# How to get rid of Cyano/blue green algae on new floating plants?



## mort (24 Jan 2017)

Hi, as above really. I just bought some salvinia culcullata and on arrival I can see it's covered in blue green algae. I obviously don't want to add this to my tank but was wondering if there was something I could do to eradicate it before I did? I've had some blue green algae when I first started the tank and although it never spread too much, it did persist for a while and I'd rather not have to deal with it again. So does anyone know of something to treat this that I might have lying around already (as I'd prefer not to buy any product because the plants were only a few quid and I'd rather send then back and buy from somewhere else).

Many thanks in advance.


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## dw1305 (24 Jan 2017)

Hi all, 





mort said:


> I just bought some salvinia culcullata and on arrival I can see it's covered in blue green algae.


You could try washing it off in the sink under a running tap.

cheers Darrel


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## mort (24 Jan 2017)

Hi Darrel, that's the first thing I did and got 90% of it off that way but its very hard to get it all because of the leaves having fine hairs to stop water, it just gets stuck. I was hoping there was something I could add to the water which would eradicate it. The other option is to leave it in the bowls I have it in and see if I can burn it out before adding it.


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## alto (24 Jan 2017)

mort said:


> covered in blue green algae.


I"d request a refund - a bit of BGA might be difficult to miss when sending the plant out but obviously sender didn't care
If you're loathe to return the plant, treat with Erythromycin to (mostly) kill the BGA ... you can try washing it off & that will remove some but at this stage I'd expect plant structure is damaged so keep plant under optimum conditions until it recovers (& out of your main tank)

(I hate the smell of BGA)


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## mort (24 Jan 2017)

alto said:


> I"d request a refund - a bit of BGA might be difficult to miss when sending the plant out but obviously sender didn't care
> If you're loathe to return the plant, treat with Erythromycin to (mostly) kill the BGA ... you can try washing it off & that will remove some but at this stage I'd expect plant structure is damaged so keep plant under optimum conditions until it recovers (& out of your main tank)
> 
> (I hate the smell of BGA)



I'm a pretty laid back guy but was a little annoyed when I saw the plants. They were generous but half the portion was half covered in it (much like a Jaffa cake with chocolate). There is no way you could have missed the amount that was on it. I haven't spoken to them yet as wanted to know if there was an easy fix first.


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## dw1305 (25 Jan 2017)

Hi all, 





mort said:


> The other option is to leave it in the bowls I have it in and see if I can burn it out before adding it.


You could try adding some KNO3 to the bowl with the _Salvinia_ and see if that gets rid of it. 





alto said:


> treat with Erythromycin to (mostly) kill the BGA


You can't legally obtain antibiotics in the UK for this usage.

cheers  Darrel


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## Coys (25 Jan 2017)

Ultralife Blue Green Algae Remover from Amazon.co.uk works and did not harm the fish or plants when I used it for a horrible outbreak in February 2015; the BGA was 100% gone within a week and has not returned. I have no idea what is in it, but as it isn't sold in the UK I suspect that it could be antibiotic-based. The seller ships it from the USA.

Having said that I would not knowingly introduce plants with BGA into my aquarium and would return them for a refund and probably not purchase from them again.


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## tim (25 Jan 2017)

Maybe worth washing it off as much as possible then try a few days blackout (place container in a bin liner) or the kno3 dw advised, I've had good success eradicating BGA from a few scapers with both methods.


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## mort (25 Jan 2017)

I've got some KNO3 so I'll give that a whirl on some. I've also got a cyano treatment for marine cyano so I'm going to test it as well. Making this an experiment as I might as well learn something.
It's not worth sending it back, there were a couple of little plants that looked free of it so they are being watched and hopefully I'll have something out of it. I'll contact the seller just to let them know of the problem. It was from eBay so they might not be experienced enough to know it's a problem.


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## mort (26 Jan 2017)

The marine cyano treatment seems to be doing the job. One scoop was supposed to treat 38 liters and I put a quarter scoop in about 2 liters. I saw a satisfying collection of the blue green algae on the bottom of the tub. It still remains on the plants above the water but it seems pretty successful as a treatment. 
The box doesn't say anything about the content only the dosage so I can't be certain what it contains but my guess is something like erythromycin. It's an imported product from the states that a rep gave me. Never had a use for it till now.


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## Simon Taylor (5 May 2017)

Cyanobacteria is a blue or black foul smelling slime which can spread very rapidly in the correct conditions. It can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere in low nitrate conditions. It thrives under bright light and especially likes soft water. Excess zinc also encourages cyanobacteria. 

Emergency solution is to turn off the lights.

Long term solution is to check the zinc content of your fertiliser and harden your water. Tadpole snails (Physa and Physella spp) eat cyanobacteria.They also clear up uneaten fish food. They do not seem to eat fish eggs and they are great food for clown loaches and other botias. You can also squash them to provide food for other fish. They do not grow large enough to block your syphon tube. I sometimes have cyanobacteria growing on riccia and indian fern at the surface but the snails soon clear it up. I have tadpole snails in all my tanks. They are my friends!


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## rebel (6 May 2017)

Quarantine and use chemiclean.


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