In reply to StephaneL ………. A few species of cyanbacteria only produce “toxins” (actually allergens) under some extremes, like the “guacomole” we see in local waters here in Florida in the summmer. These “toxins” produce severe alergic reactions in some people, not fish. The fish die here locally when the oxygen in the water is all used up by decomposing cyanobacteria. The same is true in your aquarium. I know of no one who lost fish or had an ashma attack due to aquarium cyanobacteria. The health food spirulina is a cyanobacteria

In reply to Steve …. A better bet for BBA would be a bristle nosed pleco. With the obvious caveat that there is no silver bullet when it comes to algae.

A thought I had recently is houseplants. What if I put the roots of a large Pothos in the tank. Could it out compete the BBA?

In reply to Jaume ….I’ve neve used it so I have no information on it. Probably harmless as it is just aspirin.

Suggested dosage is 10ml per each 80l of water, 5 consecutive days, without changing or adding water for up to 14 days. After that, it suggests 10ml per each 80l each week to prevent new outbreaks.

In my experience it did seem to work, as cyano dried up and certainly stopped spreading, so I was inclined to use it weekly to prevent new outbreaks as suggested, but I am also cautious as to what is it that I am adding to the tank so often.

Perhaps you can share your opinion on the use of “salicylic acid” in an aquarium, if you have one, or point me towards some data.

Thank you for your time in advance.

In reply to Steve … Get a handful of duckweed from a pond. Add it to the tank along with fertilizer and 18 hours a day high intensity lighting. Rapidly growing duckweed will slowly kill out BBA. BBA is unaffected by UV filters.

In reply to Anonymous … Six of one, half a dozen of the other.