Best Medicine for Monster Fish? (and it's natural/herbal based)

[islandguy11]

First let me clarify a couple of things:
a) Fortunately few of the fish I have owned have faced serious health issues in the past, so I'm not at all an expert or even well-versed when it comes to medicines and treatments, which I have mostly viewed with some skepticism and only used when absolutely necessary a couple of times -- imho many of them have the potential to cause as many problems as they solve. That said, I am quite pleased that this product is (if it's claims are true), natural-based and made from herbal/plant extracts, and so have more confidence to use it, esp. as a preventive measure. Simplistic perhaps without knowing all the true ingredients, but just going by gut-feeling.

Whether the medicine presented below is really effective and truly does ALL that it states though, I really can't say -- it's some pretty big claims they make... That said, as I mention below it seems to have worked very well in the situations I have used it recently, and with no noticeable side effects at all to fish or beneficial bacteria.

b) For the record I have absolutely no connection whatsoever with the company that makes this product (Ocean Free/Qian Hu), except as a customer who buys some of their products, which I generally consider to be quite good quality/value for cost. It's not very easy to find U.S. or European made aqua goods in Asia; I have found OF to be one of the next best line of products we have easier access to here in Thailand/SEA. In fact they are Singaporean based and one of the world's largest aquarium hobby related companies, manufacturing & distributing over 5,000 aquarium products and they're also one of Asia's largest exporters of ornamental fish (and one of Singapore's 'founding' Arowana breeding farms). Singapore is as strict or stricter than the U.S. when it comes to quality control, so this also give me some confidence.

Anyway what I am referring to is Ocean Free's 'O' Arowana Disease -- which is not to be confused with its more limited-in-scope predecessor, OF 'O' Anchor Worm and Fish Lice (Blue).

Below is information copy & pasted from OF's website, but first let me point out that as OF mentions this medicine is for "Arowana, stingray and other medium to big size fish." So despite the name it's not only for Arowana, though it likewise might not be suitable or tested for smaller fish (esp. at stated suggesting dosing), so caveat emptor in this regard.

Also another good point of this medicine, which I have confirmed directly by FB message with OF, is that being a herbal remedy, unlike many other meds you don't need to turn off your UV sterilizer; according to OF it won't affect the medicine at all.

But take a look and let me know what you think....
______________________________________________________________________________________

• Special made and essence from special herbal plants
• The ultimate cure for Arowana diseases
• Essential live saving medication for Arowanas
• Specially formulated for disease prevention and curing

Formulated for Arowanas

Arowanas originate from natural rivers, resulting in their special body structure, build and survival habit. Most, if not all Arowanas are fed on live or frozen food in captivity. As such, the chances of infection from parasites/diseases are high. As Arowanas are sensitive to medicinal treatments, it is essential to be very careful in medicine selection as the use of wrong medication will harm, and in the worst case, cause death of the fish.


Due to the above mentioned, Arowana keepers always face great difficulty in choosing the right medication for their fishes. A lot of times, unnecessary delay is caused by the delay of selecting the right medication, therefore prolonging the essential treatment period.


To solve this problem, Ocean Free® spent many years on the research/study of Arowana healing through Arowana farming and working with Arowana hobbyists. The product is tested under different weather conditions, water quality and habit of Arowana rearing. Arowana types tested range from premium Violet Fusion Red strain to Green Arowanas. Exotic wild caught freshwater stingrays were also included in the experiment. The result is the breakthrough and effective Herbal remedy, Ocean Free® Arowana ‘0’ Disease.


Tested and Proven Herbal Remedy

Formulated with natural extracts from herbal plants, there are no side effects or residue problems. This product is environmentally safe and do not cause pollution. It is also high in safety density in regards to dosing, and it is indeed the ultimate cure for most diseases. Functions as Bactericide, Parasitic, Fungicide, Gill Disease cure and prevention of most diseases.

FEATURES
For the prevention/curing of the following:

• Bacteria infection: Rotting of tail, body, fin, head, popping eyes, ulcer, dropsy and infection of wound etc.
• Parasite infection: White spots, cloudy eyes, body slime, small sized external parasite (hexamita, trichodina, nematodes etc) and gill flakes etc.
• Fungus infection: Cotton wool disease of tail, body, fins, head and fungi infection.
• Gill disease infection: Rotting gills, sleeping disease, abnormal movement of gills and all other gill related diseases.
• Kills bacteria and improve water quality.
• Stop cross infection of new entrant fishes in existing tank/pond.

