YOUR FISH MIGHT GET LUCKY! OR THEY MAY DIE!
What's not known & What is known about Vitamins and herbal
products and their application to fish.
By Jim E. Quarles
4-12-1999

Herbs are the basis for many of the most helpful medicines, such as morphine and digitalis, along with even aspirin. And scientist are still discovering medicinal mysteries in plants. One recent development is the new anticancer drug paclitzxel which is derived from the needles and bark of the Pacific yew tree.

While some herbal remedies show promise there is little evidence that most ( up to 90% ) remedies Americans spend $ 800 million a year on provide any health benefits. Some have significant health risks. In addition there's no guarantee that product purity or potency will be consistent let alone safe!

If you are considering using these products check with your family doctor first. A lot of this ( junk ) can enter react with other drugs you maybe taking.

IF THIS STUFF IS NOT SAFE FOR YOU WHY GIVE IT
TO YOUR FISH?

Here is a list of some of the effects of some widely promoted herbal supplements.

• Comfrey. Also called borage and coltsfoot. It can cause liver and kidney disease.
• Chaparral. Can cause acute toxic hepatitis ( liver disease.)
• Echinacea. Known to cause allergic reactions.
• Ephedrine. Know to cause strokes and dangerous blood pressure increases. Some times sold under the names Ma Huang, Ephedra, Ultimate Exphria, and other names. Be very careful with this stuff.
• Germanium. Long term use leads to kidney damage and has been linked to death in some cases.
• Ginkgo biolba. Dilates blood vessels and has side effects such as gastrointestinal problems, headaches and allergic skin reactions.
• Ginseng. Known to increase blood pressure and possible strokes.
• Jin bu huan. Acts like a sedative and has caused hepatitis, slow heartbeats drowsiness, and has stopped breathing in children.
• Kombucha tea. A colony of yeast and bacteria, can cause liver and other organ damage, gastrointestinal upset and has been linked to death.

Other products: St. Johns wort, Saw palmetto, Stephania and Yohimbine. These and hundreds of other products sold as health supplements are untested, and what's worse they are un-regulated by any agency of the United States Government.

The way the current law is written, the only time the F.D.A. can get involved is if these supplements either make you sick enough to die or actually kills someone.

THE DANGER OF VITAMINS

Other than ripping you off when you buy these products little can be stated that they are proven effective in humans in most cases and not one cent worth of information that they have any beneficial effect when added to fish food products and fed to tropical fish.

This is an unregulated area for legalized fraud, and actually can cause ill health on a large scale since so many gullible uninformed people buy and use these products, simply based on word of month reports from other uninformed sources. They assume that since they are sold over the counter in retail stores they are safe... NOT SO, BEWARE.

The old adage applies here.." Believe little of what you read about a product, and none of what you hear".

The 1994 legislation changes guidelines for marketing this stuff. Marketing representatives can now make unproven claims, such as saying a product "cures" cancer, as long as they are not selling the product at the same time. While it is true that it is illegal to make false or misleading health or nutritional claims on a product label, the government agencies lack resources to pursue the multitude of dubious claims that are sweeping the marketplace.

All this means is that you can't automatically assume the safety and effectiveness of any of the nutritional supplements sold today!

BEWARE ,THE WORLD IS FULL OF CROOKS WANTING YOUR MONEY FOR THIS JUNK, AND THEY HAVE A LOT OF HELP FROM THE UN-INFORMED CLAIMING ITS GOOD STUFF. IF IT'S DANGEROUS FOR YOU, IT CAN KILL YOUR FISH AS WELL.