Killing blue-green algae.

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Delapool

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The local society tank has blue-green algae so was hoping to get ways of killing it. We are a bit hamstrung with meds. I’m going to see what I have but at the moment I only know I have a tub of furan 2. Tank size is 6ft by 2ft I think so large volume. Fish will go on a holiday stay.

After that pool chlorine??

And then stopping it coming back!

Ideas? Thanks!
 
Physical removal and hydrogen peroxide often work well. May require multiple treatments.
There is a non-antibiotic product primarily used in SW that can be used in FW I believe. It was mentioned in a thread in AA recently. Can not recall the name at the moment.
 
Blue green algae killer by Ultra life [Boyd]
http://r.search.aol.com/_ylt=AwrJ61XfMjla1e8AFExpCWVH;_ylu=X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--/RV=2/RE=1513726816/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ultralife.com%2findex.php%2fproduct%2fblue-green-stain-remover%2f/RK=0/RS=tNAnv2YqvRuYTw6KB2Mh4N_QXJc-
I think David is correct also about the H2O2..Installed properly it should kill anything..
I always wondered about these Ultra life products .
I have used the red slime killer several times on different reefs I have kept and the blue green on my 135 when I was on well water with Tanganyikan cichlids.They say no E mycin so I just wonder..
They work I know that , at least short term [months].
 
Thanks, I’ll chase up.

I think they were planning to bomb it with H2O2 or complete pull-down. Yikes! I know H2O2 would work but I forgot to add there is a sump as well so treating, idk, 250 gallon. Thoughts on using H2O2 to do that?

I found one Australian reference of using furan 2. Seems iffy, except it wiped out all my plants somehow. Wouldn’t have mentioned it except I have a tub of furan 2 and barely use it (touch wood). Is for a cotton mouth outbreak just in case.
 
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I had success limiting nutrients in the water column and feeding plants at the root. I get a bit twitchy with the thought of using H2o2. Yes the obvious ‘if done right it can be fine’ statement works here but the amount of threads I’ve read where they lose one or two fish or melt patches of plants it just seems a bit risky to me.

Personally I wouldn’t touch the stuff.

I wouldn’t add any chemicals in fact. Do a few water changes with RODI if you can, feed a bit less, less often etc. It will take time but it will subside. Problem I found with ridding the bacteria was that it paved the way for true algae but this was a light issue easily resolved.
 
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I had success limiting nutrients in the water column and feeding plants at the root. I get a bit twitchy with the thought of using H2o2. Yes the obvious ‘if done right it can be fine’ statement works here but the amount of threads I’ve read where they lose one or two fish or melt patches of plants it just seems a bit risky to me.

I've used H2O2 a few times to eliminate patches of hair algae, and it's worked fine, though I spot treat with a syringe, rather than dosing the whole water column. Haven't lost anything, yet. (There's an old article that can be found on the Internet from a guy who doses his whole tank. Killed most of his fish, but the operation was a success. Yikes. :eek: )
 
I've used H2O2 a few times to eliminate patches of hair algae, and it's worked fine, though I spot treat with a syringe, rather than dosing the whole water column. Haven't lost anything, yet. (There's an old article that can be found on the Internet from a guy who doses his whole tank. Killed most of his fish, but the operation was a success. Yikes. :eek: )


I’ll bet. Yeah I know most people spot dose with filter off etc. I just don’t know if it’s worth the hassle or risk for me personally. You could say the same about co2/glut dosing etc I guess but I do see a lot of disaster stories specifically using H2o2.
 
I know it seems against the grain ,but even in the One Two punch the pumps /filter are left running when dosing.
I leave my pumps and filter running when I spot dose.It never seems to impede progress and is a MUCH safer way to install. Organics and other things in water column will degrade /neutralize products so circulating the water when installing any chemical gives it its real reaction and not just a burning in one spot where you let it sit and smolder....
 
I lost half my shrimp and snails when I tried an H2O2 treatment. I won’t touch the stuff unless whatever I want to treat can come out of the tank.
 
Yikes, some horror stories there! Thanks everyone. I think the fish will go on holiday somewhere and then swap them out for others. Sounds like it will be a good idea to have them out of the tank for sure.
 
Quick update - we tried one-off dose of doxycycline (for birds I think - one of the tetracycline group anyway so may not have done much in hard water).

And dosing and re-dosing the furan 2.

I’m told the tank is looking better. So perhaps furan 2 does work on BGA (probably only useful in New Zealand where can get furan 2 but not erythromycin I guess).,
 
Furan 2 messes up some of my plants so it would reason it alone may nip the BGA..
Nice find and mind your dosing.. I find damage done is death to leaves/moss but the whole plant can rebound once the furan is removed..
 
Furan 2 messes up some of my plants so it would reason it alone may nip the BGA..
Nice find and mind your dosing.. I find damage done is death to leaves/moss but the whole plant can rebound once the furan is removed..



Great info - it seems to be working out better than pulling tank down. Seemed like getting to stage of selling off tank which would be a shame for money spent on it (although tempting to get!).
 
Just saw tank tonight and looking very good. Expensive as the guys used just about all of the 850gram container(!), but was just sitting there in cupboard anyways. Did say to help themselves if wanted any as well.
 
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