Can BGA (or algae in general) survive a dry spell?

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Vmax911

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
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ABQ, NM
If I've learned anything in the past five months, it is that algae is very resilient and adapts to live in pretty much any environmental condition.

I have a piece of driftwood that became engulfed by BBA and BGA. I pulled it out of the tank and set it in the garage for several weeks. A few days ago I decided to put it in another tank. The BBA was easy to see, as it dried to a shiny black sheen. I took a wire brush and scraped this off. The wood looked normal after this, no green or black coloring. However, yesterday I put a light on the tank and noticed that the wood had quite a bit of green, I assume where the BGA was. It's not blue green (like live BGA), but more of a fluorescent green color. Could the algae still be alive and cause another outbreak in the new tank? Ore is it just residual dead algae? The wood dried out for 4-6 week, and showed no signs of moisture.
 
Id say its possible for some types to be completely dry and live for maybe 100 years or more (spores) But the main thing you have to look at is what made it grow to begin with, and make sure thats still not your problem still. I have seen lots of types of algea just shrivel up and die because the conditions were not favorable for it.

I have had some driftwood that just seemed impossible to keep clean and others that were easy. Perhaps it was just the type of wood or the overall condition of it. If it is half rotten to begin with or very soft it can become the source of food itself.
 
After reading your post, I found that the green parts felt softer than the rest of the wood. Out to the pond with it!
 
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