Bubble algae!

ccombs70 · 02/28/2010, 11:03 PM

The tank has been great for over a year now. I added some rock from someone's tear down. Didn't see any bubble algae on it when I put it in, but it is everywhere now. When I say everywhere, I mean all over the place. Emerald crabs are the only thing I can think of off the top of my head. Anyone have any tricks they can let me in on? Thanks in advance.

James77 · 02/28/2010, 11:23 PM

Emerald crabs have done nothing for me in the past except waste my money. Persoanlly, I ended up removing and scrubbing all the rock 2 times over the course of 6 or so months, and have not had it since. You scrub the rock and dunk it in 2 separate containers of water to rinse off residue and any spores or gametes or whatever spreads the stupid stuff.

The Red Sea Sailfin tang supposedly eats the crap, but it has to be the Desjardini species.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...378&pcatid=378

aquaph8 · 02/28/2010, 11:24 PM

manual removal seems to work best for me.

ccombs70 · 02/28/2010, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James77

Emerald crabs have done nothing for me in the past except waste my money. Persoanlly, I ended up removing and scrubbing all the rock 2 times over the course of 6 or so months, and have not had it since. You scrub the rock and dunk it in 2 separate containers of water to rinse off residue and any spores or gametes or whatever spreads the stupid stuff.

The Red Sea Sailfin tang supposedly eats the crap, but it has to be the Desjardini species.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...378&pcatid=378

I'll look into that. I've wanted the desjardini for awhile... now I have an excuse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquaph8

manual removal seems to work best for me.

That seems to be the general census. I need to get a picture of some of this rock. I wasn't paying attention and it has covered everything. I put some in the sump with no lights. It's been a month and the stuff hasn't died. I'd hate to have to let the rock dry.

d0ughb0y · 03/01/2010, 12:02 AM

keep at it with manual removal. there is no quick fix/ easy way out for this unfortunately.
do it as often as you can, e.g. everytime you look at your tank, and you see one, get it out. before you know it your tank will be bubble algae free.

zero nitrate and po4 will help also.

njdevilsfan · 03/01/2010, 12:52 AM

take out your rocks and scrub themrocks.. plus use filter socks for the following month or so
got rid of my 3 million bubbles that way

BFG · 03/01/2010, 05:14 AM

My vlamingi tang consume my bubble algae till there was none left.

The_Codfather · 03/01/2010, 07:47 AM

Just make sure you don't pop the bubbles
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1782346

frankpayne32 · 03/01/2010, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James77

Emerald crabs have done nothing for me in the past except waste my money. Persoanlly, I ended up removing and scrubbing all the rock 2 times over the course of 6 or so months, and have not had it since. You scrub the rock and dunk it in 2 separate containers of water to rinse off residue and any spores or gametes or whatever spreads the stupid stuff.

The Red Sea Sailfin tang supposedly eats the crap, but it has to be the Desjardini species.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...378&pcatid=378

Not true. I have a regular Sailfin Tang that wiped out my bubble algae problem overnight.

James77 · 03/01/2010, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankpayne32

Not true. I have a regular Sailfin Tang that wiped out my bubble algae problem overnight.

Really? I have only read several times that it needed to be that certain one- great to hear. What size bubbles do they go after?

saltydude · 03/01/2010, 09:22 AM

Wouldnt worry about it. I used to stress over it but kind of like them now.

ccombs70 · 03/01/2010, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltydude

Wouldnt worry about it. I used to stress over it but kind of like them now.

I need to get a pic of a couple of these rocks... they are completely covered! It looks like my rocks have green warts all over them lol. I had no idea this stuff could get this dense. It's my fault for not reading up on it. I hope a couple months in the dark will kill it.

frankpayne32 · 03/01/2010, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James77

Really? I have only read several times that it needed to be that certain one- great to hear. What size bubbles do they go after?

He ate literally every single one in a 24 hour period. Some were very small some as big as 1" in diameter.

saltydude · 03/01/2010, 01:33 PM

That sounds bad. When I had alot of them, I would slice them and either suck them out with a turkey baster or during waterchange. Darkness will not have any real success.

ccombs70 · 03/01/2010, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltydude

That sounds bad. When I had alot of them, I would slice them and either suck them out with a turkey baster or during waterchange. Darkness will not have any real success.

That's what I'm afraid of... One month of darkness hasn't changed the way they look on the rock at all!

O'Man · 03/01/2010, 02:03 PM

Add Foxface to the list also. I had one that was good at getting the bubbles while they are small. Ditto on the sailfin tangs.

saltydude · 03/01/2010, 02:48 PM

I wouldnt add fish to deal with problem. Slice and suck out spores. use a turkey baster.

ccombs70 · 03/01/2010, 03:59 PM

I'm still reading on them. I know they are photosynthetic. I don't understand why keeping them in the dark doesn't kill them. I don't see any new growth though.

hayes112 · 03/01/2010, 04:04 PM

My tank used to be swamped with the smaller buble alage kind of grew in cluster/mat style snd it only grew to about 2x the size of a bb. I started using algaefix marine and after about a month maybe a little longer it was gone. They stared literaly letting lose from the rocks they were on and would be lose on the sand bed or floating in the water column. I have seen a trace of them since and its been around 9 months since I have dosed the algae fix.

swjim · 03/01/2010, 04:12 PM

I put a yellow tang in my tank to help with an outbreak. It took a few days for it to develop a taste for it but once it did it ate it like candy. I think you would have a pretty good chance of any of the zebrasomas developing a taste for it, especially if you lighten your feeding schedule and they have less choices available.

jmoney · 03/01/2010, 07:42 PM

I tried everything for over a year, I tried to find my thread that I started but if you can the pictures are probably the worst you can imagine as far as bubble algae goes, I did vodka dosing for 6 months it went away completely..I mean my pumps and overflows where getting clogged with the dead bubble, after they were gone went one more month with vodka, then quit it slowly, still almost a year later no bubble algae to speak of.

