# Maracyn not working on BGA



## icharus (Jun 21, 2007)

I've been dosing Maracyn for 5 days now (at first at half the recommended dose and in the last 2 days the full dose) but it seems to have no effect on the BGA. I can still see it everywhere and it still looks very green and spreading. I'm pretty sure i didn't buy the wrong meds... the back of the package says it contains 200mg of erythromcin activity. 

When it works.. it should turn all the BGA in the tank brown-red right? Seems like everyone else has had results after just 2-3 days.


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

remove the vast majority of it manually before you dose. If it's in thick sheets everywhere it may decrease its effectiveness.


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## Roy Deki (Apr 7, 2004)

I also like to crumble it up and place small bit directly on the affected areas.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Half dose Erythromycin (EM) worked great for me.


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## thankgodforthesuffering (Aug 24, 2008)

BGA can become immune to erythromycin. Dosing at half dose might just allow your BGA to become immune. It took my BGA about 3 days at full dose to start to die off. I would dose full doses for a week. Or at least a few days after the last signs of BGA are gone.


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## Jeff.:P:. (Nov 20, 2007)

^+1 same here, I suggest full dose, and dose some Nitrogen if you can. BGA is brought about from Chronic low Nitrogen levels. I used a combination of full dose Maracyn and a UV filter. I had a light case and it completely cleared up at the end of the Anti-biotic dosing.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

hmmm
interesting. I took that half dose advice from a guy who's pretty well-respected in the hobby...


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## Jeff.:P:. (Nov 20, 2007)

Some also say not the change your filter until the dosing is over.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Have you taken any steps to prevent its recurrence?


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## Jeff.:P:. (Nov 20, 2007)

Me? or Vancat?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I meant the thread starter, but I suppose my question might be applied to anyone.


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## Jeff.:P:. (Nov 20, 2007)

In my case, a steady regiment of dosing KN03 every 3 days has resolved it and no signs of returning. It's amazing how fast algae and other pains go away once a fertilizer regiment is installed.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Exactly.


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## icharus (Jun 21, 2007)

Just to update. I used what was left in the box to do 4 days at full dose and now the tank is clear of BGA. I've also resumed regular dosing ( I stopped dosing for a while which was the cause of the BGA in the first place ) and bought a Eheim 2213 Classic for better flow.

After the BGA cleared up i got another kinda stringy algae outbreak in my tank though.. and now i'm working on fixing that. 
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/algae/55231-what-kinda-algae.html

Thanks for the help guys.. i really appreciate it


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