I've just checked my driftwood container and there was a huge clump of java moss, and possibly some christmas moss in it. Its covered with slimey green algae. I want to put some in my tank but how should I treat it to ensure I don't introduce the algae too?

Ive pulled off a few cleanish pieces of each and dumped the rest - so there won't be much to be treated.

Cheers

Jude

Hi Jude

if you have slimy algae in your tank it is best to do a through overhaul of your tank.

1 take a 10 litre (or bigger) pail and fill it half with tank water and water from the tap. put in a heater and allow it to get to the right temp. place a air bubble maker in your pale.

2 catch your fishes and place them in the pail.

3 take out your plant, stone and driftwood and give them a good scrap. wash your gravel throughly and take it out to sun it for a day or two. take out your filter and wash the filter or media.

4 put then back together again and set the temperature right.

5 place your fish back into the tank.

you would have got rid of 80% algae. but you must also think back how did that algae got there in the first place. was it no enough water change, too long under the sun, feed too much food for the fish, too long on the lighting, too much fertiliser, etc. that cause the algae to grow.

hope you get that christmas moss going, it will be beautiful in any tank.

Cheers

Give it a dose of (spp) eromycin, you won't have to worry about fish etc, or recycling.

That is for blue/green if that is what you have Jude.

When I use "e," I use a capsule per a two foot tank.

Alan 104

Hi Plantman

Thanks for the advice. The algae isn't in my tank, it was in a bin I use for soaking driftwood. I take it from your advice that so long as I clean the moss thoroughly it would be safe to put it in an uninfected tank?

Hi Alan

Thanks for that too. I am not sure I could get hold of any "e" as its a prescription medicine - does anyone know where to get it from? And how to spell it ............... :lol:

Cheers

Jude

Erythromycin

This is an antibiotic that is selective in what it Kills. Not a broad spectrum antibiotic like Augmentin

Then again if you are not treating the algae with fish in it then I can suggest you could use any type of antibiotic to kill the algae with.

I can get Erythromycin cos I work for a GP and a friend is a doctor in the local hospital

Gotta throw my two cents in here...

Inappropriate use of antibiotics is what has us in the mess we're in with regard to multi-drug resistant bacteria and human health and, IMHO, any application of an antibiotic other than for medical reasons, is inappropriate. This includes the aquarium hobby. Erythromycin might not be high up on the ever-decreasing list of effective anti-microbials but the principle is the same. In any case, erythromycin is only effective against blue-green algae (which are in fact bacteria) and even then it will only eliminate the current bloom but will not rectify the cause so inevitably the bugs return, only next time slightly more resistant to the drug. There are other ways of eliminating algae but I think one has to address the cause rather than the result.

- Dubb.

PS - I am not a crank

I'm inclined to agree with you dubbieboy except that in this case the cause is a one-off. The container is really only for keeping the driftwood wet and if it got algae I would boil it before putting it in the tank - don't think the plants would like it if I did that to them :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers

Juce

Jude,

You're right and I guess first you'd need to decide what sort of algae it is before you decide how to eliminate it.

My guess is its just green and slimey right? If this is the case, I suggest firstly a good wash through in clean water followed by soaking the piece of driftwood in a MILD solution of bleach (half a cup in a bucket, ish...), ten minutes should do it. Java Moss is, lets face it, so completely indestructible that it hardly qualifies as a living plant at all and 10 mins in mild bleach won't bother it one bit (but you could do the experiment on a small piece first just to be on the safe side; I have no experience of Christmas Moss however). This should hurt the algae. After it goes into a tank, if conditions are favourable to algal growth, its going to have algae anyway, regardless. If conditions do not support algal growth, any remaining on the wood should dissappear.

If its truly blue-green algae you've got, I reckon a bleach treatment can't hurt either

- Dubb.

I'm nearing 97% sure I have a blue/green algae infection.

Where would I find this Erythromycin ?

Erythromycin (penicillin) is a prescription only drug.

lol - bit of a problem then

Not for those of us who work for a GP

is the green slimy stuff also long and stringy? In my fry tank I have notice this develop on the top half of my heater then it has attached its self to the wall behind and in to the corner and now its on my plant in that corner. I have pulled as much of it off as possible and I am hoping that once my bns have bubbas I was going to put them in there hoping to clean it up. Would they clean it up or would I be needing to do a big clean out?

When I had the warm white light on it it was just a small green carpet looking area now that I have chaged the bulb to a bright white (6400K) it has taken off big time. Is this the same thing you have? if now how could I treat it as I have a dozen or so fry in there at the moment with more comming.

cheers

Nope... the green slimy stuff is _really_ green and slimy.

I have some of the long stringy stuff in my planted tank, only right up near the waterline though, doesn't seem to affect anything, and I just remove it occasionally.

I got Erythromycin from Hollywood Fish Farm in Albany, Auckland. They had a big jar and sold it by the tablet, it might pay to give them a call depending on where you live.

Cheers,

Matt

Hmm that sounds interesting! Wonder where they got the tabs from? Perhaps they know a friendly GP too. Mine loves getting the pills for me just so he can tell the hospital he needs them for his receptionist who has algae :lol: