Maracyn and Algae

["Rachel Sandage" <rachelsor at hotmail_com>]

I just thought I'd share my experience here. I have had BGA in my tank for 
quite a while, but it go really bad a few weeks ago - it was starting to 
take over the tank. So I got some Maracyn and started adding it at less than 
full strength - 4 tablets/day in my 72 gallon tank (dosage is 1 tab/10 gal). 
By day 2 a strange red-brown haze had developed  in the tank, but something 
else had happened - the BGA was definately in retreat. I had also had a 
black algae growing on the older leaves and stems of many plants which I did 
not think was BGA, but it may have been, because by day 3 it was gone. The 
red-brown haze cleared up by day 4, but the tank still has a whitish haze. 
After 6 days of treatment I did a major water change and was pleased to find 
that the water didn't have that sharp, icky smell anymore, but I also 
discovered that the BGA was not totally gone. So I have upped the dose to 5 
tabs per day and will continue to treat for another 5 days.

An interesting side effect is that the annoying green dust algae which I 
have been fighting for a month seems to have gone into retreat too. Before 
Maracyn, within 3-4 days of a water change the glass would begin to be 
covered with this powdery green algae, and by 6 days would be quite thick 
with it. Since Maracyn, the coating was almost invisible after 6 days. I 
don't know if this is a direct cause of the Maracyn, though - I have to 
wonder if the Maracyn wiped out the biofilter and the plants are using the 
NH3/NH4 directly and starving out the algae. I did check ammonia (it was 0) 
using an AP test kit, but it's about a year old & I don't know how accurate 
it is.

I have posted a picture of the tank which I took this morning at 
http://communities.msn.com/rsfish/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=38. 
The water is cloudy because of the Maracyn, so it's not as clear as some 
other pics I've taken, and I also put about 450 watts of incandescent lights 
around the tank to take the picture so things have a yellower look than 
usual. If anybody has some suggestions about ways to make the tank 
"prettier" I would like to hear them.

Sorry this is so long. I hope this helps somebody.

-Rachel


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