Cyanobacteria Poison

[ConquistadorSeal]

I was doing a water change on a 10 gallon fish tank. This fish tank recently had a cyanobacteria bloom. I heard that cyanobacteria is actually poisonous. I have some questions;
How much cyanobacteria exposure is needed to affect humans?
I accidentally spilled some water on the ground and wiped it with a towel. But then my dog later walked across the spill area. Will this poison my dog?

 

[NickAu]

 
I accidentally spilled some water on the ground and wiped it with a towel. But then my dog later walked across the spill area. Will this poison my dog?

I think it is safe to assume the dog will be just fine.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Well, this depends largely on what type of cyanobacteria you have. There are many forms and seems fairly complex to me, mostly to do with what compounds and types bacteria will release when in bloom. I think the amount of cyanobacteria you have in any anquarium is not going to amount to much risk to humans and mammals such as dogs and cats, though I still would not risk drinking any of the tank water!
 
But whilst I have heard of folks losing shrimps to cycanobacteria after ingestion, it is pretty rare for fish to eat any form of cycanobacteria though so that risk is minimised. I would still endeavour to try and get rid of this cycanobacteria as it is fairly unsightly and not worth having in your tank.
 
On a side note, I have heard of beaches and lakes being closed due to cyanobacteria blooms being present in hot weather, the risk to humans and mammels is far greater as the amount of toxins released is far more than any aquarium can put out due to the amount of water and cyanobacter present.
 
PS, i am certainly no scientist or have any real knowledge about this stuff at all, imho it pays dividends to do research to be sure which type of cyanobacteria you may have and the risk it possibly poses.

 

[Akasha72]

there are signs up at our local resovoir warning people about 'blue-green algae' being present and it being poisonous .... yeah you read that right ... at a drinking water supply ... go figure that one out!
 
The best way to rid a tank of it is a complete blackout for up to 5 days. You need to turn out the tank lights and completely cover the glass with a thick blanket/towels etc (I actually bought some black out material and being handy with a sewing machine I made my own cover) If you keep the tank completely blacked out (no peeking) for 4 - 5 days it should just disappear. Once it's gone you need to look to nutrient imbalances within the tank that caused it to appear in first place. Once the nutrients in the tank are balanced and right light amount also looked at then it shouldn't return.
 
Hope that helps

 

[Bubbelzzz]

There are a lot of diffirent cyanobacteria and some of them will release poison in the water. However, not all of them do this. As far as I can remember are the species found in our tanks, save. So you don't have to worry about that.

Those that are found in lakes with warning signs are indeed poisonous. They can even be lethal, so never swim in water where you can find these signs.
Furthermore, don't worry about your drinking water. If they do use that source, they will make sure it is save to drink by treating the water.

At last, how to get rid of it. That can be a very tricky problem. I'm struggling with it for years, tried a.lot of things. But I learned a lot.
Trying to clean objects or plants can make it worst. So always clean them outside the tank and remove affected leaves.
For me, strangely enough, was not doing anything at all.the most effective method sofar, but I wouldn't recommend it.
As beforementioned, I would first try to do a complete blackout. First remove as much of the bacteria as you can and then make sure the tank can't get any light for a week. Don't feed the fish during that week.

 

[Liv15]

I had a Cyanobacteria bloom in my fighting fish tank. One day there was a hole in it, like one of the fish had eaten some. Weeks later one of my bettas wasted away and died... Not sure if that was related ?