Blue-Green Algae -- Dangerous??

[Aderynglas]

Over here (Britain) the papers have been warning people not to swim or allow their dogs to swim in ponds or rivers with blue-green algae in them as some dogs have died and the people have become ill after swimming in areas with BGA.

This makes me wonder - how dangerous is it to work in a tank containing BGA ?? I currently have one tank with a persistent BGA problem and know from experience it will "burn itself out" but in the meantime I regularly have to remove the stuff to prevent it completely taking over. What is the true risk of this ??
Will my arms drop off ?? (I'm very small and practically have to get inside the tanks to do routine maintenance) Is it even the same stuff??

Someone out there must know :confused:

[redrf900]

You must have a REALLY big tank if you need to get inside to clean it. ;-) Even a side show midget wouln't fit in ANY of the tanks I've come accross...(up to 150 gallons). I would think the dogs have a problem because they actually swallow the water when they are swimming. ALL dogs swallow water when they swim. Cheers!! :-) If there was anything toxic w/ BGA, it would be from contact with your mucous membranes, not just skin contact. Keep the water out of your eys and nose and you should be fine!!

[Aderynglas]

Nah! I wish I could have a really big tank but its only 30 galls - I'm just very tiny (under 5feet) and have to get most of my arms in to really get to grips with the tank or do any planting and I usually get soaked ::D :D