Oh em gee!!! Cyano help!!!

[ddrfreak_tung]

it's taken over. i dont know what else to do. i've thrown in my asian ambulia to absorb the extra nutrients but it's not helping much. i stopped dozing for a week and it showed improvement but then it made a comeback once i was forced to dose again due to my dying plants. i've increased co2 and flow and nothing seems to help.

10gal
flourite red
2x24w cfl only the tops of the bulb hits the aquarium.
8hr photo period
eheim 2213
im dozing a small amount of kents marine proplant & kents iron/manganese
weekly wc
i dont test water parameters. everything's the same as my 15 gal except substrate and the 15 is perfectly fine.
i started as a dsm for a few months before filling it. it's been filled for about a month now and it's been like this.


HELP!!! AHHHHH!!!!

[chad320]

Erithromycerin. might be spelled wrong but that will fix you up.

[ddrfreak_tung]

will that harm my betta? and will it destroy the bacteria within the system?

[wkndracer]

antibiotic bomb it with Maracyn or anything based on Erythromycin.

or

Contrary to posts here I've killed it twice in friends tanks with a black out on the tank of 3-4 days. It does work.

[chad320]

It wont hurt your fish. You should research what caused it or it could come back. It most often occours in newer tanks tho.

[kamikazi]

maracyn for 5 days you wont regret it, it worked on two of my tanks.
check THIS THREAD out

[wkndracer]

Just had a member follow up on using a black out and he's happy.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/ta...ml#post1534558

Chemicals work and at about 1/3 less than needed for treating fish but it can be done chemical free.

[ddrfreak_tung]

thanks a ton. i'll have to try both out. i'll get mr fishy out tho just in case =)

[ScottFish]

Good luck; you have it bad. Been there, done that; have the shirt. Everyone has given you great advice. You do need an antibiotic (because the stuff you treating is not really algae), followed with a blackout. Fish will be fine, and your good bacteriea might take a bit of a hit. After you are done, keep an eye out for an ammonia spike. I had a mini-cycle sneak-up on me afterwards.

[ddrfreak_tung]

I took my betta out, for some reason after 1 night I found his fin torn up pretty badly. So right now hes in a temp bowl til I figure things out

[jccaclimber]

Maybe not as much of an issue since you've taken the fish out, but use an air stone when you med or black out the tank. All that stuff is going to rot when it dies. There are several threads on here involving people with fish gasping at the surface as a result. The meds won't hurt the fish, but the low O2 or ammonia resulting from the rotting might. I got lucky that my BGA cleared up when I went to EI/CO2 (heavy on the KNO3 until the BGA left) and cut my light back a small amount.

[ddrfreak_tung]

Started the blackout, I'll let you guys know in 5 days.

[allegoriest]

I'm actually having the same problem, in a 10 gal with a betta. He doesn't seem to notice it at this point, and I think I'm gonna put him in a bowl for a few days. (I also have never bothered to run tests, mostly due to the fact that I have a betta in 10 gallons. Yes, I'm irresponsible. ;__; ) If I tear the tank down, and then blackout, do you think I can get rid of most of it without antibiotics?

I've also heard elodea is good for some type of prevention, but I've never had this kinda of outbreak before.

thanks~

[freph]

Reminds me of the swamps in the woods near here. That's some pretty bad BGA you have there. I'd definitely look into your nitrate levels, detritus levels and substrate cleanliness as well...I know I get it from time to time in my 20g tall (miracle grow organic capped with pfs, tons of MTS to churn the sand but still gets funky) when I get lazy...usually if you catch it early you can spot treat it with H2O2. For this though, definitely antibiotics and a blackout. Good luck!