# My whole apartment smells like bga :/



## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

Lastnight/this morning I said f-it. I'm sick of this bga I've been battling 

I removed all the bga I could by hand.
removed all my plants.
Trimmed 75% of my plants away.
Did an excel bath on all the plants I could salvage. 
Replanted
80% wc
Added a borderline unsafe amount of excell to the tank 
I threw all the plants in the dumpster 

Tonight/this morning I came home from work and the second I walked I was almost knocked out by the smell of bga

The smell does not bother me do much 

But I'm wondering if it could be harmful to my 5mo old daughter she has been acting Way fussier than normal I don't know if it's this wretched smell that's bothering her or ifs because she is just a baby and possibly starting to teeth. 



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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

It's not harmful. Just get ventilation in your place and it should be gone soon.


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

I would hit it with maracyn. Excel does not do much to BGA.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

TexasCichlid said:


> I would hit it with maracyn. Excel does not do much to BGA.


What's marycin and where can I get it 


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

Erythromycin, it's an antibiotic in powder form. Do a quick search here and it will give you dosing instructions on taking care of the BGA.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4838&rel=1

Instructions on the box also work.


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## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

According to the article "Liver toxins prevalent in western cottage country’s lakes, cross-Canada study finds", some species of cyanobacteria (BGA) produce microcystins which are potentially fatal to humans. Microcystins are also suspected of being carcinogenic at long-term, low exposure.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

zdnet said:


> According to the article "Liver toxins prevalent in western cottage country’s lakes, cross-Canada study finds", some species of cyanobacteria (BGA) produce microcystins which are potentially fatal to humans. Microcystins are also suspected of being carcinogenic at long-term, low exposure.


Great I've had my hands in the tank all night 


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/algae_erythromycin.html


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Sethjohnson30 said:


> Great I've had my hands in the tank all night
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Relax. You're fine. 

You didn't ingest tons and tons and tons of it. You and your family aren't going to get sick and die of liver failure from smelling some bga. 

Breathe.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

Lol I figured. I did order some maracyn. But I don't want to wait so tonight when I get off work I'm going to wal greens and getting the over the counter humanoid stuff and it's way cheaper I really need to research all possibilities before wasting money lol


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

Joraan said:


> http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/algae_erythromycin.html


This link was great!


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Sethjohnson30 said:


> Lol I figured. I did order some maracyn. But I don't want to wait so tonight when I get off work I'm going to wal greens and getting the over the counter humanoid stuff and it's way cheaper I really need to research all possibilities before wasting money lol
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I don't think there is an OTC version of Erythromycin. There is a prescription variety from walgreens, and it is likely much cheaper than the pet version.... but Erythromycin is an antibiotic and I'm not aware of any non-rx version of it.

You'll need a script from a doctor.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

OverStocked said:


> I don't think there is an OTC version of Erythromycin. There is a prescription variety from walgreens, and it is likely much cheaper than the pet version.... but Erythromycin is an antibiotic and I'm not aware of any non-rx version of it.
> 
> You'll need a script from a doctor.


In the link Joraan posted it says you can get it OTC 


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Sethjohnson30 said:


> In the link Joraan posted it says you can get it OTC
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That isn't in America. In the USA, you'll need a prescription. Erythrocin is a UK brand name for erythromycin. YOu won't be getting prescription antibiotics from a US pharmacy without a prescription. You will get some strange looks, though.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

OverStocked said:


> That isn't in America. In the USA, you'll need a prescription. Erythrocin is a UK brand name for erythromycin. YOu won't be getting prescription antibiotics from a US pharmacy without a prescription. You will get some strange looks, though.


Darn. Stupid FDA. Now I have to take my private jet to uk tonight 


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

They sell it at Petsmart last time I checked.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

TexasCichlid said:


> They sell it at Petsmart last time I checked.


My Lfs has it I just wanted to go the cheaper route but apparently that's not an option 


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## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

Sethjohnson30 said:


> Great I've had my hands in the tank all night


Proposed Canadian guidelines for recreational microcystin exposure – which includes swimming in the water or even inhaling droplets – is 20 micrograms per litre.

In 20 gallons of water, that works out to about 1500 micrograms or 1.5 milligrams.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

zdnet said:


> Proposed Canadian guidelines for recreational microcystin exposure – which includes swimming in the water or even inhaling droplets – is 20 micrograms per litre.
> 
> In 20 gallons of water, that works out to about 1500 micrograms or 1.5 milligrams.


unless you're running tests that number means nothing. That is 1.5 mg of a byproduct of SOME BGA. Who says it is in your tank at all?