As mentioned this product is made with Arowana lovers in mind that faced with the above mentioned problems. 90% of all diseases are all under the scope of this product. As long as right dosages are administered, the success rate of curing is high. For prevention purposes a by-weekly dosage is enough already, this will help Arowanas to be prevented of all said diseases. A definite must-have for all Arowana lovers.

DOSAGE

• Add 1ml per 10L of water. This process can be repeated in 5 days time and no water change is needed. Only after medicinal treatment process, the need to change water or not can be gauged.
• For preventive dosage, add 1ml to every 20L of water in every two weeks time.
• When there are new entrant fishes, dose 1ml to every 10L of water. Do so every 3 days to totally eradicate bacteria and parasites.

APPLICATIONS

Specially formulated for Arowana/Stingray and other medium to big sized fishes.
125ml treats up to 2,500 liters
___________________________________________________________________________________

So again some pretty big claims as you can see and again I really don't know if it accomplishes all it says. But here is my personal experience thus far:
a) My Goldenhead Arowana lost a scale on his 2nd day in first tank (spooked by light change and hit the lid); been treating with this med and it's healing very nicely and coloring up more quickly than I reckoned from reading many posts about such scale loss; there has been no secondary infections.
b) Said fish also got a small scrape near his mouth; it was completely healed within a couple of days.
c) My Kamfa Flowerhorn got a (fungal?) growth coming out of one of his nostrils after we moved to our new house a few months ago, due to stress from the move and new well water. After treating that night with 'O', the next day it was completely gone and hasn't come back since.
d) 2 weeks ago my Flowerhorn got a quite decent scrape that shredded about 2 cm of scales off. Within 2 days of treating with 'O' it was 95% healed; within 4 days you couldn't really event tell he was injured there, it had completely healed, even the damaged pearls came back in perfectly.

So this is just my 2 cents, take it for what it's worth. Unfortunately I don't think it's super easy to find this product in the U.S. at this time, it's somewhat newer and for some reason OF simply doesn't have great market penetration in the U.S. -- I saw a couple of listings on Amazon but they were currently out of stock.

Hope some members find this post useful, and I'm keen to hear any feedback, esp. from those who know a lot more about meds/diseases than I do -- @RD fire away buddy Is this the real deal or just another Asian Snake Oil Potion?

 

[islandguy11]

Btw, while hard to find on Amazon I did see 'O' Arowana Disease on Ebay for $12.00/bottle, but won't put a link here as I don't know if it's permissible; just Google it.

 

[RD.]

I have some experience with some of their products, shipped from Singapore to my friend that imported Asian aros. Never used this product , maybe I missed it but what do they list for ingredients? One of my biggest issues with this companies products along with other Asian made products, is they often don't list ingredients. Not a huge problem, as one generally doesn't find any of their products for sale in Canada. At least not where I live. I'm glad to hear that it's worked out for you.

 

[RD.]

BTW.... For minor scrapes etc my experience has always been to simply keep the tank water super clean, and at the most possibly add some salt. Most fish will recover on their own.

 

[Rocksor]

Agree with RD about the minor scrapes part. Here's a 3 week progression of healing for a scrape on my past O with just 2-3 x weekly water changes.

 

[islandguy11]

I have some experience with some of their products, shipped from Singapore to my friend that imported Asian aros. Never used this product , maybe I missed it but what do they list for ingredients? One of my biggest issues with this companies products along with other Asian made products, is they often don't list ingredients. Not a huge problem, as one generally doesn't find any of their products for sale in Canada. At least not where I live. I'm glad to hear that it's worked out for you.

I think this particular product just came out in 2018 RD --- OF has a another pretty good line of Flowerhorn & Arowana meds that don't fall under the 'O' herbal remedy line, though they all claim not to harm other inhabitants, plants or beneficial bacteria. I also have used their 'Disease Away' as a preventive measure or when quarantining, but if I had a choice would usually prefer something herbal/natural based.

But you bring up the very point that I expected you would, and justifiably so, it's also my main beef with Asian companies -- they're so secretive about their products and 'special ingredients' because they know esp. the local competition will copy them. It makes me wonder though if they are still required to make private reports to some gov't body about ingredients in their products, esp. in Singapore (kinda doubt it in China).

Along these lines though, OF/Qian Hu is a pretty well-respected company in Asia, ISO 9002 certified and listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, with quite a few Singaporean gov't awards. While many companies exaggerate their products' benefits at least to some degree, I would personally reckon/hope they wouldn't make such big claims only to have many customers fish dying despite using this product, too much to risk for a single product. So in this case I guess you can say I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

That said, yes, I have used it so far to deal with relatively minor issues -- I have absolutely no idea (and personally hope not to find out) if it could say, cure an already sick fish of something more serious like Hexamita, Columnaris, Popeye, Velvet, etc.

