[APD] BGA Control - Blackout vs. Antiobiotics.

["Bill D" <billinet at comcast_net>]

Hello,

Tom said on the subject of BGA control:

". . . Good, now go tell 10 people that think using antibiotics is good and
blackouts aren't. . . ."

Let me be the devil's advocate, or maybe the devil.  Why?

Whenever I set up a soil substrate tank, no matter how heavily planted it
is, within a week or two I will have a BGA outbreak.  I treat this with
Maracyn (erythromycin).  After that, I remove the dead and dying BGA, and,
if necessary, repeat the procedure once or twice.  Then the BGA is gone from
that tank forever.

The blackout alternative is to eliminate all light from the tank for three
to five days, then remove the dead BGA and do a water change.  That works
too.

My question is, what is wrong with using the antibiotic?  To me it is
easier, it produces tangible results in a day,
and it works, long term.

Sure, the use of an antibiotic won't be effective if the basic cause of the
BGA outbreak isn't addressed, but that is also true of the blackout method.

Some might be concerned about the danger of creating antibiotic-resistant
strains of BGA, but I can't find any evidence of that happening in an
aquarium.   (Note that we all carry zillions of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria on and in us.)

BTW, I keep fish with my plants and I have never used any medications.  Nor
do I add any other chemicals to
my tanks to enhance fish appearance, plant growth, nor anything else except
fish food.

So, is this a Green thing, or is there something that I am missing?

Bill


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