Green-Blue Slime in Tank

A

amhodge

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Apr 23, 2007
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My girlfriend's bowl was completely overtaken by a green-blue slime. Prior to its detectable development, I had transferred a bit of Christmas moss from her bowl to my tank. The moss just kind of disintegrated/was taken over by the slime and I removed it. When I removed it, a tiny bit of slime floated to the floor of my tank and landed on one small rock. I figured I would just get it with the vac next time I got around to it.

Fast forward to present day and my girlfriend's fish are all dead while mine thrive :( / :) Anyhoo, the slime has slowly spread around an area of my tank that is all gravel. I vacuum and do 10% water changes about once/week. I remove slime-colored rocks as I see them. I've purchased some Aqua Pharm Algae Destroy, but I saw somewhere that this is not liekly to be effective.

Any suggestions on getting rid of the slime (other than not being so stupid and letting it get as far as it did in the first place)? I'd like to hear from folks who have successfully gotten rid of the same stuff before.
 
Blue-green, slime or smear algae:
Grows rapidly in blue-green, slimy sheets. Spreads rapidly over almost everything and usually indicates poor water quality. However, blue-green algae can fix nitrogen and may be seen in aquariums with extremely low nitrates. Sometimes seen in small quantities between the substrate and aquarium sides. Will smother and kill plants. This is actually cyanobacteria. It can be physically removed, but this is not a viable long term solution as the aquarium conditions are still favorable for it and it will return quickly. Treatment with 200 mg of erythromycin phosphate per 10 gallons of water will usually eliminate blue-green algae but some experts feel it may also have adverse effects on the biological filter bed. If erythromycin is used for treatment, ammonia and nitrite levels should be carefully monitored.

http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

maybe that will help.
 
Grazie, M. Now, where does one pick up erythromycin phosphate and all the other chemicals I frequently see mentioned on this site? I assume there are better (read: cheaper) places to go than the LFS for chemicals.

I would say poor water quality was definitely the problem with my gf's bowl--inadequate filtration, no cleaning, no aeration, no water replacement--but all of my levels are fine according to my master test kit. From what you quoted there it sounds like that may not matter once the slime is introduced.
 
Maracyn=.erythromycin is an anti biotic..
-blue green algae is a bacteria..it is photosynthetic and can fix nitrogen..tho it has been related to poor water quality..it can easily take over a tank with pristine water ..once it is introduced it can be hard to erradicate.
blackouts have some effectiveness..but if you don't get all the bacteria it will quicly re-establish.

same can be said with using erythromycin

but within days of using the erythromycin you should start to see the bacteria die off..follow the course of meds and remove the deap bacteria.

keep an eye on your water params..


as mentioned by Mgamer...
 
Update: I purchased some Mardel maracyn powder and have been dosing my tank as instructed. The instructions say to treat for five days, then repeat for a maximum of five days if necessary. I vacuumed thoroughly, and phyiscally removed as much of the bacteria as I could before dosing. I left a couple of pieces of visibly infected gravel near the front of the tank so I could monitor the progress.

Now I'm through with the first five days of dosing. I have watched the bacteria die off from the infected gravel but it is not yet completely erradicated. I am reluctant to put my tank through a second round of chemicals.

Should I assume that as long as I can still see green on the gravel I need to keep dosing for another 5 days or should I wait and see if there's a resurgence in the bacteria growth?
 
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