Oregon Grape, Berberine for Aquarium Fish Treatment

 

OVERVIEW:

Berberine is a plant based alkaloid that has been used medicinally for a long time in both Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine.
The Berberine alkaloid is present many plants including: Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal), Coptis chinensis (Coptis or goldenthread), Berberis vulgaris (barberry), Berberis aristata (tree turmeric), and most notably Berberis aquifolium (Oregon grape).

The berberine alkaloid is generally found in the roots, rhizomes, and stem bark of the plants.
Berberine extracts and extractions via boiling of dissolved chemicals in the plant roots have demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity against a variety of organisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoans, helminths, and chlamydia.

Currently, the predominant clinical uses of berberine in human use includes bacterial (especially of the gut) diarrhea, intestinal parasite infections, and ocular trachoma infections.
Oregon grape root has synergistic antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and bile-stimulating properties as well.

The picture above shows an Oregon Grape Root Plant along with the rhizomous roots with their brilliant yellow pigment in the inner bark shown in the inset.

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AQUARIUM USE IMPLICATIONS:

Aquarium or pond use of Oregon Grape Root is still in its infancy as of writing this article, however based on human use, and how this this product works, there is clearly a lot of promise as both a treatment of its own and as a back up to other treatment in wide ranging problems from Columnaris to internal parasites of fish.

Oregon Grape Root has potential to aid in antibiotic effectiveness in treatment of difficult to treat diseases such as Columnaris as it contains a specific multi drug resistance pump inhibitor (MDR Inhibitor).

Resistant bacteria work by utilizing a pumping mechanism in its cell that when antibiotics enter that cell the pump immediately pumps out the antibiotics so it can have no effect on the MRSA cell. Oregon Grape Root works by blocking the bacteria's ability to pump out antibiotics.
Quoted Reference: [1]

Here is a list of Potential Treatments using Powdered Oregon Grape Root:

• Eye infections
• External wounds
• Mouth infections
• Inflammation
• Intestinal Parasites
• Digestive issues, including Dropsy

Use; Do NOT use tinctures, rather powdered forms that are generally available in capsule form, although concentration can vary greatly (I recommend Solaray brand from Nutraceutical, but I have not tried evert brand either).

Current and experimental use is opening a 400 mg Oregon Grape Root Capsule into 10 gallons of water along with the antibiotics such as Nitrofurazone and Kanamycin. This can be added to the aquarium or a fish bath that also employs Methylene Blue and possibly other antibiotics (20-30 minutes in a fish bath).
Use in conjunction with other medications is suggested in most moderate to serious infections or internal worm infestations.

References:

Organic Aquarium Medications; Oregon Grape Root

Aquarium, Fish Parasites, Worms; Treatment of Internal Nematodes

Oregon Grape; Wild Medicines

From medical herbalism to phytotherapy in dermatology: back to the future

hBerberine

I personally have had the best results from the Solaray brand of Grape Root capsules, likely do to purity of the powdered grape root in the capsules

Product Resource:
Solaray Oregon Grape Root

Suggested other aquarium information resources & products:

Fish Diseases | How to Treat Sick Fish

Replacement Aquarium/Pond UV Bulbs
Replacement of your UV Sterilizer's UV Bulb/Lamp every six months with a true level 1 capable bulb is a MUST for optimum disease prevention and aid in Redox balance.


Purchasing Aquarium & Pond Equipment via Amazon

Amazon Reviews for Aquarium Products

Aquarium Forums for Information such as LED Lighting, UV, Filters, more

Praziquantel as an Aquarium Fish Treatment for Worms, etc.

 

Praziquantel is an anthelmintic (an-thel-MIN-tik) or anti-worm medication.

It aids in preventing worms and treating infections caused by the worm.
Praziquantel treats schistosoma (infection of worm that lives in the bloodstream), liver flukes (infection of worm that lives in or near the liver), and gill fluke (infection of worms that live on the gills).
It also treats skin flukes, flat worm, tape worms, and turbellarians (sub-division of flat worm).
Praziquantel does NOT treat pinworms or roundworms.

The picture to the left displays a magnified Gill Fluke. The inset shows a a lessor magnification attached to a gill filament.


Praziquantel works by causing major spasms to the worm causing them to be paralyzed.
The worm is then destroyed in the intestine of the host or is passed through the body of the host through their stool.
Praziquantel can be used in humans, cats, dogs, fish, and others.

The advantage of Praziquantel is that it's harmless to all species including fish and is not toxic to plants. It also has no negative impact on aquarium filters, while clearing the worms fast and fully, even with fry.
However, Praziquantel is not the strongest for more serious intestinal worms/parasites. For more serious cases the best choice (while still safe) is Pipzine
Resource: AAP Pipzine

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Treatment:

For fish use, in tank treatment is the best.
The medication is absorbed directly from the treated water into the fish.

Typically, one treatment is all that is needed to cure the infection. The traditional suggestion for fluke infestation is repeating a single treatment in four or five days after the first treatment is given to kill emerging larvae which may have survived.

There are no known side effects of Praziquatel, but there have been studies to show it can become toxic in high volumes, which are somewhere around 40x to 50x greater than recommended dosing.

Further recommended use of this medication for fish requires any carbon to be removed from the tank and UV sterilizers to be disconnected from electrical power (turned off).
This is due to both of these striping the medication out of the tank, making it useless. The medication can also be administered by soaking the fishes food (10-15 mins) in the Praziquatel and then feeding to affected fish.

For more information on food delivery of medications, please see:
Aquarium Medications

Sources of Praziquatel:

• Hikari PraziPro


• API General Cure


• Parasite Guard

For further information on flukes and worms, please see this excellent article:
Aquarium Answers Parasites Article

To step up to a higher level of Aquarium/Pond Fish Care, I highly suggest reading this article that provides factual information about the use of UVC Sterilization to prevent fish disease, not only directly but more importantly by improving fish immune response by also improving water parameters such as Redox Balance:


References:

• http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR601147
• http://www.pondcrisis.com/a_praziquantel.html
• http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00926798#page-1
• http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/aadap/PDF/WAS07%20Drug%20Session/1630%20hr%20A%20Mitchell%2027feb07.pdf

VIDEO

AAP Professional Aquarium & Pond Medications
THE BEST AQUARIUM TREATMENTS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! Fresh Product found EXCLUSIVELY at AAP

Suggested other reading & aquarium products:

AAP Spectrogram
THERE IS NO MORE EFFECTIVE treatment for Fish Columnaris!!

Fish Diseases | How to Treat Sick Fish

AAP Wonder Shells
The ONLY Authorized online seller of the full line of this unique product. Only FRESH product, not clearance product!!

For PREMIUM Replacement UV Bulbs that are the best low pressure high efficiency bulbs, not the 7-14% poor efficiency bulbs sold on eBay or Amazon for prices lower than it costs to make the better low pressure UV Bulbs:
High Efficiency UV Bulbs

For premium USDA food grade certified aquarium silicone sealant:
Premium Aquarium Silicone
Most silicones are not USDA certified, thus you are placing your fish in an environment that may be less safe if you use these lesser silicones sold at most hardware and even pet stores.