Reef aquariasts call cyanobacteria “bubble slime algae” because it forms clumps of bubbles encased in slime, with the bubbles being a byproduct of a unique form of photosynthesis. It’s treated short-term with antibiotics, and long term by keeping the water free of phosphates and nitrates so it can’t grow.
On a large scale, it was probably responsible for the Snowball Earth effect, according to some Caltech research dudes:
In the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Caltech graduate student Robert Kopp and his supervising professor, Joe Kirschvink, along with alumnus Isaac Hilburn (now a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and graduate student Cody Nash, argue that cyanobacteria (or blue-green algae) suddenly evolved the ability to break water and release oxygen about 2.3 billion years ago. Oxygen destroyed the greenhouse gas methane that was then abundant in the atmosphere, throwing the global climate completely out of kilter.
Cyano blooms in the oceans when phosphate fertilizers run off from farms. This is a treatable problem if the will is there, and it may play a role in reversing global warming, but that’s a scary thought.
Here’s a picture of the slime.
Thanks, interesting post on aquarium slime. Erik