Has anyone tried coconut oil to kill parasites?

[Greg D]

I know coconut oil kills heartworms in dogs. I wonder if the fish would eat it, and kill any parasites. My tank isn't set up yet, but maybe this could work for someone.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I know coconut oil kills heartworms in dogs. I wonder if the fish would eat it, and kill any parasites. My tank isn't set up yet, but maybe this could work for someone.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Interesting question.

A couple of years ago, a Reef2Reef member posted the supposed ingredients for a product called Hydroplex. He said it contains: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Methylparben, octyl dodecanol, polysorbate-20, polyvinal pyrolidone, potassium phosphate, potassium sorbate, propylparaben.

The first item, capric acid, is a fatty acid, often derived from coconut oil. I'm pretty good at running Internet searches and I tried to find anywhere that it lists those ingredients, but I could not find anything, so I'm not sure how accurate that post was. The Ruby Reef company that makes Hydroplex does not list a SDS or ingredient list for this product online, so I was not able to confirm that.

In any event, there is no evidence that coconut oil added to the water is effective in aquariums at levels that won't also clog the fish's gills, or cause water quality problems.

I also could not find any report of dosing that orally in fish to control parasites. That would certainly avoid the issues of adding it to the water, but oral dosing is difficult in fish with any medication. Here is an article I wrote up on that:

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

This article offers information about developing medicated foods for aquarium fish

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Greg D]

Thanks for the reply! I'm thinking a fish might eat a little dab if dropped in. Would be interesting to see.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have no faith in ude of coconut oil which is similar to use of tea tree oil as used in melafix. Hydroplex also has ingredients used for acne - I again have zero faith in it