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## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

OverStocked said:


> unless you're running tests that number means nothing.


You don't need a test in order to grab the significance of the number.

First, 1.5 mg in 20 gallons of water is an extremely small amount. Most people can easily visualize a pound of something, but not two-hundredths of a gram. Setting the guideline to such tiny amount suggested that microcystins are very very toxic!

Second, the guideline level also applies to the inhaled droplets. You don't even have to touch the water to be subjected to the toxicity. A tank often has airstone and HOB filter. They produce droplets that get inhaled when being around the tank.




OverStocked said:


> That is 1.5 mg of a byproduct of SOME BGA. Who says it is in your tank at all?


And who says it is NOT in a tank infested with BGA? 

Microcystin is very toxic. When there is BGA and a microcystin test has not been carried out, it is only prudent to treat the situation as positive. Avoid BGA like the plague!

The OP's room is full of BGA odor. Therefore the BGA population in the water is likely to be very high. Airing out the room just won't lower the risk of infection when the person is working around the tank.

BTW, when was the last time people came across a lake with an overwhelming smell of BGA? And yet 9% of the surveyed popular lakes exceeded the level of microcystins.


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## cradleoffilthfan (Jan 19, 2009)

You can get Erythromycin in bulk form online from some dealers, you will just have to google it. It is an expensive medication, especially if your tank is large obviously. It's the way to go though, just remove as much as you can by hand and do a large water change before you start dosing so it's more sure to do the trick in one dose, but you might need to do two full doses over a 4 day period.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

cradleoffilthfan said:


> You can get Erythromycin in bulk form online from some dealers, you will just have to google it. It is an expensive medication, especially if your tank is large obviously. It's the way to go though, just remove as much as you can by hand and do a large water change before you start dosing so it's more sure to do the trick in one dose, but you might need to do two full doses over a 4 day period.


I bought some at the Lfs but I needed more so I ordered some off eBay at half the price. I received it today, only to find out it expires next month 11/12 wich means its almost two years old I'm hoping it works 


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## chew (May 18, 2012)

In case you have to bathe your plants again peroxide works better to kill it than excel from my experience (and way cheaper).


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## brainwavepc.com (Sep 27, 2011)

I couldn't get rid of bag for months even with erythromycin and two blackouts. what stopped it was dosing nitrogen.

I dosed nitrogen for a week and its been over a month and 0 bga


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## brainwavepc.com (Sep 27, 2011)

also just a warning, dosing the erythromycin is going to make it come back 10x as bad if it doesn't absolutely kill 100% of it


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

brainwavepc.com said:


> also just a warning, dosing the erythromycin is going to make it come back 10x as bad if it doesn't absolutely kill 100% of it


Great that's just what I need. I think it was ei that caused it. I did not notice my co2 was gone for who knows how long. I still continued to dose and things went bad quick. Ive been battling it for a while I think I had it when you were here. I'm not sure if the tank was on though. 


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

Do blackouts really help? I thought light had nothing to do with bga? What do you guys cover your tanks with? Do I stop feeding and how long can I black out for 


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## Sotty (Aug 31, 2012)

Blackouts definitely help. I usually get breakouts of BGA when my nitrate levels fall too *low* in areas with poorer circulation.


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## Jules (May 20, 2012)

I actually get my GP to give me a script for erythromycin for my aquarium - the pharmacist got a kick out of it (they don't get to many scripts made out to a patient named "fishtank"). 

It's WAY cheaper this way, 70 250mg tablets is like $20 (keep them in the fridge and the tablets are good well over a year). To use, just wash off the enteric coating, crush the pills up nice and fine, and you're good to go. Dosage for a 50 gal aquarium is 2 tablets once daily until BGA is all dead (only takes a couple of days).

I've never had any negative effects on fish, inverts, or my biofilter from the erythromycin. 

Blackouts didn't help me any.

Edited to add: BGA has never bounced back from this treatment even when it wasn't 100% killed (technically speaking, you're never going to actually eliminate it from your aquarium since it can form spores to survive adverse conditions) - the problems occur when the BGA starts forming biofilms, erythromycin will kill off the active BGA knocking it back down to it's relatively benign non-biofilm state.


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## Sotty (Aug 31, 2012)

Oh and I will add blackouts didn't work for me either until I read online somewhere that you have to truly black the tank out. Not just lights out. I've used black trash bags over all glass faces and the top of tank for five says with good effect several times. Just my experience.

I have also used maracyn quite several times as well over the years. I did not have a gp as nice as yours and the price of treating my 150 gallon was cost prohibitive so I started experimenting with blackouts.


