Erythromycin

[oralsturgeon]

How would one dose erythromycin for targeting red and cyanobacteria? and what effects will it have on my lps corals and fish? Thanks for any help

 

[dvmsn]

follow the reccomendations on the package for its intended use, but only treat once. There is no effect on corals or fish. It will make your skimmer go crazy so shut it off. Do a 30% water change after 24 hrs.

 

[wds21921]

Antibiotic in a tank with corals? No thanks!

 

[Ooulophilia]

There is a product called chemi clean that is erythromycin based - I used to work in an LFS and had many reports of it working with minimal adverse effects in reefs (lots of service techs swore by it)- it did have the reputation for melting xenia, and what was mentioned about the skimmer going nuts. There were a few cases where o2 concentration in the water after adding it was a problem (killing that much algae at once). The main problem is that it treats the symptoms, not the problem so the cyano will come back. It is better (IMO) to take a more holistic approach (phosphates, flow issues, ect.) to prevent the cause.

 

[castorpollux]

i used erythromycin and my xenia was fine, my sps lost a bit of color but its been coming back, i just had to take a step back on the lighting

 

[Serioussnaps]

u have to decide if killing the cyano that way is worth it....i have done it once and everything was fine....might as well pull out the snails and hermits or anything that will definitely die that way you dont add more nutrients only to fuel the cyano's comeback after nuking it........

break the pill up into little pieces and distribute throughout the tank..on top of big mats and what not....and keep very high flow and NO dont turn off skimmer....leave it off for a day then crank that baby up to keep the nutrients down and export what is dying....

i am anti-chemi clean....either erythromicin or natural but no chemi clean

 

[Serioussnaps]

maracyn pills is a good form to use...you can get em at the fish store for sure

 

[wds21921]

A better and safer idea would be to increase your water flow. I don't like adding chemicals to my tank any more than necessary because you wind up with an eventual cocktail of drugs and additives that are really not needed.