Cyanobacteria Treatment Update

[Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]]

For those of you playing along at home, here's an update to my
cyanobacteria problems.

In a nutshell, I had a huge problem with algae in my 55 gallon
freshwater tank. Upon posting some pictures, usenet readers
identified the green as cyanobacteria, and not algae at all. (For
more background info, use google groups to search
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc for "Algae ruining hobby for me" and
"Cyanobacteria Treatment.")

Several people have asked me to post my treatment and results.

Most people recommended treating the cyanobacteria (also known as
blue-green algae) with the broad-spectrum antibiotic erythromycin
which I discovered is available in most pet stores under the name
Myacin.

Some posts indicated that this antibiotic is much cheaper when it's
not purchased for fish keeping, and that I might have some luck
calling an animal feed store (or co-op) as erythromycin is supposedly
used to treat domesticated farm animals. I called a couple of feed
stores, and they were clueless as to what I was talking about.

I also tried calling a couple of pharmacies to see if they could sell
me any. After all, if it was available over-the-counter for pets, why
couldn't I get some from the pharmacy? I didn't expect to have much
luck with this, and I didn't. They basically said there was no way I
was getting it without a prescription, but I like I said, that's the
answer I expected. I probably could have called a veterinarian to see
if he/she would write a prescription, but I didn't pursue that avenue.

I ended up purchasing over-the-counter at the pet store.

Before I ordered the erythromycin, I had to determine the proper
dosage. Suggestions varied wildly here; from 200-400mg per day and
from 2-7 day treatments. I decided that 200mg per 10 gallons seemed
to be the average suggestion, so for my 55 gallon tank that equated to
1.1g/day. One thing I discovered is that Web sites don't seem to list
how many mg the Myacin tablets are (they're 200mg each BTW).

Because we all (should) know that bacteria can develop antibiotic
resistances, I figured that it would be better to err on the side of a
long treatment, to make sure all the cyanobacteria was dead, lest it
come back with a vengeance.

I scraped my tank and decorations one more time and began treatment.
Six 200mg tablets every 24 hours for the first four days. Then I ran
out of erythromycin and I was too busy to buy anymore, so there were
two days without treatment, followed by another six 200mg tablets over
a 48 hour period.

A couple of days after stopping treatment, it was clear that the
cyanobacteria was dead. I wasn't sure what to expect when it died,
was it supposed to turn brown, disappear or what? Over the course of
my treatment, the cyanobacteria growing in my gravel and on my
decorations and plants slowly disappeared. Some of it had grown back
onto the glass of my tank during the beginning of my treatment, but it
too died, turning a whitish, transparent color.

One other thing I should mention, is that I was warned the
antibacterial treatments could (or would?) kill the beneficial
bacteria in the nitrogen cycle. While my tank is lightly stocked, I
took the precaution of putting some ammo-lock in my Ehiem during the
treatment phase. I checked ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels every
other day current treatment and didn't really notice any spikes.

After my last water change, I cleaned out my Ehiem good removing the
ammo-lock and inserting a carbon pad, which is supposed to neutralize
the remaining antibiotic in my tank.

My water is crystal-clear once again...it's been so long.

Thanks to all for their advice.

[RedForeman ©®]

Keep us up to date....

btw, I take it, you left the fish IN the tank?? If so, any losses?

--
RedForeman ©®
Thank you, for your support...


"Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]" > wrote in message
m...
> For those of you playing along at home, here's an update to my
> cyanobacteria problems.
>
> In a nutshell, I had a huge problem with algae in my 55 gallon
> freshwater tank. Upon posting some pictures, usenet readers
> identified the green as cyanobacteria, and not algae at all. (For
> more background info, use google groups to search
> rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc for "Algae ruining hobby for me" and
> "Cyanobacteria Treatment.")
>
> Several people have asked me to post my treatment and results.
>
> Most people recommended treating the cyanobacteria (also known as
> blue-green algae) with the broad-spectrum antibiotic erythromycin
> which I discovered is available in most pet stores under the name
> Myacin.
>
> Some posts indicated that this antibiotic is much cheaper when it's
> not purchased for fish keeping, and that I might have some luck
> calling an animal feed store (or co-op) as erythromycin is supposedly
> used to treat domesticated farm animals. I called a couple of feed
> stores, and they were clueless as to what I was talking about.
>
> I also tried calling a couple of pharmacies to see if they could sell
> me any. After all, if it was available over-the-counter for pets, why
> couldn't I get some from the pharmacy? I didn't expect to have much
> luck with this, and I didn't. They basically said there was no way I
> was getting it without a prescription, but I like I said, that's the
> answer I expected. I probably could have called a veterinarian to see
> if he/she would write a prescription, but I didn't pursue that avenue.
>
> I ended up purchasing over-the-counter at the pet store.
>
> Before I ordered the erythromycin, I had to determine the proper
> dosage. Suggestions varied wildly here; from 200-400mg per day and
> from 2-7 day treatments. I decided that 200mg per 10 gallons seemed
> to be the average suggestion, so for my 55 gallon tank that equated to
> 1.1g/day. One thing I discovered is that Web sites don't seem to list
> how many mg the Myacin tablets are (they're 200mg each BTW).
>
> Because we all (should) know that bacteria can develop antibiotic
> resistances, I figured that it would be better to err on the side of a
> long treatment, to make sure all the cyanobacteria was dead, lest it
> come back with a vengeance.
>
> I scraped my tank and decorations one more time and began treatment.
> Six 200mg tablets every 24 hours for the first four days. Then I ran
> out of erythromycin and I was too busy to buy anymore, so there were
> two days without treatment, followed by another six 200mg tablets over
> a 48 hour period.
>
> A couple of days after stopping treatment, it was clear that the
> cyanobacteria was dead. I wasn't sure what to expect when it died,
> was it supposed to turn brown, disappear or what? Over the course of
> my treatment, the cyanobacteria growing in my gravel and on my
> decorations and plants slowly disappeared. Some of it had grown back
> onto the glass of my tank during the beginning of my treatment, but it
> too died, turning a whitish, transparent color.
>
> One other thing I should mention, is that I was warned the
> antibacterial treatments could (or would?) kill the beneficial
> bacteria in the nitrogen cycle. While my tank is lightly stocked, I
> took the precaution of putting some ammo-lock in my Ehiem during the
> treatment phase. I checked ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels every
> other day current treatment and didn't really notice any spikes.
>
> After my last water change, I cleaned out my Ehiem good removing the
> ammo-lock and inserting a carbon pad, which is supposed to neutralize
> the remaining antibiotic in my tank.
>
> My water is crystal-clear once again...it's been so long.
>
> Thanks to all for their advice.

[Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]]

Yep, kept the fish in the tank. No losses.

"RedForeman ©®" > wrote in message >...
> Keep us up to date....
>
> btw, I take it, you left the fish IN the tank?? If so, any losses?
>
> --
> RedForeman ©®
> Thank you, for your support...
>
>
> "Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]" > wrote in message
> m...
> > For those of you playing along at home, here's an update to my
> > cyanobacteria problems.
> >
> > In a nutshell, I had a huge problem with algae in my 55 gallon
> > freshwater tank. Upon posting some pictures, usenet readers
> > identified the green as cyanobacteria, and not algae at all. (For
> > more background info, use google groups to search
> > rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc for "Algae ruining hobby for me" and
> > "Cyanobacteria Treatment.")
> >
> > Several people have asked me to post my treatment and results.
> >
> > Most people recommended treating the cyanobacteria (also known as
> > blue-green algae) with the broad-spectrum antibiotic erythromycin
> > which I discovered is available in most pet stores under the name
> > Myacin.
> >
> > Some posts indicated that this antibiotic is much cheaper when it's
> > not purchased for fish keeping, and that I might have some luck
> > calling an animal feed store (or co-op) as erythromycin is supposedly
> > used to treat domesticated farm animals. I called a couple of feed
> > stores, and they were clueless as to what I was talking about.
> >
> > I also tried calling a couple of pharmacies to see if they could sell
> > me any. After all, if it was available over-the-counter for pets, why
> > couldn't I get some from the pharmacy? I didn't expect to have much
> > luck with this, and I didn't. They basically said there was no way I
> > was getting it without a prescription, but I like I said, that's the
> > answer I expected. I probably could have called a veterinarian to see
> > if he/she would write a prescription, but I didn't pursue that avenue.
> >
> > I ended up purchasing over-the-counter at the pet store.
> >
> > Before I ordered the erythromycin, I had to determine the proper
> > dosage. Suggestions varied wildly here; from 200-400mg per day and
> > from 2-7 day treatments. I decided that 200mg per 10 gallons seemed
> > to be the average suggestion, so for my 55 gallon tank that equated to
> > 1.1g/day. One thing I discovered is that Web sites don't seem to list
> > how many mg the Myacin tablets are (they're 200mg each BTW).
> >
> > Because we all (should) know that bacteria can develop antibiotic
> > resistances, I figured that it would be better to err on the side of a
> > long treatment, to make sure all the cyanobacteria was dead, lest it
> > come back with a vengeance.
> >
> > I scraped my tank and decorations one more time and began treatment.
> > Six 200mg tablets every 24 hours for the first four days. Then I ran
> > out of erythromycin and I was too busy to buy anymore, so there were
> > two days without treatment, followed by another six 200mg tablets over
> > a 48 hour period.
> >
> > A couple of days after stopping treatment, it was clear that the
> > cyanobacteria was dead. I wasn't sure what to expect when it died,
> > was it supposed to turn brown, disappear or what? Over the course of
> > my treatment, the cyanobacteria growing in my gravel and on my
> > decorations and plants slowly disappeared. Some of it had grown back
> > onto the glass of my tank during the beginning of my treatment, but it
> > too died, turning a whitish, transparent color.
> >
> > One other thing I should mention, is that I was warned the
> > antibacterial treatments could (or would?) kill the beneficial
> > bacteria in the nitrogen cycle. While my tank is lightly stocked, I
> > took the precaution of putting some ammo-lock in my Ehiem during the
> > treatment phase. I checked ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels every
> > other day current treatment and didn't really notice any spikes.
> >
> > After my last water change, I cleaned out my Ehiem good removing the
> > ammo-lock and inserting a carbon pad, which is supposed to neutralize
> > the remaining antibiotic in my tank.
> >
> > My water is crystal-clear once again...it's been so long.
> >
> > Thanks to all for their advice.

[Happy'Cam'per]

Stilgar, how old is your tank? Is this a fairly new setup?
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**



"Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]" > wrote in message
m...
> For those of you playing along at home, here's an update to my
> cyanobacteria problems.
>
> In a nutshell, I had a huge problem with algae in my 55 gallon
> freshwater tank. Upon posting some pictures, usenet readers
> identified the green as cyanobacteria, and not algae at all. (For
> more background info, use google groups to search
> rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc for "Algae ruining hobby for me" and
> "Cyanobacteria Treatment.")
>
> Several people have asked me to post my treatment and results.
>
> Most people recommended treating the cyanobacteria (also known as
> blue-green algae) with the broad-spectrum antibiotic erythromycin
> which I discovered is available in most pet stores under the name
> Myacin.
>
> Some posts indicated that this antibiotic is much cheaper when it's
> not purchased for fish keeping, and that I might have some luck
> calling an animal feed store (or co-op) as erythromycin is supposedly
> used to treat domesticated farm animals. I called a couple of feed
> stores, and they were clueless as to what I was talking about.
>
> I also tried calling a couple of pharmacies to see if they could sell
> me any. After all, if it was available over-the-counter for pets, why
> couldn't I get some from the pharmacy? I didn't expect to have much
> luck with this, and I didn't. They basically said there was no way I
> was getting it without a prescription, but I like I said, that's the
> answer I expected. I probably could have called a veterinarian to see
> if he/she would write a prescription, but I didn't pursue that avenue.
>
> I ended up purchasing over-the-counter at the pet store.
>
> Before I ordered the erythromycin, I had to determine the proper
> dosage. Suggestions varied wildly here; from 200-400mg per day and
> from 2-7 day treatments. I decided that 200mg per 10 gallons seemed
> to be the average suggestion, so for my 55 gallon tank that equated to
> 1.1g/day. One thing I discovered is that Web sites don't seem to list
> how many mg the Myacin tablets are (they're 200mg each BTW).
>
> Because we all (should) know that bacteria can develop antibiotic
> resistances, I figured that it would be better to err on the side of a
> long treatment, to make sure all the cyanobacteria was dead, lest it
> come back with a vengeance.
>
> I scraped my tank and decorations one more time and began treatment.
> Six 200mg tablets every 24 hours for the first four days. Then I ran
> out of erythromycin and I was too busy to buy anymore, so there were
> two days without treatment, followed by another six 200mg tablets over
> a 48 hour period.
>
> A couple of days after stopping treatment, it was clear that the
> cyanobacteria was dead. I wasn't sure what to expect when it died,
> was it supposed to turn brown, disappear or what? Over the course of
> my treatment, the cyanobacteria growing in my gravel and on my
> decorations and plants slowly disappeared. Some of it had grown back
> onto the glass of my tank during the beginning of my treatment, but it
> too died, turning a whitish, transparent color.
>
> One other thing I should mention, is that I was warned the
> antibacterial treatments could (or would?) kill the beneficial
> bacteria in the nitrogen cycle. While my tank is lightly stocked, I
> took the precaution of putting some ammo-lock in my Ehiem during the
> treatment phase. I checked ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels every
> other day current treatment and didn't really notice any spikes.
>
> After my last water change, I cleaned out my Ehiem good removing the
> ammo-lock and inserting a carbon pad, which is supposed to neutralize
> the remaining antibiotic in my tank.
>
> My water is crystal-clear once again...it's been so long.
>
> Thanks to all for their advice.

[Andy Hill]

Congrats!. Just remember, like the Terminator, "it'll be back" unless you
address your phosphate imbalance.

[NetMax]

All good news :o) BTW, the probability of destroying your nitrifying
bacteria varies with which antibiotic you are using and the dosage.
Erythromycin (EM) is pretty mild stuff.

What I'm still trying to figure out, is how to measure 200mg (I get my
antibiotics in bulk white powder). Stuffing little plastic pills is not
my preferred method.

