# cyanobacteria



## galdadi (Mar 25, 2015)

Hi guys, I have outbreak of cyanobacteria in my tank. What are the main causes and how can I treat them. Which treatment will damage my plants and the whole tank less??
Thanks!


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

Chemi-Clean from Boyd Chemical.
Good for fresh & saltwater tanks.


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## galdadi (Mar 25, 2015)

Maryland Guppy said:


> Chemi-Clean from Boyd Chemical.
> Good for fresh & saltwater tanks.


hi
thanks for your reply.
is it good for the blue green algae? because in the description of the product it says it is for red cyano.
Thank you!
BTW- cyano can result from high or low levels of nitrates?


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

Cyano typically related to very low nitrates.


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## Gerald (Mar 24, 2008)

The common Cyano slimes in aquaria (Oscillatoria, Phormidium, are related ones) can look red-purple, blue-green, or greenish-black depending on water and light conditions. Treatment is the same regardless of color. Hydrogen peroxide can also help kill it.


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## Tsin21 (Oct 12, 2017)

I've used erythromycin and hydrogen peroxide (not at the same time) before for cyanobacteria and both have worked well. Now, I just remove it most it manually and let my stiphodon munch on what remains.


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## galdadi (Mar 25, 2015)

what's the regiman for the erythromycin treatment (how many mg for gallon?) and for the H2O2?


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## Tsin21 (Oct 12, 2017)

galdadi said:


> what's the regiman for the erythromycin treatment (how many mg for gallon?) and for the H2O2?


I dosed 2.5mg/L erythromycin daily for 1 week. I also monitored the ammonia levels during the treatment; there are some instances of the cycle being affected though mine wasn't. Surface of the water will be foamy during treatment due to the dead BGA so a water change before each treatment will address that and additional aeration can also help.

For H2O2, I only spot treated with it using around 5ml to treat my 33 gallon tank (I'm using only a small amount since what I have is 6% not the commonly used 3%). And I turned off the filter and powerheads for around 15-20 minutes before the treatment. Let it fizz for half an hour then water change.


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

Let me wake up an old thread hear. 

I had not had a problem with Cynobacteria for probably the last 20 years, back when I was running over a hundred tanks. At that time whenever it hit I did treat with erthomyician that was sold in pill form. I remember buying them in bottles off 250 pills that were available on the professional end for pet stores and breeders. I no longer deal at the level and am actually, reducing to under a dozen tanks now.

But I have been with Cyanobacteria in my large show planted tank (120 gallons) It has been an off on problem which I thought might be more light related but even after cuttng back the light did not help. Today I did a search of local pet and aquarium store and found two boxes of API's Erythromycin with 10 packets each of a powder. There is no mention of what the actual dosage is in each but they recommend 4 treatments of 1 pack per 10 gallons per treatment. They also recommend it for Fin and Tail Rot, Open Red Sores, Mouth Fungus, and Bacterial Gill Disease, but not Cynobacteria. So should I be dosing differently?

Is there a less expensive way of getting getting Erythromycin I know I need will probably need more but at the prices I'm seeing it cost me more than $100US to clean this up on just one tank.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

For treating fish disease, it's best to move the fish to a smaller tank or dip them.

For cyano, it's best to manually remove, spot treat with H2O2, and fix lighting and flow.
Snails will eat them also.


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