Hi Fishowner,
At 32C(+) for just shy of 3days the first time, then let it back to ~30 in the day & ~28 overnight night when we had the ich-resurgence.
I've got it back to ~32 now. All the tetras have died and loaches seem unfazed, so will keep it there through the weekend ... though the river gobies now are starting to gasp and were never (visibly) infected/ill. Not seeing further illness nor signs of illness on further loaches, but also not getting a clear look as they're hiding now that their "dither" buddies are gone. Added a big handful of known-clean MTS for a) tidy-up including parasite cysts/spores (an old rumour/thought from Loaches Online) and b) loach snacks. Also added 1/4 of an almond leaf as that's been helpful with loach vigour/issues/wounds in the past. I'll deal with the tinted water later.
To the topic: No, I don't think the garlic helped with the parasite.
Notes:
i) through all of this carnage & stress, the near-dead scrawny, warped little RTS that came in the same shipment of the infected tetras has rallied like nobody's business- nearly croaked with first bout of heat though never had a visible spot, & now lookin' good & putting on a little belly. This rally coincided with the garlic.
ii) Betta tanked as temperature came back down and has also rallied since temp went back up, also coinciding with be the garlic.
iii) All tetras nose-dived with re-treatment - which may have been the temp, the infection (in gills?) or the garlic.
Species specificity to garlic positive/negative? Silver dollars in adjacent system also ate the infused kibble without drama.
Finally: still not totally convinced it is/was ich - only presented "classical" with spots on some cardinal tetras, and all tetras & live breeders gasped at surface until they died. Only visibly spotty cards gasped with first bout of heat; O2 was/is good with lots of surface water flow (so long as gill function normal?)
Having said that, I do think this was "just" a temperature & salt-tolerant Ich strain that survived (targeted?) in the gills long enough to kill the host, before finally succumbing (touch-wood...). Garlic might work better on a lesser strain.
