What is Usnea?

Scientific name: Usnea barbata
Usnea is a lichen of the family Parmeliaceae that grows in damp temperate woodlands and contains usnic acid. I have found it effective for bacterial (some gram negative and most gram positive), fungal and even parasites such ich.
The other active ingredient (besides usnic acid) is mucilage.




A natural antibiotic it has also proven effective against gram positive bacteria, such Mycobacterium tuberculosis (making Usnea a great alternative to Isoniazid). Scientists believe that usnic acid works by disrupting cellular metabolism, either by preventing the formation of ATP which is the cells' energy source or by the stopping the action of oxidative phosphorylization. Usnea may also be a better choice than the drug metronidazole (as per human studies) for parasites and anaerobic bacterial treatments in aquariums.
Usnea contains potent antibiotic and antifungal agents that are broad spectrum and effective against all gram-positive and tuberculosis bacterium.

It is also noteworthy that Usnea is edible, with no known toxic side effects from ingestion in animal and human studies and as well is an excellent source of Vitamin C as well.

More information about Usnea;

Test tube studies have suggested an anti-cancer and an anti-viral activity for usnic acid. This may also make Usnea useful for the hard to treat aquatic viral disease; Lymphocystis (which is usually not fatal in otherwise healthy fish). The human studies can also be transferred to fish for tumors. I personally have not tested this enough as of writing this article, but based on human studies and the few tests I have done, usnic acid shows promise here.

Here are preliminary results based on my tests and tests on humans or veterinary application that can be extrapolated to fish:

*Topical treatment. This is where there is a lot of evidence is for usefulness. This has been shown in human and my own treatments to be very useful for wounds (many Native Americans used Usnea as a compress for battle wounds to prevent infection and gangrene)

*Gill infections due to the Mucilage (gluey substance produced by most plants and some microorganisms) contained in the Usnea which has been shown to have healing properties in areas of respiration.

*Digestive problems (which is an area where much human research also has shown significant effectiveness). Usnea can be a replacement for Neomycin or Metronidazole for use in digestive diseases, possible swim bladder infections and even possibly Dropsy (although there is limited evidence of usefulness for Dropsy as of yet).

*Tumors and cancers in fish, especially Carp Pox which is very coomon in Koi and Goldfish and often appears as tumor like growths, usually "whitish" although sometimes the same color as surrounding scales (this though is more likely a tumor)
-VERY Preliminary reults so far.

*Fish Tuberculosis

*Intestinal Problems, Usnea (usnic acid) has similar properties to Metronidazole here.


Symptoms of Lymphocystis:

* Whitish patches or irregular growths on the fish most commonly on the tail and fins.

* These eventually become quite large and give rise to the name Cauliflower Disease.
This remedy is still in the testing phase, but early results are promising. The Usnea Lichen is proving to be the most effective natural remedy early in my testing this lichen is boiled like a tea then added to the aquarium. The only dangers that have been established (in human studies) are in rare cases liver damage, which would make this a poor choice for dropsy.


Application:

I boil one small sprig in 6 oz. of water and add this to every 10-20 gallons of water every day until cure is effective +2 days

If interested in some Usnea for your own trials, you can purchase (.2 oz, enough for 200 gallons of treatment for $8.94 including shipping), please use this Google Button to purchase (it can also be purchased in the last drop down in the Pay Now menu here: SeaChem and other treatments):