Erythromycin in a SPS tank

[xxxduke62xxx]

Im having a bacterial infection in my system that is killing off 70% of my acros and is starting to get to my montis and birdsnests. I have used erythromycin 4 years ago when my tank was young to get rid of cyano and it worked but i had no SPS now i was wondering if this antibiotic will also get rid of this nasty outbreak i have and will it kill SPS. I have done over 200 gallons in water changes in my system this past month in my 100 gallon TWV and it is not helping at all. Its nothing else killing my corals it is a bacteria infection i have checked every thing in this tank 5 times i really dont need any more advise on anything else except if i can use erythomycin in the tank safely or if someone else can give me something else i can use as a in-tank treatment. Thank you for any input

 

[AdamDeMamp]

I've never heard of such a thing. Erythomycin for tank treatment? Do you have any pictures of this infection?

 

[toothman]

possibly you sand bed is too dirty.
extra water flow will usually help, make your acros blow in the wind. A good test is to watch food if it can land and stay on the bottom, water flow is too low.
chloramphenicol is good antibiotic used by vets, you can get some from you vet or if you know someone working in a lab. It is usually used as a dip.

Can you show a video of your tank.

I would think a better thought would be to remove your sand, frag your corals and start new.

 

[xxxduke62xxx]

i have plenty of flow. i have 2 vortechs,a cheap powerhead in the corner of my tank and a sea swirl. i might have found a problem just not sure yet. i will know in a few weeks. my calcium reactor keeps getting clogged due to that thick foam that MTC uses in the big chamber and my alk was swinging a bit and ph was dropping. it wasnt swinging alot but it was going from 7.5 down to around 6.8 and i was having to adjust the flow to effluent cup everyday. i cut the thick part of the foam in half and it seems to be holding but i wont know for at least 2 weeks. could be this or something else but this is a good start. i am still getting this lime green algae/bacteria growing everywhere. grows like cyano with bubbles forming then a mat that no one seems to have ever heard of so still thinking of doing the treatment but going to hold off a week. never seen this kind of outbreak before

 

[Cac986]

Hey your in luck I am a clinical pharmacist. Erythromycin is the antibiotic of choice for cyano, however its use in my opinion has created alot of resistant strains of cyano in the aquarium industry. I do not know of anyone who has used erythromycin in a SPS dominated tank. So I would experiment by adding a small amount of erythromycin to a quar. tank with a acro and see what happens. In theory erythromycin will not kill eukaryotic cells (zooxanthellae) i.e your coral, but will kill bacteria (prokaryotic cells). I think the big issue is collateral damage to the benifical denitrifying bacteria in you system causing a spike in nitrite,nitrate, and ammonia ultemtly killing your corals. In my opinion Erythromycin will only kill the susceptible cyanobacteria but leave behind the resistant strains of cyanobacteria. Then you are going to left with a resistant form of cyano in your aquarium. Hope this helps.

 

[db1317]

i have plenty of flow. i have 2 vortechs,a cheap powerhead in the corner of my tank and a sea swirl. i might have found a problem just not sure yet. i will know in a few weeks. my calcium reactor keeps getting clogged due to that thick foam that MTC uses in the big chamber and my alk was swinging a bit and ph was dropping. it wasnt swinging alot but it was going from 7.5 down to around 6.8 and i was having to adjust the flow to effluent cup everyday. i cut the thick part of the foam in half and it seems to be holding but i wont know for at least 2 weeks. could be this or something else but this is a good start. i am still getting this lime green algae/bacteria growing everywhere. grows like cyano with bubbles forming then a mat that no one seems to have ever heard of so still thinking of doing the treatment but going to hold off a week. never seen this kind of outbreak before

A while back, I had what sounds like a similar lime green cyano like algae growing on one rock. I cleaned my powerheads and got after it with a turkey baster and water changes. It took about a few weeks, but it eventually went away.