# I have cyanobacteria and I need help



## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

I researched this and it seems the best solutions are 1) Chemiclean for whole tank treatment and 2) Hydrogen peroxide for spot treatment.

I tried H2O2 yesterday and I'm not hopeful. Chemiclean will be here tomorrow. It is not an antibiotic.

I believe there are so many conflicting reports on how to avoid it because most people dont know. Some people might try something and get lucky. Everyones water is different.


----------



## Deedledee (Sep 13, 2016)

Themoosedoc said:


> I have a low tech 5 gallon Fluval Spec V that was set up 4/29/17. It houses a single Betta. A fish-in cycle was done and parameters have been stable. Current parameters using API Master Test Kit: pH=7.6, Ammonia=0, Nitrites=0, Nitrates=0-5, Temp=80F. Plants: Java moss, 1 Java Fern, 1 Banana plant, 1 Anubias nana, 1 Marimo moss ball, Moneywort, and Duckweed (I keep a small amount in a corral). Last water change (40%) was done 7/18/17 and tank looked great. 7/19/17- Cyanobacteria present in the Java moss. Nothing new has been added to the tank for a couple of months. Fish and plants are all healthy. I add Flourish once a week, and Flourish Excel a couple times a week. Tank light is on from 8AM-6PM typically.
> I have researched Cyanobacteria, and see conflicting suggestions. Many say add Nitrates in the form of KNO3, others say increase water changes to decrease nutrients in the water column. Some say use erythromycin right away before things spread, others warn not to to avoid bacterial resistance. Some suggest a 3 day blackout, others no. What do I do??? The tank has been so stable and everything looks so good. I really thought all was well. What am I doing wrong? Should I pull the Java moss out and get rid of it before things spread? I have tried to siphon the bacteria out of it, but it didn’t work. Maybe trim the moss? I hate to get rid of it. I also used the same siphon the clean one of my other tanks right after I cleaned the infected tank (not knowing, as the cyanobacteria wasn’t visible at the time)- have I put the other tank at risk? So far it looks fine. I will get a second siphon today.
> I am trying not to freak out, but I am fairly new to proper fish keeping, so I am overwhelmed right now. We got through the biofilm and the diatoms without incident, but now this L Thanks in advance for any advice! Pics of the tank- the FTS is from before the BGA infection Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet


Hi,
Sorry to hear you have the dreaded cyanobacteria, but it's not as bad as you've read! Most people have had it at some point. There is wayyyyy too much conflicting information out there. I had it a couple months ago. It was really bad, but I totally cleared it yo in 3 days using a product called Ultra Life Blue Slime remover. No harsh chemicals or medications that disrupt biological filtration. I shut off my c02, added an airstone & treated 3 days in a row. Day 4 ALL BGA was gone. Since then I have added some extra water pumps & the problem has not returned. 😊

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deedledee (Sep 13, 2016)

ChrisX said:


> I researched this and it seems the best solutions are 1) Chemiclean for whole tank treatment and 2) Hydrogen peroxide for spot treatment.
> 
> I tried H2O2 yesterday and I'm not hopeful. Chemiclean will be here tomorrow. It is not an antibiotic.
> 
> I believe there are so many conflicting reports on how to avoid it because most people dont know. Some people might try something and get lucky. Everyones water is different.


This :









Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk


----------



## geektom (Dec 17, 2012)

I used to occasionally have a breakout, usually on one very large piece of wood in my tank- I never used any chemicals and could usually get it to go away for years before showing up again. Here was my formula: 25% water change, physically removing as much of the stuff as I could. A lot of it will "suck up" when you are doing your water change. Then I would do NO light (cover the tank) or food for 3 days. After 3 days, feed a small amount, and then repeat for another 3 days. After that, do another 25% water change. I rarely ever had to do it more than once to fix it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

geektom said:


> I used to occasionally have a breakout, usually on one very large piece of wood in my tank- I never used any chemicals and could usually get it to go away for years before showing up again. Here was my formula: 25% water change, physically removing as much of the stuff as I could. A lot of it will "suck up" when you are doing your water change. Then I would do NO light (cover the tank) or food for 3 days. After 3 days, feed a small amount, and then repeat for another 3 days. After that, do another 25% water change. I rarely ever had to do it more than once to fix it.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



This may have worked because not feeding will reduce phosphates. But those who have phosphates in their tap water, this won't help.


----------



## Deedledee (Sep 13, 2016)

ChrisX said:


> I researched this and it seems the best solutions are 1) Chemiclean for whole tank treatment and 2) Hydrogen peroxide for spot treatment.
> 
> I tried H2O2 yesterday and I'm not hopeful. Chemiclean will be here tomorrow. It is not an antibiotic.
> 
> I believe there are so many conflicting reports on how to avoid it because most people dont know. Some people might try something and get lucky. Everyones water is different.


I also have Chemiclean. Same as Ultralife. They both work well imo , but require a few treatments. Good luck ! 

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk


----------



## Doppelgaenger (Jul 20, 2015)

Vacuum your substrate as much as possible, suck up all the mulm,. Remove as much mulm as soon as possible, BGA can reach a "critical mass" where it suddenly grows out of control and takes over your aquarium.

Steam your wood and stones if possible.

Spot treat with peroxide with your filter off and wait about an hour (or wait till it stops bubbling) before starting the filter back up so you don't mix it with the water.

I've heard good things about chemiclean.


----------



## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

If my aquarium didn't have BGA, it would be pretty perfect.


----------



## Frogfish (Sep 5, 2016)

Something that may help if you haven't considered it already...I had a bad outbreak in my old low-tech set up that came out of nowhere and seemed impossible to get rid of. I tried blackouts, physical removal, water changes and fert adjustments with no luck. It actually seemed to get worse the more I tried. Ultimately, I decided to change the bulbs in my light. Surprisingly (to me at least), the bluegreens faded away soon after. I can't say for certain it was the bulb change that did it, but the outbreak never occurred again for as long as the tank was set up. Best of luck to you.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Doppelgaenger said:


> Vacuum your substrate as much as possible, suck up all the mulm,. Remove as much mulm as soon as possible, BGA can reach a "critical mass" where it suddenly grows out of control and takes over your aquarium.
> 
> Steam your wood and stones if possible.
> 
> ...



Spot treating with H202 (hydrogen peroxide) really works well, but you must spot treat with a plastic syringe or test kit pipette, at very close range, with the filter(s) off while doing it and one hour after finishing, as was said above. 
Repeat a second time a day later if necessary & depending on how much cyano you have.


----------

