# getting rid of cyano, will excel do it?



## almostaskater62 (Apr 28, 2007)

i read that excel can kill algae, but will it kill cyanobacteria? and if not, what will short of tearing the tank down, which really isn't an option


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

almostaskater62 said:


> i read that excel can kill algae, but will it kill cyanobacteria? and if not, what will short of tearing the tank down, which really isn't an option


I am by no means an expert on algae and still experimenting with different things to prevent it. However, I did have a BGA outbreak in a tank. Overdosing excel did Sh*t all for the problem. I manually removed as much of it as I could, used a 3 day blackout to nuke most of the remainder. The residual amount that I ended up with I manually removed. I began dosing with PPS-Pro and the BGA(knock on wood) has not returned. I was lucky that my plants(with the exception of the madagascar lace plant) survived the blackout. I have read horror stories about people who claim that their plants did not survive the blackout and never recovered, so it is a risky undertaking.

Another thing that you can try is erthyromycin. When I was researching BGA, I read lots of success stories of people who were able to rid their tanks of BGA by using erthyromycin. They claimed that their plants and fish did not suffer using this anti-biotic. I am not a big fan of using anti-biotics, but if you are desperate and nothing works you may choose to use it.

Many say that BGA is more likely to show up when you have zero nitrates. For a planted tank, you should always shoot for 10-20 ppm of nitrates, most say. Have you tested your nitrate level?


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## evercl92 (Aug 14, 2006)

Marycin II kills it. That's what we use at work.


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## almostaskater62 (Apr 28, 2007)

No i haven't tested my nitrates. As for removing them blacking out... I imagine most of the plants would live... Maybe not the val... 
Where can one get marycin 2? Will that kill fish?


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

almostaskater62 said:


> No i haven't tested my nitrates. As for removing them blacking out... I imagine most of the plants would live... Maybe not the val...
> Where can one get marycin 2? Will that kill fish?


Your LFS should have it. Too bad you don't live close by as I have some extra lieing around that I would have gladly shared with you. As far as I know, it does not hurt fish, if it is used for a very short period of time. In fact it is often used to treat many fish diseases. I would still do a 70% + water change after you use it and the algae is gone to dilute its concentration in the water.


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## almostaskater62 (Apr 28, 2007)

okay sounds good, i think i'll try that. thanks for the would-be offer anyway


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## almostaskater62 (Apr 28, 2007)

all right, i got rid of quite a bit of it by hand today, and the lights are off! we'll see how it fairs...
if this doesn't work myacin II here i come...


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

Using Maracyn II should be the last resort, please keep in mind that it could damage your bio-filter so if you do use it, be sure to test your amonia and nitrite levels.

I've had it in the past and got rid of it by doing 50% water changes every other day for about a week, adding a power head to the tank (it does not like water movement, stagnant water is a big cause of BGA) and also adding a little more KNO3 to the tank, providing your nitrate levels are low.

Good luck, this stuff is nasty!


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## almostaskater62 (Apr 28, 2007)

well the lights are out today, jadues removing a lot using a magnet scrub, so hill see how that works. Aoe i'll probly do a significant water change today as well. Thanks


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## Afyounie (Aug 10, 2007)

I had a non planted 10 gal tank get infested with BGA once. I just introduced some ramshorn snails and they got it cleared up for the most part. They just couldn't get the stuff in the sand substrate.


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## elaphe (Aug 24, 2006)

I only have cyano on my driftwood. I was picking off what I could, but it always came back. Last week, I spot treated with H202 twice in two days. The day after the last treatment, it was all white and dead. The moss that it was mixed in with was still green and alive.

Now my Amano and Cherry shrimp are eating the dead, white cyano.

This also didn't seem to hurt any fauna at all.


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