Cyanobacteria Treatment Update

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.

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.

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.

All good news ) 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.

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

All good news ) 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

"Charles" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 02:05:33 -0500, "NetMax"
wrote:

All good news ) 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

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 ) 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

NetMax wrote:
All good news ) 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

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, 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.