Bga - Spirulina - Credit Crunch

[madpiano]

Ok, I keep fish in London and I live with BGA. Every single tank I ever had at some point developed the dreaded BGA slime. I am sure it's Croydon Tap water causing it as I had it in fish tanks in 3 different houses.

I am about to restart my little tank and I know, at some point it will haunt me again. Currently the tank only has snails, some sad plants and a piece of Bogwood in it. No BGA so far and I have no idea what the snails are eating, but they are breeding and my plants are growing. This probably shows that snails can live of plain water and thrive....

Now. I also started a new hobby - making soap. To get soap to be a nice ocean green colour people buy Blue Green Algae or Spirulina Powder. This stuff is not cheap. This got me thinking. Can I just use the BGA (mine tends to be just the right colour) I have in my fish tank ???

I know some BGA produces liver toxins, so I wont be eating it, but not all of the colouring powders are made from Spirulina, some are just called BGA-powder.

Has anyone got any experience with drying the stuff ?

With my luck this will now be my first tank without BGA ever, just so I can't do any trials, lol

Cheers
Mad

 

[Colin_T]

Spirulina and blue green algae (Cyanobacter) are different things. You don't want to use blue green algae for anything that comes in contact with your skin and you don't want to ingest it because it will make you very sick, if not worse.

If you have Cyanobacter problems in all the tanks it could be too much food. Snails will eat the excess food and live happily but when the snails are removed, the alga takes over.

Blue green algae problems are associated with excess nutrients, low oxygen levels and poor water movement, and old lights. Doing regular water changes and gravel cleans will usually help, as will increasing water movement in the tanks. If the light globes are more than 12 months old you should replace them. Try to use daylight globes or globes with a temperature/ Kelvin (K) rating above 6,000K.

 

[madpiano]

Spirulina and blue green algae (Cyanobacter) are different things. You don't want to use blue green algae for anything that comes in contact with your skin and you don't want to ingest it because it will make you very sick, if not worse.

actually, they are not.

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirulina_(dietary_supplement)

and if you do an internet search on Blue Green Alage supplement from non-spirulina sources, you will find some people sell pond scum as vitamins.

Not all BGA is toxic and most is not harmful to skin.

If you have Cyanobacter problems in all the tanks it could be too much food. Snails will eat the excess food and live happily but when the snails are removed, the alga takes over.

I have had BGA in all my tanks, apart from my current one. But I have had different tanks, fish and lights over the years. Different gravel, different filter, different types of fish (and therefore food) and still, BGA. My current tank has snails, but no BGA. I am sure they don't eat it, but of course, I want to grow it now, thats why it isn't growing.....

Blue green algae problems are associated with excess nutrients, low oxygen levels and poor water movement, and old lights. Doing regular water changes and gravel cleans will usually help, as will increasing water movement in the tanks. If the light globes are more than 12 months old you should replace them. Try to use daylight globes or globes with a temperature/ Kelvin (K) rating above 6,000K.

if you look at pond scum, neither of those are true. BGA grows anywhere, mostly near the surface where light and water movement is best.
The only difference my current tank has is, that I am using marine lights after a short try of setting up a marine tank. Yes my marine tank got marine BGA...but you might be on to something with the lights, as I have none so far. And it's fresh water again, just with marine lights.

 

[aaronnorth]

mostly near the surface where light and water movement is best.

BGA does not grow where there is sufficient water movement, that is why in planted tanks we aim for 10x turnover - to minimize any dead spots that may induce algae.

other cause of BGA are ammonia spikes, dirty filters, low nitrates.

EDIT: in answer to your original question i cannot help you there.

 

[hogan53]

mostly near the surface where light and water movement is best.

BGA does not grow where there is sufficient water movement, that is why in planted tanks we aim for 10x turnover - to minimize any dead spots that may induce algae.

other cause of BGA are ammonia spikes, dirty filters, low nitrates.

EDIT: in answer to your original question i cannot help you there.

Hello all
I have found that BGA is a combination of no water movement and no water changes and of very low nitrate levels and a PH that is lower than your normal tap water.
I also agree with aaronorth and his post.