NetMax

"Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]" > wrote in message
m...
> Yep, kept the fish in the tank. No losses.
>
> "RedForeman ©®" > wrote in message
>...
> > Keep us up to date....
> >
> > btw, I take it, you left the fish IN the tank?? If so, any losses?
> >
> > --
> > RedForeman ©®
> > Thank you, for your support...
> >
> >
> > "Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]" > wrote in message
> > m...
> > > For those of you playing along at home, here's an update to my
> > > cyanobacteria problems.
> > >
> > > In a nutshell, I had a huge problem with algae in my 55 gallon
> > > freshwater tank. Upon posting some pictures, usenet readers
> > > identified the green as cyanobacteria, and not algae at all. (For
> > > more background info, use google groups to search
> > > rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc for "Algae ruining hobby for me" and
> > > "Cyanobacteria Treatment.")
> > >
> > > Several people have asked me to post my treatment and results.
> > >
> > > Most people recommended treating the cyanobacteria (also known as
> > > blue-green algae) with the broad-spectrum antibiotic erythromycin
> > > which I discovered is available in most pet stores under the name
> > > Myacin.
> > >
> > > Some posts indicated that this antibiotic is much cheaper when it's
> > > not purchased for fish keeping, and that I might have some luck
> > > calling an animal feed store (or co-op) as erythromycin is
supposedly
> > > used to treat domesticated farm animals. I called a couple of feed
> > > stores, and they were clueless as to what I was talking about.
> > >
> > > I also tried calling a couple of pharmacies to see if they could
sell
> > > me any. After all, if it was available over-the-counter for pets,
why
> > > couldn't I get some from the pharmacy? I didn't expect to have
much
> > > luck with this, and I didn't. They basically said there was no way
I
> > > was getting it without a prescription, but I like I said, that's
the
> > > answer I expected. I probably could have called a veterinarian to
see
> > > if he/she would write a prescription, but I didn't pursue that
avenue.
> > >
> > > I ended up purchasing over-the-counter at the pet store.
> > >
> > > Before I ordered the erythromycin, I had to determine the proper
> > > dosage. Suggestions varied wildly here; from 200-400mg per day and
> > > from 2-7 day treatments. I decided that 200mg per 10 gallons
seemed
> > > to be the average suggestion, so for my 55 gallon tank that equated
to
> > > 1.1g/day. One thing I discovered is that Web sites don't seem to
list
> > > how many mg the Myacin tablets are (they're 200mg each BTW).
> > >
> > > Because we all (should) know that bacteria can develop antibiotic
> > > resistances, I figured that it would be better to err on the side
of a
> > > long treatment, to make sure all the cyanobacteria was dead, lest
it
> > > come back with a vengeance.
> > >
> > > I scraped my tank and decorations one more time and began
treatment.
> > > Six 200mg tablets every 24 hours for the first four days. Then I
ran
> > > out of erythromycin and I was too busy to buy anymore, so there
were
> > > two days without treatment, followed by another six 200mg tablets
over
> > > a 48 hour period.
> > >
> > > A couple of days after stopping treatment, it was clear that the
> > > cyanobacteria was dead. I wasn't sure what to expect when it died,
> > > was it supposed to turn brown, disappear or what? Over the course
of
> > > my treatment, the cyanobacteria growing in my gravel and on my
> > > decorations and plants slowly disappeared. Some of it had grown
back
> > > onto the glass of my tank during the beginning of my treatment, but
it
> > > too died, turning a whitish, transparent color.
> > >
> > > One other thing I should mention, is that I was warned the
> > > antibacterial treatments could (or would?) kill the beneficial
> > > bacteria in the nitrogen cycle. While my tank is lightly stocked,
I
> > > took the precaution of putting some ammo-lock in my Ehiem during
the
> > > treatment phase. I checked ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels
every
> > > other day current treatment and didn't really notice any spikes.
> > >
> > > After my last water change, I cleaned out my Ehiem good removing
the
> > > ammo-lock and inserting a carbon pad, which is supposed to
neutralize
> > > the remaining antibiotic in my tank.
> > >
> > > My water is crystal-clear once again...it's been so long.
> > >
> > > Thanks to all for their advice.

[Charles]

On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 02:05:33 -0500, "NetMax"
> wrote:

>All good news :o) BTW, the probability of destroying your nitrifying
>bacteria varies with which antibiotic you are using and the dosage.
>Erythromycin (EM) is pretty mild stuff.
>
>What I'm still trying to figure out, is how to measure 200mg (I get my
>antibiotics in bulk white powder). Stuffing little plastic pills is not
>my preferred method.
>
>NetMax


With a scales?

http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3036028

or the one on the top page at:

http://www.alpha-supply.com
--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

[NetMax]

"Charles" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 02:05:33 -0500, "NetMax"
> > wrote:
>
> >All good news :o) BTW, the probability of destroying your nitrifying
> >bacteria varies with which antibiotic you are using and the dosage.
> >Erythromycin (EM) is pretty mild stuff.
> >
> >What I'm still trying to figure out, is how to measure 200mg (I get my
> >antibiotics in bulk white powder). Stuffing little plastic pills is
not
> >my preferred method.
> >
> >NetMax
>
>
> With a scales?
>
> http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3036028
>
> or the one on the top page at:
>
> http://www.alpha-supply.com
> --
>
> - Charles

I like it. I didn't expect to find that resolution for a low price, so
I'd never even looked. Thanks Charles!

NetMax

[coelacanth]

NetMax wrote:
> All good news :o) BTW, the probability of destroying your
> nitrifying bacteria varies with which antibiotic you are using
> and the dosage. Erythromycin (EM) is pretty mild stuff.
>
> What I'm still trying to figure out, is how to measure 200mg
> (I get my antibiotics in bulk white powder). Stuffing little
> plastic pills is not my preferred method.
>
> NetMax
>
Find a good postal scale and measure 1 oz of antibiotic.
Call it 28 grams. Add 140 ml of water and mix thoroughly.
You now have a stock solution where 1 ml = 200 mg. A
appropriate volume to the tank. You can probably freeze
the rest (I know that penicillin solutions freeze without
loss of efficacy).

