# Tetracycline Use for BlueGreen Algae



## nyrangerslmb (Nov 23, 2008)

I plan on using tetracycline to combat a bluegreen algae problem I have. I have already taken steps to increase circulation. My question is, is it safe for snails and shrimp? I am assuming it won't harm the plants and the fish obviously should be fine. It's a low tech 55 gallon setup with crypts, anubias and some moss. No Co2, I use 1ml flourish daily and 1 capful excel every other day. 108watt geismann midday and floral for 9 hours daily

Thanks in advance,
Tony


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## nfrank (Jan 29, 2005)

nyrangerslmb said:


> I plan on using tetracycline to combat a bluegreen algae problem I have. I have already taken steps to increase circulation. My question is, is it safe for snails and shrimp? I am assuming it won't harm the plants and the fish obviously should be fine. It's a low tech 55 gallon setup with crypts, anubias and some moss. No Co2, I use 1ml flourish daily and 1 capful excel every other day. 108watt geismann midday and floral for 9 hours daily
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> Tony


Cyanobacteria (BGA) are very sensitive to myacines, and i assume also to tetracycline. I have found that instead of following the package instructions of 1 capsule per 10 gallons for 5 consecutive days, you can use 1/2 cap for 1 day. It doesnt work overnight... in 4-5 days it will be gone. The reason for daily doses is that the first dose may only kill 95-99% ... 2nd day kills a high % of what is left (maybe even increases the conc.), so after several days you are assured of 100% kill. But even with 95-99% kill on day 1, it should weaken the other 1-5% enough to doom it. 
If the inverts are sensitive, then lower day 1 concentration will also be better. Reduce feeding and increase cleaning, since you are also hurting your nitrobacteria. Once you use this "medication" you run the risk of helping to create resistant strains, so dont plan on it as a routine procedure. Subsequent treatments could always use a different drug.


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## barmby (Feb 19, 2009)

The BGA can still be there in the substrate, in the shell of the snails and etc. It will come back if the condition is right. You may want to address your fertilization. Low tech tanks means leaving them alone


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Erythromyacin might be worth looking in to. It seemed to work better in this case:
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15695136

Though that was only one kind of cyanobacteria. Either one might kill off your bacteria cultures, so it might be worth checking in to that.

I've dealt with BGA a few times. In my own experience with a stable tank, low light/low-med plant density, fish food and tap water for ferts, increased water changes did it in. This was the only variable I believe that I changed. High light and high plant may be an issue of nutrient balances, though my experience here is limited.

-Philosophos


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

Erythromyacin

I can't really offer up any specific directions, but I can give you a "here's what happened to me" story. I was in the same boat as you... BGA + shrimp. I decided to dose with erythromyacin to kill it. it worked pretty well with a blackout and killed most of the stuff. somewhere ROUGHLY around that time, i also started to have trouble keeping shrimp (i have a huge post in the invert section, trying to remedy the situation). this was probably 6 months ago and i'm still having trouble. now... the med did help kill the BGA... but it just came right back because i didn't FIX THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM (lights too hight, ferts too low).

so in the end... i can't tell you with any certainty that the meds HURT my tank. but i do have a "mysterious" problem, and they still didn't fix the BGA problem. and i know there'll be a ton of other people who will tell you they've dosed with no ill effects. however, if you want to be on the safe side, feel free to do this instead:

physically remove whatever you can (just the huge chunks, basically)
total blackout for a few days (probably at least 3 - you can peek to see how well it is working)
physically remove whatever else you can remove (maybe syphon it out)
reduce your photoperiod a little bit (maybe 7 hours for now) and start dosing ferts

the BGA WILL go away and you do not need any meds to do it and you hopefully won't have any "mystery problems" later.

PS water circulation really didn't do jack for me. dosing more nitrogen did, though (although it sounds like you need to dose other stuff as well)


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## Alex123 (Jul 3, 2008)

I had a tough battle with BGA in my tank. They are tough bacteria to get rid of. I was really planning to use erythromyacin to solve my problem as I was sick of using my fingers to clean plant, remove the effected plants and change my water. They are expensive though. I am lazy and prefer to change water every few months. So this algae was a particular hard one to solve. I have a 10 and 20 gallon connect together through a u-tube with water pump to circulate the tank. My 10 gallon was heavily planted with hardly any room for my fishes to move around in. It had no BGA whatsoever, my 20 gallon was medium planted and have been experiencing tons of BGA all over. It boggle my mind since, the tank is connected and the water flows in a circular path! So after a couple months, I did a really heavy cleaning, wipe as much of the BGA off the glass and removed as much of the hornworts with BGA and use finger to remove from the other plants. I did a 20% water change, planted the healthy over grown hornworts from my 10 gallons into the 20g tank, and now the BGA is gone. Magical. So as you can see I am still a little stumped at how this got resolved...since they are still connected and I didn't change anything and no plants added. Good luck to you!


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## barmby (Feb 19, 2009)

The fact is hornworts are nutrient sponge. It probably help. Also, the good condition of the horwort plants contribute.


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## Alex123 (Jul 3, 2008)

barmby I don't want to sound chippy but as I stated there was NO plants added that was not in the two tanks when I had the problem that's why I am a little stumped. Actually I am aware that hornworts are good at absorbing nutrients, in fact any plants that grow fast are candidates. I do have hornworts but I actually meant to say Anacharis(Elgeria densa) that I moved to the 20g.


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