Thank you slipfinger.
I went to the fishstore and got some lemon tetras. As a freebee I also got this in the bag
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1. I wonder if the fish will introduce this algae into their destination aquarium. Hopefully the system is robust enough to prevent an BGA takeover
2. Yey now I have a nice sample of BGA to grow and experiment with. I want to do the the same treatments as above, given that BGA was not present in the first round of trials, plus extended blackout, increased nitrogen and other recommendations found on other forums. Let's see.
Meanwhile:
I looked at some debris from a pre-filter from a high energy planted aquarium. Surprisingly you will find some things that are more likely to be associated with a lower trophic level in environmental samples. Notice that the samples are not very clean as a lot of dirt from the filter was still present
A mix of diatoms, unicellular algae and dinoflagelates
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No this is not an algae spore, it is actually a heliozoan. This is an algae eater
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I also managed to capture a very active Gastrotrich. They also eat bacteria and algae .
As a small conclusion
1. even in the pre-filter there is a very high diversity which lives from the bacteria and algae we provide with nutrients. The impact of these microorganisms on our aquariums is hard to quantify or even observe.
2. wash your hand before and after working in the aquarium.