-coelacanth

[bannor]

Kewl! Just what I needed! Now I can accurately create my PMDD
solutions as well as my meds!

Thanks for the links!
On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 07:36:25 GMT, Charles >
wrote:

>On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 02:05:33 -0500, "NetMax"
> wrote:
>
>>All good news :o) BTW, the probability of destroying your nitrifying
>>bacteria varies with which antibiotic you are using and the dosage.
>>Erythromycin (EM) is pretty mild stuff.
>>
>>What I'm still trying to figure out, is how to measure 200mg (I get my
>>antibiotics in bulk white powder). Stuffing little plastic pills is not
>>my preferred method.
>>
>>NetMax
>
>
>With a scales?
>
>http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3036028
>
>or the one on the top page at:
>
>http://www.alpha-supply.com

[bannor]

On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 18:14:45 GMT, "coelacanth" >
wrote:
<snip>
>>
>Find a good postal scale and measure 1 oz of antibiotic.
>Call it 28 grams. Add 140 ml of water and mix thoroughly.
>You now have a stock solution where 1 ml = 200 mg. A
>appropriate volume to the tank. You can probably freeze
>the rest (I know that penicillin solutions freeze without
>loss of efficacy).
>
>-coelacanth

Now that's useful too!

Geeze... you guys and gals never cease to amaze me with good tips and
tricks!

Thanks. Bunches!

[Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]]

My tank is almost 5 years old. However, I've moved two times in that
period.

I suspect the bacteria was most recently caused by an abundance of
direct sunlight - my current apartment doesn't have any place I can
set up without some direct exposure.

Since my last post, I've adjusted my timer so the lights go off in the
afternoon when the sunlight in the room is brightest. I also bought
several more plants which should do will with some extra light. I've
tried to strategically plant them so they will grow in and block out
some of the excess sun. I'm also hoping that they'll use up any
nutrients the cyanobacteria might like.

I'm pretty sure I have things under control now.

"Happy'Cam'per" > wrote in message >...
> Stilgar, how old is your tank? Is this a fairly new setup?
> --
> **So long, and thanks for all the fish!**
>
>
>
> "Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]" > wrote in message
> m...
> > For those of you playing along at home, here's an update to my
> > cyanobacteria problems.
> >
> > In a nutshell, I had a huge problem with algae in my 55 gallon
> > freshwater tank. Upon posting some pictures, usenet readers
> > identified the green as cyanobacteria, and not algae at all. (For
> > more background info, use google groups to search
> > rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc for "Algae ruining hobby for me" and
> > "Cyanobacteria Treatment.")
> >
> > Several people have asked me to post my treatment and results.
> >
> > Most people recommended treating the cyanobacteria (also known as
> > blue-green algae) with the broad-spectrum antibiotic erythromycin
> > which I discovered is available in most pet stores under the name
> > Myacin.
> >
> > Some posts indicated that this antibiotic is much cheaper when it's
> > not purchased for fish keeping, and that I might have some luck
> > calling an animal feed store (or co-op) as erythromycin is supposedly
> > used to treat domesticated farm animals. I called a couple of feed
> > stores, and they were clueless as to what I was talking about.
> >
> > I also tried calling a couple of pharmacies to see if they could sell
> > me any. After all, if it was available over-the-counter for pets, why
> > couldn't I get some from the pharmacy? I didn't expect to have much
> > luck with this, and I didn't. They basically said there was no way I
> > was getting it without a prescription, but I like I said, that's the
> > answer I expected. I probably could have called a veterinarian to see
> > if he/she would write a prescription, but I didn't pursue that avenue.
> >
> > I ended up purchasing over-the-counter at the pet store.
> >
> > Before I ordered the erythromycin, I had to determine the proper
> > dosage. Suggestions varied wildly here; from 200-400mg per day and
> > from 2-7 day treatments. I decided that 200mg per 10 gallons seemed
> > to be the average suggestion, so for my 55 gallon tank that equated to
> > 1.1g/day. One thing I discovered is that Web sites don't seem to list
> > how many mg the Myacin tablets are (they're 200mg each BTW).
> >
> > Because we all (should) know that bacteria can develop antibiotic
> > resistances, I figured that it would be better to err on the side of a
> > long treatment, to make sure all the cyanobacteria was dead, lest it
> > come back with a vengeance.
> >
> > I scraped my tank and decorations one more time and began treatment.
> > Six 200mg tablets every 24 hours for the first four days. Then I ran
> > out of erythromycin and I was too busy to buy anymore, so there were
> > two days without treatment, followed by another six 200mg tablets over
> > a 48 hour period.
> >
> > A couple of days after stopping treatment, it was clear that the
> > cyanobacteria was dead. I wasn't sure what to expect when it died,
> > was it supposed to turn brown, disappear or what? Over the course of
> > my treatment, the cyanobacteria growing in my gravel and on my
> > decorations and plants slowly disappeared. Some of it had grown back
> > onto the glass of my tank during the beginning of my treatment, but it
> > too died, turning a whitish, transparent color.
> >
> > One other thing I should mention, is that I was warned the
> > antibacterial treatments could (or would?) kill the beneficial
> > bacteria in the nitrogen cycle. While my tank is lightly stocked, I
> > took the precaution of putting some ammo-lock in my Ehiem during the
> > treatment phase. I checked ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels every
> > other day current treatment and didn't really notice any spikes.
> >
> > After my last water change, I cleaned out my Ehiem good removing the
> > ammo-lock and inserting a carbon pad, which is supposed to neutralize
> > the remaining antibiotic in my tank.
> >
> > My water is crystal-clear once again...it's been so long.
> >
> > Thanks to all for their advice.

