# I am sick. Need an answer quickly.



## mids1999 (Feb 22, 2007)

I had a recent bout of BGA in my tank about a week ago.

I am now sick with alot of nausea and vomiting.

What is coming up looks like the BGA.

Can BGA infect a person?
And
What bacteria is BGA?


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

No it can't. It is a cyanobacteria, it needs light to live since it photosynthesizes and can't thus live without it (can't live in your body).

Sounds like stomach flu.


----------



## nfrank (Jan 29, 2005)

Some cyanobacteria, also known as blue green algae can cause health problems. http://www.cdc.gov/hab/cyanobacteria/facts.htm
http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/bluegreenalgae/

There are other toxic algae as well. You may have heard about the scientist here at NC State University got very sick while she was studying a particularly toxic marine species. It was Pfesteria, a dinoflagellate. http://www.albionmonitor.com/2-18-96/toxicalgae.html


----------



## mids1999 (Feb 22, 2007)

Thank you for the replies.

I will try to bring in a sample to the Dr as it may proove useful


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Yes it can make people sick, but it doesn't infect them like a bacterial infection does. It can't live inside you. Vomiting BGA-like stuff is normal since stomach acid and churned up food doesn't look like food anymore and normally does look like BGA. 

Some species produce toxins that might harm you, but I doubt you've been drinking tank water or swimming in it for long periods of time. You can breath aerosols in and become sick, but a smidgen of cyanobacteria in your tank is not going to make enough to make you sick, the website that nfrank mentioned is talking about highly polluted water that is cloudy with cyano. Furthermore, not all cyanobacteria make toxins and I doubt that the ones living in our tanks are the toxin producing species.

By all means, take a sample in, but testing takes weeks, costs money and it is highly unlikely to yield any answers for a simple bout of vomiting. It is much more likely you just got sick from another person or some bad food. 

I have seen people new to the hobby worry about the small nematodes sometimes found in our aquariums being parasitic. They are not. Our hobby is pretty benign as hobbies go. About the worst I've heard of is an infection that someone got from cutting his finger while crushing a snail and another guy who was bitten by his piranha.


----------