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## zdnet (Aug 13, 2010)

ISTM for BGA to thrive two conditions have to hold: 1) water is warm 2) nitrogen exceeds phosphorus by less than a factor of 20:

Blue-green algae is a common feature of nutrient-rich lakes such as the shallow, warm lakes on the prairies.

Ms. Orihel’s research found that when nitrogen exceeded phosphorus by less than a factor of 20 lakes tended to have high levels of microcystins.

As long as one of the above does not hold, BGA can't thrive.

I have a soil-based tank that used to be around 82F and had BGA. One day I removed all the visible BGA and then added a thermostat attached to a fan to keep the temperature below 78F. Since then no BGA.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

How to do a blackout:
1) clean the tank especially well, remove as much as possible of the BGA by hand. 
2) Feed the fish a normal meal and turn off the tank light.
3) Cover the tank with whatever you have that is dark. Black towel, garbage bag... Hold these up to a window to see if they really block all the light. Be very careful that these materials will not cause problems. If the towel is in the water it can wick the water out of the tank. If the plastic is over some warm equipment it could soften or melt. 
4) Maintain the cover for at least 3 days. No peaking. Do not open it even to feed the fish. 
5) On the 4th day you can peak, feed the fish and even clean the filter. This is especially important if there is dying algae in the tank. As the algae decomposes it can release ammonia. Since a lot of it can get caught by the filter, cleaning the filter is the best way to remove a lot of it. 
6) If there is still BGA that looks healthy, wrap up the tank again and continue the black out for another 3 days. 

After that I would stop the black out, do a big water change and feed the fish. Take care of things on a normal schedule, test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, do extra water changes if needed, and see if the BGA is really gone.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

> 4) Maintain the cover for at least 3 days. No peaking. Do not open it even to feed the fish.


You can make a slit on the top to feed your fish everyday. It wouldn't be an issue.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

Well I don't have any materials for a black out laying around but I'm on day 4 of maracyn with no lights on and I'm starting to see dying algae. 

I'm thinking at day 5 I will do 75% wc, clean out my filter, and add some carbon for a week probably cut the lighting down to 4-5 hours a day while I have carbon in the tank 


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

I took a peak today, the maracyn worked(knock on wood). All the algae is dead. The dead algae looks like bba, my Amanos are having a hayday with it 


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

Well this sucks.

I went to clean out my fitter.some may say that an fx5 is a bit large for a 72g......what do they know lol. I have to remove the door of my stand to pull the filter out.....my neighbor borrowed my only Phillips and its 3am. Now I have to wake up in 3 hours to get it before he goes to work. 

Just felt like you needed to know.....


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## herns (May 6, 2008)

Like texasciclid posted, you can buy it from Fosters and smith.


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

Do a big water change, remove as much of the dead stuff as you can and get your water parameters back on track.


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## wipp0034 (Aug 26, 2012)

Im trying to get rid of my BGA right now. I'm dosing erythromycin and doing a three day blackout. It's only been two days and there is significantly less


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Does anyone know about the safety of these products for puffer fish, cherry shrimp, snails? I think I might have an outbreak! Stinky.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

I have nerites and Amanos in my tank and the maracyn was safe for them I also treated my axolotle with it too I think it's pretty much safe for anything it's just antibiotics I don't think puffers would have a problem 


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## Fawn (Jul 3, 2012)

I'm going to start my Erythromycin treatment today. I actually found API E.M. Erythromycin in my small town pet store for less than I can get it on the internet! 

I have never experienced this stuff before...In 20 years of fish keeping in San Diego, I never had it. Now I have it in my first tank here in WA. I've been battling it by just removing what I can and doing water changes frequently, but I can't keep up with this 50% water change every week schedule...if I lapse a week, it starts to come back noticably (it never went away, just looked less ugly, and I think it's suffocating my plants)

I have a carbon/resin packet layer in my huge canister filter on a 55g, in addition to ceramic rings and pumice rock stuff, sponge layers and it all goes through a micro-filter pad before output into the tank, which splits through a large bio-wheel and a spray bar. 

I will of course remove the carbon/resin packet, but should I remove my bio mediums from the canister filter, and the bio-wheel before I treat, and then replace later? Or will that just re-introduce the cyanobacteria to the system?

Interesting thing to note, my tank has massive circulation with a round-about current in a 55g bow corner tank and I have this stuff growing in the outputs of my spraybar and the biowheel! It's on all plants and objects closest to my lights, including my glass lid, but none in the lower areas near the gravel. So oxygenation and circulation doesn't seem to have anything to do with it.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

I'm on day 3 of marycin, smell 100% gone already!


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