[Happy'Cam'per]

Andy

Are you suggesting that Cyano outbreaks are caused from excess PO4??? Heh, I
think not, actually when I started dosing 'fleet enema' as my po4 source it
certainly did not ADD to the Cyano outbreak I had. Its almost completely
gone now and I'm still dosing PO4 twice a week!
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

"Andy Hill" > wrote in message
...
> Congrats!. Just remember, like the Terminator, "it'll be back" unless you
> address your phosphate imbalance.

[Andy Hill]

"Happy'Cam'per" > wrote:
>Are you suggesting that Cyano outbreaks are caused from excess PO4??? Heh, I
>think not, actually when I started dosing 'fleet enema' as my po4 source it
>certainly did not ADD to the Cyano outbreak I had. Its almost completely
>gone now and I'm still dosing PO4 twice a week!
>
I'm saying that aquariium plants are more efficient scavengers of phosphate than
cyanobacteria (the OP has a planted tank, although I think that was only
mentioned in his original thread). If phosphates are the growth-limiting
factor in the tank, then the green plants will prevent the cyano from ever
getting a foothold. Cyano in a planted tank is a sign that something other
than phosphates are limiting growth, and there are excess phosphates available
for the cyano.

[Leong Goh]

"Stilgar[bbs.isca.uiowa.edu]" > wrote in message
m...
> For those of you playing along at home, here's an update to my
> cyanobacteria problems.
>
snip

Thanks for sharing your info. You've helped me solve my own.

I returned from holiday (4wks) to find my 10g quarantine tank covered in
this film of algae. Tried manual removal and daily water changes for a week
then remembered reading about cyanobacteria and looked it up on google.

My local pet shop has a vet who knew exactly what I wanted and warned me
about killing my beneficial bacteria. He sold me 4 250mg eromycin tabs for
the equiv of $US1.75. I used half a tab/day over 5 days and it has
disappeared ( I think for good, the tank had been running for at least 2
yrs, and been a "model" planted tank ). Nitrate/Nitrite tests haven't shown
any changes.

The fish all survived, including very sad Virgin Red Discus, which may well
have died. It ahd been picked on by others in my discus tank, so I put it
in the Q tank. I believe that cyanobacteria release toxins, and the Virgin
Red was refusing food. Since clearing the cyanobacteria it's perked up
well, and has become the perfect "pet" fish!

Thanks,

Leong