Regular Member Desiree Posted July 25, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted July 25, 2008 Hello everyone! I have a TON of basil growing in my window and I'm curious, can I feed it to my goldfish? From what I gather, it's high in antioxidants. It's been growing with no chemicals, just regular old water and sunlight. My fish LOVE spinach and even the occasional pea; so I imagine they would like it. My main concern is, is it safe? Any thoughts? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Desiree Posted July 25, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 25, 2008 Anyone? Anyone? (In the voice of Ben Stein, ala Ferris Bueller's Day Off) ** Sorry for the impatience... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dfernandez77 Posted July 25, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted July 25, 2008 Let's see... Mine have had: broccoli peas kiwi fruit pineapple spinach romaine garlic I'd give the Basil a shot - but I'm no expert. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Desiree Posted July 25, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 25, 2008 Mine get some of that stuff too... I was only concerned about Basil because it's an herb. I've never heard of anyone feeding herbs before... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isilme Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 That would be an interesting topic: curing gf diseases with herbs I don't know if anyone ever tried this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member jyoti411 Posted July 27, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2008 I never thought of basil...yeah I would be concerned too cos its a herb...but again its a leaf..so I think it would be good.. What I had on my mind was cilantro...I really want to try cilantro...has anyone tried that??? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member lynda441 Posted July 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted July 28, 2008 I can only find info based on human usage, so, interpretation needs to be done from there: "Medicinal Uses Medicinally basil is used both as an antidepressant and an antiseptic. Leaves can be rubbed on the skin to relive itching from insect bites. The leaves are also made into a concoction with honey and used for cough syrup. The essential oil extracted from the leaves can be used as an insect repellent or massage oil to aid in depression and anxiety. It has a powerful taste and may take some getting used to. (Source: Herbs and Herb Gardening, Jessica Houdret)" Basil is extremely high in Vitamin A. Basil is not poisonous to cats or dogs. So, it has a good vitamin, it is a good antiseptic and while we typically don't worry about depressed fish, that application could be applied to an ill fish and it relieves itching. It's powerful tasting, but gf like garlic, so go figure. I'd say it almost sounds like basil might be a good plant-based food to give to nurse a fish to health and/or to give for a fish suffering from a skin related illness, such as parasites or a healing scrape.... just my uneducated deductions..... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isilme Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I can only find info based on human usage, so, interpretation needs to be done from there:"Medicinal Uses Medicinally basil is used both as an antidepressant and an antiseptic. Leaves can be rubbed on the skin to relive itching from insect bites. The leaves are also made into a concoction with honey and used for cough syrup. The essential oil extracted from the leaves can be used as an insect repellent or massage oil to aid in depression and anxiety. It has a powerful taste and may take some getting used to. (Source: Herbs and Herb Gardening, Jessica Houdret)" Basil is extremely high in Vitamin A. Basil is not poisonous to cats or dogs. So, it has a good vitamin, it is a good antiseptic and while we typically don't worry about depressed fish, that application could be applied to an ill fish and it relieves itching. It's powerful tasting, but gf like garlic, so go figure. I'd say it almost sounds like basil might be a good plant-based food to give to nurse a fish to health and/or to give for a fish suffering from a skin related illness, such as parasites or a healing scrape.... just my uneducated deductions..... That's true indeed. I would be careful thought, because not everything that is good for us is good for animals (certain drugs like penicillin can be lethal for animals such as guinea pigs and garlic and chocolate are poisonous for cats and dogs). It would be interesting to know if you can use herbs to treat gf, but I can't find any literature about it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member lynda441 Posted July 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted July 28, 2008 That's true indeed. I would be careful thought, because not everything that is good for us is good for animals (certain drugs like penicillin can be lethal for animals such as guinea pigs and garlic and chocolate are poisonous for cats and dogs). It would be interesting to know if you can use herbs to treat gf, but I can't find any literature about it. Yeah, I still myself would be hestitant and you've said. And I too, couldn't find any literature on herbs and fish. Okay, I guess it's time for Acupunk to expand! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Desiree Posted July 29, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 29, 2008 (edited) Thanks for all the info Lynda! Well, not that this answers whether it's safe or not... but, the other night I tore of a big leaf from my basil and put it on the veggie clip. They were rather suspicious of it at first, but quickly devoured it; literally to the "stem" within minutes. I think they like it even more than spinach. But, I'll hold off on feeding it regularly until I'm sure it's 100% safe. Edited July 29, 2008 by Desiree 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member justkeepswimming Posted August 2, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 2, 2008 Thanks for all the info Lynda! Well, not that this answers whether it's safe or not... but, the other night I tore of a big leaf from my basil and put it on the veggie clip. They were rather suspicious of it at first, but quickly devoured it; literally to the "stem" within minutes. I think they like it even more than spinach. But, I'll hold off on feeding it regularly until I'm sure it's 100% safe. i'd be interested to know if your fish had any weird reactions to this, my dad grows a lot of basil in his garden, and we tend to have too much to eat most of the time. did the fish have any trouble biting it raw or was it fairly easy for them? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Desiree Posted August 3, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 3, 2008 So far so good. They really seem to like it and I haven't seen any negative effects from it. They eat it just as they do spinach, raw. They like to swim up to it, attached to the Veggie Clip and rip the living you know what out of it... Hahah! Within a couple hours it's gone. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Jeana727 Posted August 15, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 15, 2008 (edited) I have been giving it to my fish now and then for months! Just wondering: Why would Herbs be bad for them? Edited August 15, 2008 by Jeana727 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isilme Posted August 17, 2008 Share Posted August 17, 2008 Herbs may contain natural compounts that have been and are being used as drugs in medecine. You know, herbal medecine and such. Some compounds might be toxic for some animals and plants. You can use certain herbs to kill insects for example and garlic is toxic for cats. That's why you should always be careful with herbs when you want to use them on animals, babies and pregnant women. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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