• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

Bubble algae issue

MadReefer

MadReefer

Vice President
Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
Noticed getting some bubble algae in my tank again. Mostly on the power heads which I can remove and clean. The rest is on a piece of rock I may be able to get out and scrub. I also have a small amount on the bottom of the overflow. I can probably get out with a net. Question is what is causing this bubble to grow and how can I correct it?

Thanks,
Mark
 
T

tydtran

Bubble algae is kind of a magical plant. It requires minimal light, and reducing nitrates and phosphates doesn't make any difference.

The only thing that has worked for me is to remove where I see it, but you have to be careful to do so without breaking the bubble. Otherwise, you'll just seed it all over your tank. I have also seen people report that their tangs will eat the bubble algae.

HTH
 
MadReefer

MadReefer

Vice President
Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
tydtran,
Tanks for responding. I am aware that I cannot break the bubbles. My yellow tang won't touch it. Which brings me to this. If you can't break it because it will seed the tank then how would a fish, crab etc control it? If they bite the bubble won't it break and go all over? Guess I will try and remove it as delicate as possible.
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

that's the rub of it.

Getting an emerald/fish to eat the bubbles does not mean they have destroyed it. It simply means they grazed it down such that the bubbles do not form. All algae require a place to "grow up" so to speak, and if the land is scare due to corals - (and predators) then it will not gain a foothold.

I do not have any fish/inverts that eat bubble algae - so I'm forced to remove pieces of LR that have it. I take the LR out, scrape the noticable bubbles off and wash the LR with some water I just removed for water change. I don't get bubble algae on my pumps - but i get an another ugly feathery type of algae on the pumps.

Me personally i feed too much and I need to increase water changes (volume).
 
Nickjr000

Nickjr000

I'd get most off by hand and try a small emerald crab to help keep it under control. Best maintenance is preventative
 
E

evoIX

just to chime in as well. i had bubble algae from a rock i was given when starting the hobby. i bought an emerald crab though i didn't know it's exact purpose until after i saw that he devoured it like a champ. the rock was COVERED. he ate it all within 24-48 hours.
 
G

Gonzapa

Nickjr000 said:
Nice when somethin actually does what it's suppose to in this hobby!
Click to expand...

I have 2 emeralds one in the main display which eats bubble alge all if he can find it, and one in my sump which apparently could not care to eat bubble alge even if the sump is spotless
 
E

evoIX

onefishtwofish, is there a reasoning or you just don't like crabs? cant complete sponge bob without mr krabs.
 
V

vangvace

evoIX said:
onefishtwofish, is there a reasoning or you just don't like crabs? cant complete sponge bob without mr krabs.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for onefish but, there's a strong belief among some reefers that no crab is reefsafe and will eventually cause havoc in a tank.
 
onefish2fish

onefish2fish

no crabs are safe IME, including hermits which wont hesitate to rip snails from their shell for it. if a crab can get its claws on it, it will eat it.
 
D

duijver

I've actually had good results with emeralds eating bubble algae as well. Although, it was in my small 15g nano and he had almost nothing else to eat. After he polished off the bubble algae I started noticing Chaetomorpha patches getting smaller. Sure enough, he was munching on that like crazy. In the end, he died though before I could catch him to place him into my DT - that now has bubble algae.

I saw somewhere that you can suck it out during a water change with a small hose. In that case, you are also breaking the sack, but the contents are being exported. I've been doing this since I figure it is less stressful on the corals on the rocks affected?
 
shipwrecked

shipwrecked

Im with John on the crabs,never did what they were s'possed to do and most of the time became a nuisance.I had alot of bubble algea too,but with good maint/mechanical removal I finally have it all under control.This is just IMO..good luck in the future
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top