic, aloe, 'herbal' - it's spred from cosmetics to everything, including the fish world. There are those who believe and those who see these additives as unnecessary at best.
Malachite green, a medicinal dye, is my choice for quickly and effectively treating Ich parasites, but there are fishkeepers I greatly respect who denounce it as a chemical. I'm going to start referring to it as an extract from the natural mineral malachite from now on. There is so much stuff like that in our hobby, and marketers spot it.

 

[Rocky998]

A couple of years ago went into a Naturopathy store, and while I was reading labels, a gentleman in a white lab coat came over, saw what I was holding and started telling the absolutely magical things sniffing it could do. It seemed able to cure almost everything. When he was done he smiled like he'd been patted on the head by angels, and I told him how effectively clove oil could be used to euthanize a fish. I think I ruined his day.
We are suckers for supposed natural additives, the use of the word "biological", garlic, aloe, 'herbal' - it's spred from cosmetics to everything, including the fish world. There are those who believe and those who see these additives as unnecessary at best.
Malachite green, a medicinal dye, is my choice for quickly and effectively treating Ich parasites, but there are fishkeepers I greatly respect who denounce it as a chemical. I'm going to start referring to it as an extract from the natural mineral malachite from now on. There is so much stuff like that in our hobby, and marketers spot it.

Yah. Might have really beneficial affects for us, but not for the fish lol

 

[WhistlingBadger]

A couple of years ago went into a Naturopathy store, and while I was reading labels, a gentleman in a white lab coat came over, saw what I was holding and started telling the absolutely magical things sniffing it could do. It seemed able to cure almost everything. When he was done he smiled like he'd been patted on the head by angels, and I told him how effectively clove oil could be used to euthanize a fish. I think I ruined his day.
We are suckers for supposed natural additives, the use of the word "biological", garlic, aloe, 'herbal' - it's spred from cosmetics to everything, including the fish world. There are those who believe and those who see these additives as unnecessary at best.
Malachite green, a medicinal dye, is my choice for quickly and effectively treating Ich parasites, but there are fishkeepers I greatly respect who denounce it as a chemical. I'm going to start referring to it as an extract from the natural mineral malachite from now on. There is so much stuff like that in our hobby, and marketers spot it.

Clove oil and malachite green are both gluten-free! I need to start taking them more.

 

[Byron]

As other members have mentioned, do not use products with aloe vera in them. It does not do what API claim (fortunately), and it is highly likely it will in time decimate fish. As someone said, it affects the gills. It also affects water quality. I know it may take a lot to do this, over time, but I do not see how anyone can add such a substance and take the risk.

This was set out in a paper on additives in conditioners, here's the link and an excerpt on aloe vera.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alison-Colotelo/publication/226656472_A_review_of_polymer-based_water_conditioners_for_reduction_of_handling-related_injury/links/5598108e08ae99aa62ca1f6a/A-review-of-polymer-based-water-conditioners-for-reduction-of-handling-related-injury.pdf

Water additives that form a protective ‘‘slime layer’’ will contain a polymer (often PVP or carboxymethyl cellulose [CMC]) or colloid (Table 2). Some additives contain aloe extract from leaves of the Aloe vera plant. Manufacturers of these products claim that the Aloe vera extract promotes healing of damaged tissue. One potential drawback to water additives that contain Aloe vera extract or CMC is the addition of organic waste load that can reduce the water quality and oxygen levels in a closed system. This may not be an issue, depending on the density of fish, length of time fish are held, and oxygen content of the water. However, the effects of these substances on gill tissue are unclear. Taiwo et al. (2005) tested the survival and behavior of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) exposed to different concentrations of aqueous extract of A. vera for up to 96 h. One hundred percent of tilapia exposed to 50 ppm A. vera died within the duration of the experiment. Fish used in this experiment exhibited severe depigmentation and destruction of organs (including gills). The evidence of the toxic effects of A. vera on fish solidifies the need to empirically test water conditioners, and their chemical components, for potential negative effects on fish.​

 

[Back in the fold]

Let me tell a little story. I age my water prior to use and I used to run one of those Penguin power filters to agitate the water. I was dechlorinating with API Stress Coat with aloe Vera. Every week I had to scrub the slime out of that filter before starting my new batch of change water. Now I don’t use that stuff and all my equipment is squeaky clean.
A word to the wise should suffice.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Note- red color for text below was added by me.

Taiwo, V.O., Olukunle, O.A., Ozor, I.C. and Oyejobi, A.T., 2005. Consumption of aqueous extract of raw Aloe vera leaves: histopathological and biochemical studies in rat and tilapia. African Journal of Biomedical Research, 8(3), pp.169-178.

Abstract​

Forty-five juvenile tilapia and 30 weanling albino rats exposed to water containing 50, 100 and 150ppm of aqueous extract of Aloe Vera leaves for 96 hours and 28 days, respectively were used for this study. Fifteen tilapia and 10 rats exposed to clean water (0 ppm A. vera) served as controls. Clinical signs, mortality, gross and histologic organ pathology in the tilapia; weekly haematology, plasma biochemical parameters and organ pathology were monitored in the rats. Fish cultured in water containing A. vera exhibited erratic swimming patterns, rapid opercular movements, skin depigmentation and died within 24-96 hours. Gross and histologic tissue lesions in the test fish include skin depigmentation, pale and shriveled gills, dull, opaque and sunken eyes, stunting and clubbing of gill filaments, vacuolar degeneration and necrosis of gill epithelial cells, hyaline degeneration and necrosis of myofibrils, calcification of vasa vasori, hepatocellular vacuolar degeneration and necrosis. Haematologic and plasma biochemical changes in test rats include moderate to severe normocytic normochromic anaemia, hypoproteinaemia, increased AST levels, and decreased cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Gross and histologic tissue lesions include mild to moderate pulmonary congestion, flabbiness of the heart, hepatomegaly, mottling of kidneys, vacuolar degeneration and necrosis of hepatocytes, Kupffer cell hyperplasia, periportal fibrosis, glomerular and tubular degeneration and necrosis, matting and clubbing of small intestinal villi, catarrhal enteritis and goblet cell hyperplasia. The severity of these changes increased with increasing concentrations of A. vera. No mortality, gross or histologic changes were observed in both control fish and rats. Results from this study show that consumption of water containing extracts of raw A. vera is very toxic to fish and rats. The serious health implication for human consumption of raw A. vera is discussed.

from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajbr/article/view/35746

I had another study bookmarked which found aloe vera not great to use in fish water, but the study has been moved and the bookmark was dead.

I searched the literature for aloe vera use with fish. The way it is used matters. In the water it helps with certain diseases and injuries when it is used as a bath rather than in a tank on a regular basis. It is also useful as a topically applied treatment. It has also pproved somewhat usefull in fish transport. But as something in the fish water regularly I could find no evidence it did good, only potential harm.

The place that aloe vera was found to be useful with fish was as an additive in food. In such studies it mostly had a positive result.

I will not use any product in my tank water that contain aloe vera. This is my decision and others have to decide on for themself to use it or not.

edited for typos