 

[islandguy11]

Agree with RD about the minor scrapes part. Here's a 3 week progression of healing for a scrape on my past O with just 2-3 x weekly water changes.

Yep water changes, some salt and time have also always been my approach with minor scrapes and wounds -- but the difference in time was quite dramatic when I treated with 'O' -- instead of 1-3 weeks it only took 4 days to completely heal (my FH's wound was about 2/3 the size of your Oscar's).

And especially here in the tropics with our high, year-round tank temps, such a time difference can make all the difference in the world when it comes to preventing secondary infections. After about 6 or 7 days you couldn't even tell there had been an injury at all, no scar and complete re-growth of scales and pearls.

 

[RD.]

It seems to me impossible that an all natural herbal based treatment, could be effective against so many different diseases. I have posted about Qian Hu in the past, personally I'm not a big fan of companies that hide behind secret ingredients. I also don't have to worry about tropical temperatures here in NW Canada, but you make a good point about secondary infections.

 

[islandguy11]

It seems to me impossible that an all natural herbal based treatment, could be effective against so many different diseases. I have posted about Qian Hu in the past, personally I'm not a big fan of companies that hide behind secret ingredients. I also don't have to worry about tropical temperatures here in NW Canada, but you make a good point about secondary infections.

Yeah Neil I have to say a part of me also feels at least somewhat skeptical it really covers all those diseases listed (in fact their literature refers to "...90% of all-found diseases can be included the scope of this treatment".)

But frankly even if it covered most of those diseases, and without any side effects or big risk of overdosing -- something few other meds can claim (again I'm no expert but maybe Praziquantel comes the closest of such popular meds) -- then I'd still consider to use it for minor things, because I've personally seen it work very well.

In the case of more serious diseases, I think I'd at least try it before I tried something harsher like Copper, Metronidazole, Methylene Blue, Malachite Green, etc. (esp. if I had a very sensitive species like stingrays).

And I totally understand your sentiments about companies hiding their secret ingredients, it's frustrating. I guess it's mostly kind of a cultural thing: business strategies/paranoia aside, I think it safe to say the average local fish keeper in SEA isn't as scientifically versed (or concerned) as those from most Western countries, unless they happen to be an MFK'er Just go onto 2 of the bigger SEA Arowana forums (I think both Singaporean-based but not sure) and one will see very little in the way of scientific presentation/discussion (lol they're too busy calling each other shifu/master and the like). Or go into 99% of LFS here in Thailand and ask them what their water PH or temperature is and they'll look at you like you just asked them how much the moon weighs.

I really don't want to come across as an OF fanboy (in fact I'd love to see one of their reps come on here to defend their product and tell us more), I'm just trying to give what limited info I have about a newish product that has worked for me in a limited tested capacity. In the future I hope can read about others' experience (pro or con)

But for now I'll leave a pic of some info from a pamphlet I just found inside the box, whether it's all true or BS, again I couldn't say for sure ("This is a miracle must have product for all fish hobbyist." Lol I'll bet that will convince the skeptics. That said, 5 million fish tested on isn't anything to sneeze at if true:

 

[RD.]

In the case of more serious diseases, I think I'd at least try it before I tried something harsher like Copper, Metronidazole, Methylene Blue, Malachite Green, etc. (esp. if I had a very sensitive species like stingrays).

Agreed, I have always been one to start small (clean water, salt), and work my way up the "medication" ladder. I don't even keep meds on hand, as generally the only time I have needed them is for newly purchased fish. And usually that only equates to feeding NLS Hex-Shield, and I have been good to go.

But no matter what this company says, I cannot get my mind around a product that is represented as being "total herbal based", being able to resolve "90% of all found diseases". It just doesn't add up. Someone else would have ran this product through their labs, and come out with a similar product by now, with a new name. This would be HUGE in aquatic circles, akin to a cure for cancer.

This is also the same company that markets several different flowerhorn foods (Ocean Free), each with a different twist, those for color, another for shine, another for pearls, another for large kok, etc. I haven't looked in several yrs, but in the past their XO Humpy Head food listed special head growth enhancing ingredient, as the main ingredient. Huh? "special head growth enhancing ingredient ", which IMO is nothing more than a marketing gimmick, or hormones. Either way it sends a red flag up for me.

In Asia the use of hormones is quite common, which is why many of the juvenile cichlids imported from Asian farms are fully colored, at sexually immature sizes.

Qian Hu also sells dyed fish, as well as tattooed fish. Check out the convict cichlid.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm just not buying it. Any lab in the world would be able to determine their "secret" ingredient in pretty short order, so keeping it off their labels doesn't add up either.