Cyanobacteria – mad about antibiotics now.

From time to time, I’ve posted about my cyanobacteria, and with the help of reef loungers, upgraded this and that. For instance, lately I got a TDS meter and my water was fine 0 ppm, but I added a DI cannister to my system anyway. Nitrates are 5, phosphates 0, other parameters good and stable. etc, etc. Just yesterday, my aquarium lights were replaced because they were getting old, replaced with 20,000k bulbs (discussed on another thread).

But something else happened: The aquarium service guy dosed my tank wtih antibiotics yesterday morning, and by evening, all the sand was pristine white color. The cyanobacteria and diatoms also disappeared.

I’m worried that its wiped out all kinds of bacteria in my sand too, and I’m worried it killed all the beneficial populations of bacteria.

The picture below is "Before". Note the cyanobacteria on the sand surface and the green and brown colors below the sand surface. After antibiotics, All that color has disappeared, leaving the sand pure white.

Does this mean my tank is going to re-start a whole cycle? Is that what usually happens when antibiotics are given for cyanobacteria? Should I be grateful for the service guy’s initiative, or pissed because he didn’t ask permission first?

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