---oh yea ps..I tried everything that these people have suggested above...none of it worked for me

02/28/2010, 11:03 PM	#1
ccombs70 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Manhattan KS 66502 Posts: 70	Bubble algae! The tank has been great for over a year now. I added some rock from someone's tear down. Didn't see any bubble algae on it when I put it in, but it is everywhere now. When I say everywhere, I mean all over the place. Emerald crabs are the only thing I can think of off the top of my head. Anyone have any tricks they can let me in on? Thanks in advance.

02/28/2010, 11:23 PM	#2
James77 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 8,158	Emerald crabs have done nothing for me in the past except waste my money. Persoanlly, I ended up removing and scrubbing all the rock 2 times over the course of 6 or so months, and have not had it since. You scrub the rock and dunk it in 2 separate containers of water to rinse off residue and any spores or gametes or whatever spreads the stupid stuff. The Red Sea Sailfin tang supposedly eats the crap, but it has to be the Desjardini species. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...378&pcatid=378 __________________ Jim Current Tank Info: 120g Mixed Reef and 75g Freshwater

02/28/2010, 11:24 PM	#3
aquaph8 Love The Fish Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 5,652	manual removal seems to work best for me. __________________ Brett Current Tank Info: Leemar 60x36x24, 8x80 T5/LED Sfiligoi GENESIS Alpha 300 skimmer

03/01/2010, 05:14 AM	#7
BFG Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 700	My vlamingi tang consume my bubble algae till there was none left. __________________ If you've learnt, teach. If you have, give.

03/01/2010, 12:02 AM	#5
d0ughb0y Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: sf bay area Posts: 5,165	keep at it with manual removal. there is no quick fix/ easy way out for this unfortunately. do it as often as you can, e.g. everytime you look at your tank, and you see one, get it out. before you know it your tank will be bubble algae free. zero nitrate and po4 will help also.

03/01/2010, 12:52 AM	#6
njdevilsfan Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: texas Posts: 658	take out your rocks and scrub themrocks.. plus use filter socks for the following month or so got rid of my 3 million bubbles that way

03/01/2010, 07:47 AM	#8
The_Codfather Have frag will travel Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Tuckerton, NJ Posts: 541	Just make sure you don't pop the bubbles http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1782346

03/01/2010, 09:22 AM	#11
saltydude Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 312	Wouldnt worry about it. I used to stress over it but kind of like them now.

03/01/2010, 01:33 PM	#14
saltydude Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 312	That sounds bad. When I had alot of them, I would slice them and either suck them out with a turkey baster or during waterchange. Darkness will not have any real success.

03/01/2010, 02:03 PM	#16
O'Man 10 & Over Club Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: USA Posts: 838	Add Foxface to the list also. I had one that was good at getting the bubbles while they are small. Ditto on the sailfin tangs.

03/01/2010, 02:48 PM	#17
saltydude Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 312	I wouldnt add fish to deal with problem. Slice and suck out spores. use a turkey baster.

03/01/2010, 03:59 PM	#18
ccombs70 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Manhattan KS 66502 Posts: 70	I'm still reading on them. I know they are photosynthetic. I don't understand why keeping them in the dark doesn't kill them. I don't see any new growth though.

03/01/2010, 04:04 PM	#19
hayes112 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 131	My tank used to be swamped with the smaller buble alage kind of grew in cluster/mat style snd it only grew to about 2x the size of a bb. I started using algaefix marine and after about a month maybe a little longer it was gone. They stared literaly letting lose from the rocks they were on and would be lose on the sand bed or floating in the water column. I have seen a trace of them since and its been around 9 months since I have dosed the algae fix.

03/01/2010, 04:12 PM	#20
swjim Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Boerne, TX Posts: 884	I put a yellow tang in my tank to help with an outbreak. It took a few days for it to develop a taste for it but once it did it ate it like candy. I think you would have a pretty good chance of any of the zebrasomas developing a taste for it, especially if you lighten your feeding schedule and they have less choices available.

03/01/2010, 07:42 PM	#21
jmoney Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 970	I tried everything for over a year, I tried to find my thread that I started but if you can the pictures are probably the worst you can imagine as far as bubble algae goes, I did vodka dosing for 6 months it went away completely..I mean my pumps and overflows where getting clogged with the dead bubble, after they were gone went one more month with vodka, then quit it slowly, still almost a year later no bubble algae to speak of. ---oh yea ps..I tried everything that these people have suggested above...none of it worked for me