how i killed all of my cyno EASILY

[greatgman]

i killed off all of my cyno in about 1 week !
(sounds interesting huh?)
first let me say this :
my tank was overrun by cyno big time and i was at the end of my rope

i finally decided to do the full teardown and start again from scratch
(note my skimmer was busted -rio 800 was broke and could not find a place nearby to buy another one and i have no bank account to go and buy one online)

so i went to pet supplies plus in bridgeville pa.
i was going to get a ugf and run it in reverse
the guy i talked to was a guy named ivan (he really knows his craft)
he told me that was going to be a big mistake (full teardown- not buying a ugf)
and told me to do this:

first get your circulation up (no prob for me a 1500 gph pump plus a mj 1200 and a mj 1000 ph )i figured i had about 15x flow in my 90 gallon with a scwd

second get the skimmer fixed ( i modified my excalibur with a mj 900 using the turbo venturi attachment -kept from my former seaclone 100)

now here is the cyno killing part !
go and get your self a package of MARACYN (NOT PLUS)
dont worry about it if it says for fresh water it will work fine
this is a medical treatment for popeye gill disease fungus etc
what this medicine is is eurithmicyn -a wide spectrum antibiotic
what you will be doing is -shocking the cyno-
do this in 2 steps do a half treatment wait 3 days and repeat with another half treatment -TAKE OUT YOUR CARBON

after a week there is NO sign of cyno

on the second day of treatment i finally got my skimmer modified and with in 20 minutes i saw some skimmate appearing but the funny thing is after 2 hours it was pulling TONS of red scum out after 1 day i had 1/3 cup filled with red scum in my skimmer

this really works
and dont worry if you have invetibrates in your tank it wont affect them at all ivan uses this treatment in both of his reef tanks (1 softie and 1 hardie - and he uses it on his own system at his house)

i know what your probably thinking what about the good bacteria will it cause my tank to recycle?

possibly- every tank is different
i had a very minor ammonia increase for 1 day( only got up 1 shade on the color chart)
2 days later .0 amm .0 trite .15 trate

 

[X the Outsider]

I hope you know Erthomician (sp) will kill your beneficial bacteria too. It would have been better to use chemi-clean or something along those lines to help fight the cyanobacteria,

 

[Devilishturtles]

It would have been better to use nothing at all chemical wise, and let the basics work for you. Increased water flow and better skimming (with some manual eradication) and you could have had the problem under control with no chemical additives involved.

Keep and eye on your water parameters. Your ammonia may rise still due to the die off of certain bacteria. Also, all that dying cyano(all at once, like you did) isn't good too. It can cause system crashes.

 

[HoopsGuru]

I agree, chemicals is rarely the way to go. While it might have gotten rid of the cyano, it did nothing to change the conditions that allowed it to proliferate in the first place....and thus likely it will come back again to create the yo-yo effect. And being an antibiotic, it will absolutely kill at least some of the biofilter and things would have to be closely monitored during its use (and after)....not worth the risk to me.

 

[greatgman]

if you read my post you will notice that
in my case i had nothing left to lose

so instead of teardown and restart this is great

i dont mind usind a chemical if it does the job the way it should

besides i learned quite a few things in my lesson
my lights are new
only on for 7 hrs only feed every other day except i feed nori to my tang every day (a peice about 2" x2") and i now feed marine mush i made myself , when i feed frozen food i rinse it off before hand in the sink with a brine shrimp net
water changes are improving (i still dont do em as much as i should )
as i stated i had a very slight loss in benefical bacteria ( just recycled in two days)
so i doubt i will experecnce the yo-yo effect considering how much experince i"m getting and the knowledge i learned on this site plus reading up on some good books

sheech
cant seem to impress ne1

 

[Devilishturtles]

first get your circulation up (no prob for me a 1500 gph pump plus a mj 1200 and a mj 1000 ph )i figured i had about 15x flow in my 90 gallon with a scwd

second get the skimmer fixed ( i modified my excalibur with a mj 900 using the turbo venturi attachment -kept from my former seaclone 100)

This is what your LFS guy reccomended, and it would have worked alone. Nobody is trying to discount what you said in any way. I think it's great you got it gone like that. But, we are just providing the facts for you (and anyone else who reads your thread and wants to try antibiotics to kill cyano) that it's just not the best way to go. Had you gotten your skimmer fixed, and increased your water flow like he suggested, the problem might have gone away on it's own.

Best of luck with the tank.

 

[MarineFlake]

greatgman, Thanks for sharing! Sometimes when us laymen folk post our trial and errors it makes the neurotic folks post...and post and post..Anyway, we are all glad you got back on top of the tank. Sounds like you need to shore up your maint schedule and you'll be cruising again!

GL!

 

[greenmaji]

greatgman..
a little off topic.. but not quite..
your skimmer.. Is that the DIY skimmer you were posting about building a while back?
If so... and its working for you well.. I personaly am VERY intrested in seeing some pictures.. (and did you take any pics of it while you were in the building process?)..
TIA for a post with pics or info. about your skimmer..

 

[Devilishturtles]

Lol, PC.

Neurotic...

It does work. Sometimes too well. If you DO try it, just be careful. That's all I'm tryin to say.

 

[austinsdad]

Devilshturtles.... kudos for the "cool"!

PC, try this one...

Sometimes when us laymen folk post our trial and errors it makes others disagree and post....

Sounds better than name calling IMO. 8)

Gman, I'm certain a bunch of folks appreciate you taking the time to share that with us - as well as a bunch who appreciated the subsequent discussion. Pls don't stop sharing. Trials, errors, and successes are what make this site work IMO.

 

[Fluff]

greatman, I did read your post and this isn't the first time I've heard of this being used as a cure. However, I have yet to read any positive, long term success with it so keep us posted. I had my lfs suggest the same while I was looking for new powerheads and they asked what I was using them for, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, the problem with using chemicals to treat cyano is that cyano will eventually adjust itself and the chemicals will no longer be effective. Most times it's a short term fix at best, so I'm not sure that could be considered a success. Good luck with it and keep us posted on how it works, a few months from now. Unfortunately, I suspect over time, unless the problem that created the cyano to begin with is corrected, it will be back with a vengeance and will be immune to your previous efforts. Here are some links to look at. Like with any good battle, know your enemy before you try to wage war against it.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/cyanofr.html
http://www.rvt.com/~lucas/school/cyano.html

And just for the record, I fail to see how anyone posting here could be considered neurotic. Just people offering alternative cures as well as possible side effects. The only neurotic person I see would be the accuser for over reacting to everyones advice. That said, lets keep this on topic. Thanks.